Top 7 Jets Through 7

I don't want to go into any great detail about the Jets' thrilling, yet disappointing overtime loss in Foxboro. Whether they could've won but should've lost, or played well enough to win and sabotaged themselves are all angles that Mike Francesa will no doubt pick apart at 1 PM ET.

I'm here to assess where the Jets are. While 3-4 is nothing great, they are obviously entrenched in the AFC race, hopefully for the long haul. Even without a number of star players and role players who are now out for the season. But they've shown some resilience and there have been some step-up guys. Here are Backtime's Top Seven Jets in 2012, in progress:

1. Jeremy Kerley - A 5th round pick in 2011, and at only 5'9" he was supposed to be a slot guy and special teamer. Through releases and attrition, Kerley's become the Jets top receiver. He's electric after the catch, and already brought a punt back for a TD this year.

2. Nick Folk - What do you say when your kicker is maybe your best player? You shut up and take the 3 points. After two very productive seasons, the Jets brought in veteran Josh Brown for some preseason competition. Folk won the job and is 11/11 on FGs this year including a 54 and two from 43 yesterday.

3. Antonio Cromartie - Yes he shoots off his mouth and sometimes makes dumb penalties. But he's a shut-down corner, who's had to step up his game with Revis out. Always a threat to pick a ball he looks beaten on, and then take it to the house from there.

4. Robert Malone -  The punter's good too. Robert Malone's got a 47.1 average, and put 11 of his 35 punts inside the 20. The 41.0 net average is very solid. A key field position weapon.

5. Joe McKnight - With the injuries in the secondary, he balked about being moved to corner. And with good reason - because he's the Jets best running back. When will the coaches realize this? Durability is definitely an issue, but he's  proven to be a game-changer. His kick return TD against Houston was the team's most inspired play of the season.

6. LaRon Landry - The Jets' best offseason acquisition hasn't been spectacular, but is a solid run-stopper with 50 tackles on the season. And more than that, his presence (and reputation) makes opposing receivers think twice about going over the middle before they even step on the field.

7. Dustin Keller - He missed 5 of the 7 games and still makes this list, that's how desperate the Jets are for his offense. He was a steady and tough target in the Patriot game, our answer to Gronk.

Please note who is not on the list, neither Mark Sanchez nor Tim Tebow. Sanchez's performance has been uneven to say the least, showing both flashes of brilliance and horror. Tebow could have snuck on the list but clearly hasn't had the opportunities, or done very much when he's had them outside of a few plays.

Also absent from the list, anyone on the Jets' offensive line or defensive front seven. I'm no expert at grading line play, but the O-Line has multiple Pro Bowlers and haven't kept the pass rush off Sanchez. They've plowed the way for a dominant running game in just one out of seven games. And as for the D-Line and Linebackers, nobody is making plays behind the line of scrimmage - and don't tell me about David Harrris's one sack this year!

While the skill guys get the glory, it's the interior guys that mold a team's identity, and the Jets have been pushed around this year.

And four of Backtime's top five are special teamers, which is a silver lining. Special teams are and should be treated as a third unit, and those guys have been good. Now let's talk about the 104-yard kick return TD they allowed to Devin McCourty...

That's the report through Game 7. Oh and by the way, everybody enjoy the big baseball Game 7 tonight. You might want to get out your Bob Carpenter Scorebook for this one!

Jets In The Greene, Yankees Singing The Blues

In Week 6, the Jets finally found their identity in a 35-9 win over the Colts. All you need to do is read Shonn Greene's stat line: 32 carries, 161 yards, 3 TD. I don't know if it was his season wakeup call that was late, or his offensive line's, but it's hard to argue with the results. What have you done for me lately? Quite a bit, thank you.

The Jets combined for 252 rush yards including a 61-yard "jet" by Joe McKnight, who injured his ankle on the play, and now Jets nation sweats another Monday MRI.

The run game set up the pass game, which is the way it's supposed to work. Mark Sanchez's totals were way down, but he had a couple of nice TD strikes to the Hill boys. And Tim Tebow completed a brilliantly-designed 23-yard pass out of punt formation on 4th and 11.

So despite the Jets' bipolar start, they are an even 3-3 along with the rest of the AFC East.

While one New York team was finding its way, another just two crossed rivers away, looked completely lost.

The Yankees can't hit, and they really haven't the entire postseason. They scored 5 runs in the 9th inning of ALDS Game 1 vs Baltimore and 4 runs in the 9th inning of ALCS Game 1 vs Detroit. In the other 70 innings they've played this postseason, the Yankees have 11 runs.

While A-Rod is the lightning rod, at least he's occasionally hit the ball hard.

It's Robinson Cano who has disappeared from the face of the earth. In the season's last 9 games, he  was absolutely flammable at 24-39 (.615). In the playoffs, he's hitless in his last 26 AB. You just can not figure out baseball, Suzyn.

After another brilliant pitching performance, Hiroki Kuroda could only shake his head at the outcome.

Now the Yankees head 0-2 to Motown without Derek Jeter, and are in desperate need of some run support. They can't count on the level of pitching they've gotten, and it's time for the bats to pick them up.

I think they need to slide Eduardo Nunez right in at the leadoff spot. His bat is live and he's a terror on the bases. Even though he's a butcher in the field at shortstop, it has to be worth the risk at this point.

Game 3 is Tuesday night, Hughes vs Verlander. Haven't we met somewhere before? Oh yes, June 3rd. It was Hughes's only complete game of the year in a 5-1 Yankees win and A-Rod took Verlander (very) deep.

Then there's the more recent August 6th game when Verlander struck out 14 and the Tigers dominated. So there's always that to look forward to.

A Monday Night Hit And Run

So one Monday night, two crucial games and the only two professional teams that I follow, on at exactly the same time.

Usually football is the priority. The Jets have only 16 games in their regular season and they're all crucial until the annual tragic elimination. The Yankees on the other hand were playing a road playoff game, looking to go up 2-0 on Baltimore.

What do you do? Well the first thing is to make sure you make dinner ahead of time. The Yankees/O's was scheduled for 8 PM ET, and the Jets/Texans at 8:30, so plenty of time for chicken and sausage nachos with green olive salsa.

Since the Yankees were delayed 45 minutes by rain, I put the Jets on the big screen and the Yankees in the office 30 feet away. It's the path I would wear out all night with DVR rewinds ready to get caught up on whichever wasn't getting my immediate attention.

After the Texans went right down the field and scored on their opening drive and the Jets responded with a 3-and-out, I changed screens to try and shake things up. And the Yanks scored in the top of the 1st on a bizarre play in which Ichiro Suzuki should've been tagged out twice.

Now I'm not saying it was a bad call, but we were fortunate to have Angel Hernandez, the league's worst umpire, presiding over it.

Meanwhile, the Jets crowd actually was pumping up their team instead of groaning about them. Antonio Cromartie made a nice pick in front of Andre Johnson, and the Mark Sanchez found Jeff Cumberland for the tying TD.

But the good times didn't last. Arian Foster ran 13 yards for a TD on a play that Jon Gruden likened the blocking to a "symphony." Foster was shredding the Jets D for 93 rush yards in 19 minutes of action.

Andy Pettitte was mowing down the Orioles' first eight hitters, which prompted Ernie Johnson's first "perfect game" reference, citing the 56th anniversary of Don Larsen's World Series gem. The O's promptly staged a 2-out rally and took a 2-1 lead in the 3rd. Funny how that works.

After the Yankees tried to answer, but left the bases loaded in the 4th, the Jets were marching down the field in the 2-minuted drill before the half. Say what you want about Mark Sanchez, but he looks poised in these situations.

But as the Jets were closing in on some sort of score before the half, the unavoidable J.J. Watt got one of his big mitts up and deflected a pass to Brice McCain who returned the INT 86 yards. The deflated Jets managed to hold the Texans to a FG in the final seconds and went to halftime down 17-7.

Intermission was a good time to fold laundry, and ice a bruised foot that wasn't feeling any better with my constant pacing back and forth. So I relaxed in the big chair while the Yankees offense did nothing, and Pettitte looked solid.

The Jets opened the 2nd Half with Joe McKnight in at RB for the ineffective Shonn Greene. It wasn't the understudy that many of the Jets fans wanted (though the one I wanted), and resulted in another 3-and-out. The Texans then went on a 14-play, 70-yard drive that ate up half the 3rd quarter to go up 20-7.

The Jets were being manhandled on both sides of the ball and needed a spark. 100 yards later, McKnight was soaring across the goal line after an inspired kick return.

The Jets tried to seize on the momentum with a brilliantly executed onside kick, except our guy dropped the ball.

Andy Pettitte was pitching well, but allowed a run (the decisive run) in the 6th. After turning a 1-6-3 DP to end the inning, he intensely stalked off the mound chiding himself, "That's on me!"

Pettitte finished the night with 7+ innings, 3 runs on 7 hits, 1 walk and 5 Ks. He threw an efficient 98 pitches, and kept his team in it. But it wasn't good enough to win on this night.

The Jets held the Texans out of the end zone early in the 4th to stay in the game, but they wasted a strong Tim Tebow run and stalled for a FG themselves. The Jets were in striking range at 23-17, but time was running out. Not to mention the Jets had been plagued by disorganization and miscommunication on both sides of the ball, resulting in the premature use of time outs, which turned out to be a killer.

The Yankees got a Derek Jeter RBI single in the 8th to close to 3-2, but O's Manager Buck Showalter earned his paycheck. He brought in LHP Brian Matusz to intentionally walk LH hitting Robinson Cano to set up a matchup with switch-hitting Nick Swisher, who was 1-for-19 in his career against Matusz. Swish popped a weak flyball to left and the O's were out of danger.

The Jets last-gasp efforts were done in by the Texans D, and there was no magic for the Yankees in 9th (as opposed to the night before) against Baltimore's 51-save closer Jim Johnson.

So I spent a night engrossed in every detail of my two favorite squads, and they both lost. But there are takeaways, otherwise the time would've been wasted - which would haunt me more.

For the Jets, they look troubled but aren't that bad off at 2-3. The 3 losses are to Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Houston. No shame in any of that, even if the last two were home.

For the Yankees, they're right where they're supposed to be. They won the AL East, and now just have to win 2-out-of-3 at home to advance to the ALCS.

The next potential conflict is Sunday. The Jets host the Colts at 1 PM, and the Yankees will presumably  (hopefully?) have the Tigers in the Bronx for ALCS Game 2.