When Randy Moss comes to town it usually means big headaches for a secondary.
Enter the Jets, who were getting back star cornerback Darrelle Revis for the first time in three weeks. But Revis was clearly not close to 100 percent in Monday’s 29-20 win over the Vikings. No matter, because the Jets had plan B. The name of plan B was Antonio Cromartie.
Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum deserves a lot of credit for getting Cromartie in the off season. Even with Revis on the roster, it’s never a bad idea to accentuate your strengths. Having two great cover cornerbacks can make any defense look good.
Unfortunately, the Jets master plan of having Cromartie and Revis manning opposite sides of the field hasn’t come to fruition yet. That won’t happen until Revis is back to normal.
Until then it will be Cromartie taking on the best the league has to offer at wide receiver. And he was up to the task on Monday night. If you look at Moss’ numbers -3 catches, 60 yards, 1 TD- they were a far cry from what he’s used to. In spite of that, Cromartie, who covered Moss with no help for most of the night, beat himself up for giving up the third-quarter touchdown.
“Not really,” Cromartie replied when asked if he was satisfied with his performance. “I gave up a touchdown. It was a well-thrown ball and a great catch. You have to tip your hat to Brett Favre and Randy moss.”
That’s the type of attitude the Jets need from Cromartie, especially with Revis not his normal self. Revis had issues dealing with Minnesota’s exciting second-year blur Percy Harvin and exposed on more than one occasion.
Cromartie was repeatedly tested by the Vikings. Favre went deep to Moss on four separate occasions in the first half and Cromartie was there to defense. Cromartie said it was decided all along for him to guard Moss.
“I felt good about it,” Cromartie said of covering Moss. “Coach Ryan and coach Thurman felt good about it and I was just trying to go out there and play football.”
The Jets travel to Denver on Sunday to take on the Broncos in hopes of a fifth straight win. There won’t a Randy Moss or even a Brandon Marshall to deal with, but there will be a Cromartie for the Broncos to worry about.