Ny Jets Essay, Research Paper

Testaverde takes control

Jets’ quarterback calls own plays in win

By Vic Carucci

NFL Insider

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (Oct. 23, 2000) ? When the

New York Jets actually worked with a game plan Monday night,

quarterback Vinny Testaverde struggled. Badly.

He couldn’t get them a single first down against the Miami

Dolphins’ vaunted defense. In fact, the Jets produced all of seven

yards of offense in the first quarter to the Dolphins’ 207. By

halftime, Miami had 299 yards of offense to the Jets’ 99.

Testaverde also threw two interceptions in the first half and a

third in the third quarter.

But in the fourth quarter, with coach Al

Groh allowing Testaverde to call his own

plays from a no-huddle attack, the Jets’

offense caught fire. He guided them to

20 first downs, to only one for Miami,

and 30 points, the most in any quarter

in franchise history, on the way to a

40-37 overtime victory against the

Miami Dolphins.

Testaverde finished with 36 completions

in 59 attempts for 378 yards (his

second highest total as a Jet) and five

touchdowns, while throwing three

interceptions. His final scoring throw

was a three-yarder to offensive tackle Jumbo Elliott that tied the

game at 37-37 with 42 seconds left in the fourth quarter, forcing

the extra period.

After the game, Testaverde talked about his performance in

detail:

You’ve staged some incredible comebacks in your career.

Has there ever been another one that comes close to this?

Testaverde: I wouldn’t think so. This is great. We’re 6-1. We’re

leading the division. It was a big game on Monday night. We were

just about to get embarrassed out there. We came in at halftime,

regrouped. And it’s a great feeling.

Coach Groh said he gave you freedom in the fourth quarter to

call your own plays from no-huddle. Do you like it better that

way?

Testaverde: Under the circumstance, given that situation, it’s

hard to call plays from the sidelines. You just waste too much

time, and we really needed to run plays. We were being very

effective with (the ones Testaverde was calling), so he (Groh)

just let me have it. And we kept running a variety of plays,

ad-libbing at times, telling guys to run different routes, seeing how

(the Dolphins) were playing coverages. Guys just responded well

? everybody from Richie Anderson to Wayne Chrebet to

Laveranues Coles to Dedric Ward ? everybody. It was a great

effort, it was great to see. The line blocked well. I don’t know how

many times we threw the ball (59). The last one that I got hit on

just before the (winning) field goal was really the only time I got

hit tonight.

Did you have confidence in that pass to Jumbo Elliott?

Testaverde: Yeah, we worked on it the last few weeks and

Jumbo made it look easy ? in practice. But the ball was a little bit

behind him. And it’s hard for a big guy to turn when he’s running

straight ahead and he made a great catch, there’s no question

about it. Without it we don’t win.

What does this win say about the heart of this team?

Testaverde: Al’s always talking about the heart of this team ?

one heart, one mind. With our mental toughness, with our physical

play, we’re going to win a lot of games. We just need to stay

focused. We’re not one of the most talented teams in the league.

We’re not a St. Louis by any stretch of the imagination. But when

we play together and we play hard for four quarters, good things

will happen for us.

Were the Dolphins confused by the offensive package you

began to run in the fourth quarter?

Testaverde: It seems that the games that when we’ve come

back and won late in the game like this, teams seem a little

confused by it. And it’s hard for them to practice for all these

different looks. We have two running backs out there (Anderson

and Curtis Martin) and we can spread them out wide with three

wide receivers in the game. We can bring them in tight, and run

the football effectively that way. We can put four wides in, using

the two-running back package. We can go with three wides.

We’ve got a lot of different combinations, a lot of different plays

we run off of these things, and it’s hard for a defense to prepare

for the regular game plan, and then go prepare for all this. It

makes it tough on them. And throughout the course of the game,

we find a way to get it done by just experimenting with different

formations and different philosophies.

Were the 20 first downs you had in the fourth quarter the

result of you having the freedom to call your own plays?

Testaverde: I think that was part of it. But I think a big part of it

was guys making plays. You see Richie Anderson make a great

fourth-and-1 catch down by the goal line. The throw was a little

high, he had two guys in his face, and he made a great catch.

Just outstanding individual performances all night like that. When

we needed it, guys got it done, and that’s what I attribute those

20 first downs to.

Were you just winging it at the end?

Testaverde: I wouldn’t say I was just winging it. We were using

things we’ve practiced in the past, but not this past week for the

Dolphins. We pulled them out from training camp.