Coaches come in all shapes, sizes and personalities- players coaches, tyrants, unemational (Mangini) etc.... There have been successful coaches who have all fit these personalities. The difference is each one of them found a way to earn the respect of there players and did something in there preparation and coaching that got the players to like them. I fully expected us to struggle against Denver, I hoped not but was not shocked, it was a set up for a let down game. Bad weather etc.... Immediately the mood of gloom and doom began to set in but in reality should have been just a bump in the road that would have lead to a 8-2 or 7-3 record our last 10 games and spot in playoffs. Then came the San Fran Game- Coin Toss won by San Fran, "Defferred to Us" a decision made by a coach with "ZERO" job security to fire up his defense and players. This same coach then onsides kicks the ball to us, to again take a shot at us and also fire up his entire team- "offense" "defense" and special teams. Though the decision seemed to backfire the mentality had been set, San Fran was gonna play aggressive and show faith in each other to pick up if things did not go as planned and they did. Now I flash to our Coach- stands on sideline and basically gets kicked in nuts by Singletary- we move the ball on a few plays and on 3 and 2 Keller drops a sure first down- (this is what rookies do, they have lapses) our Coach has a season changing moment possibly- a chance to show his offense he believes they can get 2 yds, shows his defense that he believes if the offense fails that they can stuff san fran despite good field position. What does he do- he fucking "PUNTS" and too top if off our punter fails. I honestly feel this is where our seasoned turned and Mangini lost the team. He does not need to go out to dinner with these guys, be there best friend but if the players do not believe there coach as faith in them what should they think. This them continued through the next few weeks-came up again in decisions in the buffalo game, seattle game on a few occassions and yes again yesterday at a moment when I am sure Mangini has an inkling baltimore was taking care of business and our season was over- he punts from the 40 again. I know this is a ridiculously long post but one I really believe in and would love to here all your opinions on this. Bobby Knight was an asshole to his players and they all love him when done and respected him- he showed faith in his team when the chips were in the middle. A guy like Pete Carroll gets by with mediocre X's and O's because he is just a great guy to his players. Mangini is not a nice guy, not friendly and the killer does nothing on Sunday to change this image. Peace all hang in there, it hurts today real bad, but we all obviously get over hurt or we would not root for this team. P.S.- one more example of not getting it, Mangini names his kid after Brett Favre and says he gives his sons the middle name of players who have had the most influence on his life? Gee how bout stepping back and thinking what this might make a guy like Kerry Rhodes or Coles or any player who has given 3 yrs of service to you, played hurt etc...... I know this is a side note, but a guy with the pulse of his team or pulse of football in general names his son Kerry or Coles or Chad for that sake not Brett which just reaks of a guy who can't coach his QB because he worships at his feet.
It was lost when Favre s$it the bed the last 5 weeks. 2 td's and 9 picks. Yeah i'm sure any coach could work with that. Favre stopped caring, he killed the team from the inside out.
I am talking about momentum that is what its all about, Mangini did nothing to stem the tied of momentum. Another example was the Feely kick- a guy who you brought in week 2 had a wonderful year for you and you show no faith in him
Two plays as turning points stick out in my mind, and both show the ineptitude of the CS. -In the rain vs denver, running a trick play that resulted in a disastrous turnover. It showed a lack of understanding that the weather conditions affected the gameplan. Even though they may have practiced that play during the week in dry weather, it showed stupidity to run it in a bad rainstorm, and turned the momentum against them in that game. Not only did this CS fail to adjust to opposing teams, it couldnt even adjust to the weather. -Kicking a FG in Seattle after moving down the field and dominating the Seahawks defense. Then, punting instead of kicking a FG after a five yard penalty took a made FG off the board. And that game also illustrated the failure of the CS to adapt to the weather conditions.
That's pretty much it. Of his 22 INTs, Favre threw 12 of them in the last 5 games, and 4 of those 12 picks were for TDs. You just can't win games with those stats. Blame Mangini and Schotty for continuing to pass even though it was apparent Favre's judgement and arm weren't there. One report in the newspaper this morning cited an "undisclosed player" as saying the coaching lost the final games, because this team was built around the run and the coaches kept on wanting Favre to chuck it.
That is correct. The Denver game was the turning point of the season. After two big wins, it was time to make a real statement at home and beat a team that they were quite capable of beating, and taking control of the season. Instead, the team comes out flat and plays like garbage. They begin to doubt themselves. The next week is the San Fran loss. Confidence, in themselves and their coaches, sinks further. In turn, the CS loses confidence in its players. Instead of taking hold of the team and getting them to turn it around, the vicious circle continues and spirals out of control, and the season is lost. The hall of fame QB sees this happening and tries to take matters into his own hands, changing plays and trying to make things happen on his own, which only leads to mistakes and turnovers. This is squarely on the shoulders of the head coach, and if the reports of his firing are true, he deserves it. I just hope they bring an experienced coach in here. But the point where it fell apart was the Denver game. That loss should not have happened, and set the tone for the collapse.
I think it may have been lost when we tried to model ourselves after the 2001 Pats model of bigger is better than faster? The league has already moved on from that model as has Belichek.
The season was lost when Ellis got picked up for Marijuana. Why? It was just before the SF game and something much more significant happened than just Ellis getting arrested. We will probably never ever know the truth. What ever happened, a very tight lid was placed on it immediately. Who knows, there may have been a Green Bay Packer Bong in the car - I don't know, but something tied to that event collapsed the team and distanced players from coaches.
One of the more annoying things about Mangini is that he tried WAY too hard to emulate BB. It was obvious that he just about wanted to morph himslef into BB, so much so that he used this a his "book of rules" and, with every decsion, tried to make a call the same as he imagined BB would have made it. Problem is, BB is such a chameleon that he's ever-changing, something Mangini never exhibited. Mangini tried too hard to do as BB would do, but BB is always busy making moves that best suit the situation and team, not what he'd done in the past. Mangini couldn;t get a grip on that concept... specifically, THINK ON YOUR OWN and go with your guy, not what someone else has done successfully. The 2008 Jets were not the 2001 Patriots.
We had already lost to Denver the week before. Our downward spiral was already in full swing by the week of the SF game. I would recommend keeping a tight lid on such things though...better for freshness.
...when the Jets traded for Favre--an ill fit for this intricate, low-risk offense and this control-freak coach--and dropped its leader Pennington--a great fit for this complicated offense and it's control-freak coach. With the addition of Faneca and Woody, and the bolstered running game, and Chad's extra year of healing, Jets easily win this division, going away. Our defense, though shaky, would've been less exposed with the significantly fewer INTs that Penny would've thrown.
Sorry BroMo. I meant the Broncs. We played them a day after the incident. That's what 40+ years of watching the Jets does to you; it fries your cranium.
I completely agree. But why isn't tannenbaum taking heat for the trade? Mangini was terrible, but Mr. T is skating on this. It's a very bad situation.
