The NY Jets and Indianapolis Colts open Week 1 of the preseason on Thursday night and the game is live from MetLife Stadium and streaming online from NFL.com and has New York looking to get their 2014 campaign started the right way and this game is live past 7 pm ET and is the first game of the week for the league after the HOF game with the Giants and Bills.
The Jets come into the season after making a number of additions and they should be good ones, including Michael Vick, Eric Decker and Chris Johnson and that means the usually stagnant offense could end up being high scoring. The team always rushes the ball well and they should be even better this season with Johnson and now the team also has a nice insurance policy if Geno Smith gets hurt, as Michael Vick can step right in and play.
The Jets added to their strength while bringing in Johnson, as Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell had good years last season and that had the Jets ranked sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per game. The team was fantastic against the run on defense, but losing Darrelle Revis hurt no matter how much the Jets tried to say it didn't, as they gave up nearly 250 yards per game in the air.
The team opens up with the Colts and then travels to the Bengals before playing against the Giants in a home game. Rex Ryan has said before that he likes to win that game...because...well, no one is really sure why the Snoopy Bowl is so important, but it likely has to do with the four Super Bowl championships the Giants have over the past 30 years compared to the zero for the Jets. The team then finishes the preseason on the road against the eagles before opening 2014 against the Raiders.
Rex Ryan loves winning in the preseason, because he must, because why else would he sacrifice Mark Sanchez the way he did last year? Ryan has been able to move on from that without too much criticism, but the way he handled Sanchez last year was one of the most disrespectful things a coach has done in years and his reasoning for it then and recently is pathetic and while he may distance himself from that one, true football fans know he was wrong in that situation and he deserves to feel shame for how Sanchez's career has gone since then.
Either way, the Jets are coming into the season with, wait for it, confidence once again after going 8-8 last year and they feel Geno Smith is THE guy because hey, it's the Jets. The team also signed Michael Vick to be a mentor/starter/distraction in Geno Smith's development and that all should work out real well. The Jets were ranked 31st in the league in passing yards per game last season and that should improve with the addition of Eric Decker, but he has never been a number one receiver before, so time will tell on that one. The Jets are looking to get back to the playoffs this season and they have a good chance to do it.
Check here for the NY Jets and Indianapolis Colts live coverage from the NFL for the preseason.
