Pelzman: Colts Responsible for Cutting of Jones

by John B on Mar 4, 2010 8:00 AM EST

J.P. Pelzman says Thomas Jones can blame the Colts for being released.

Maybe Thomas Jones should blame Bill Polian. As it turns out, Indianapolis' decision not to pursue perfection, orchestrated by team president Polian, may wind up impacting the Jets much more than the Colts.

The Jets' subsequent playoff run after their win over the conceding Colts on Dec. 27 gave then-rookie running back Shonn Greene a chance to showcase his talents, and the effects of a nagging knee injury during the postseason suggested that perhaps Jones, 31, is about to decline. So the Jets' impending release of Jones on Friday has a lot to do with what happened during the playoffs.

I don't agree with this on so many levels. Pelzman falls into the trap like so many other writers of assuming the Colts would have won. We won't rehash 15-10. Let's just remember Greene played a big role in winning that game.

Beyond that, I tend to think the decision was made long before that Colts game, like last April. Greene was picked in the Draft with an eye to the future, namely a future where a back on the wrong side of 30 who made rumblings about his contract had a big bonus due in a year. The Jets knew what they had in Shonn. I think they would have been ready to go with him without his big Playoffs.

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I agree with John B 100%. And I’ll add that I think the emergence of Greene and his authoritative running style really hi-lited the glaring weaknesses of TJ’s game. TJ never finished off runs, always going down on first contact and quite often anticipated contact. TJ’s running style is kind of excusable during the regular season. Can’t blame a guy for looking out for his future and keeping himself as healthy as possible for both himself and the team. But in the playoffs or elimination games, you have to finish of your runs and run through contact and assert your presence. Unfortunately TJ just disappeared in the season’s most meaningful games. He ran soft. With one half to go to get to the Superbowl, instead of running with reckless abandon, TJ shucked and dived and shriveled from the moment. Can’t expect to be “rewarded for your efforts” after that gutless performance in Indy.

by Crackback on Mar 4, 2010 9:15 AM EST reply actions

I think you being too hard on Jones.

He’s not a brawling running back, he can’t bowl people over like greene, he was just worn out. I don’t think his performance was “gutless”.

by Jerrad p on Mar 4, 2010 4:02 PM EST up reply actions

I think you are being too hard on Pelzman

Nowhere in this article does he imply that Colts would have beaten the Jets if they tried to win the game. He only says that the Colts did not “pursue” perfection, which doesn’t mean they would have won if they did.

by secret defense on Mar 4, 2010 12:14 PM EST reply actions

Remember, Shonn doesn’t even see the field if Leon doesn’t go down….guaranteed.

Thomas Jones runs this league

by FlyNYJ on Mar 4, 2010 1:16 PM EST reply actions

Yeah yeah you and your guarantees and your Thomas Jones man crush.

Yawn.

Beyond that, I tend to think the decision was made long before that Colts game, like last April. Greene was picked in the Draft with an eye to the future, namely a future where a back on the wrong side of 30 who made rumblings about his contract had a big bonus due in a year.

This. The decision was made as soon as they drafted Greene. Much like the Ravens, where Ray Rice saw very limited touches in his rookie year (100 carries, same as Greene), and won the starting job the next year. McGahee wasn’t cut, but it was a similar situation.

"Relax, all right? Don't try to strike everybody out. Strikeouts are boring; besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls. It's more democratic."
- CRASH DAVIS

by nrmax88 on Mar 4, 2010 3:45 PM EST up reply actions