To be fair to the Chiefs, they were missing 3 of their original starting 5 offensive line, including both tackles. Not easy to play in the Super Bowl with back-ups. Especially against a good Bucs D. It truly was what Darnold has to deal with on a weekly basis. It made Mahomes look horrible. Maybe the game will help the casual fan understand and learn how football is truly played, instead of completely crediting or trashing the QB for it all.
But as the bold says, although he wouldn't have looked anywhere near as good on the Jets, he certainly would've been better than Darnold, so the "We could've had Mahomes" argument is still awake and having milk and cookies.
Yoou do realize that it was Tampa's D that really one the game... The KC OL could not stop the rush - he got hit repeatly, they took away PM 1st read and he was done... they mixed coverages, etc. he looked average got
TB won upfront on both sides of the ball. KC couldn't stop the run and that is what killed them on defense and opened up the passing game for Brady. Great o-lines win more SBs then great QBs. With that said KC played flat and emotionless all game - like their head wasn't in it. I truly think the accident that Reid's son had affected them a lot. It felt like they were at a wake more than in a SB. Also, the Chiefs WRs could not get open all night. Devonta Smith would have been able to get open. We must upgrade our line with high picks, but not necessarily a tackle. We are not ready to use a high pick on a QB yet.
What this game shows me is that my belief that we need a guy like Watson to simply be able to compete with the Chiefs was wrong. That's not to say that we don't need a FQB, nor is it to say that we should just assume Darnold will become good enough. On the first point - needing a FQB - yes we do. Maybe he doesn't need to be other-worldly like Mahomes or Watson, but we need a damn good one. And while I still think Darnold can become "good enough", that's not the level which I want the Jets to settle. I'd be ok if they keep him for another year as long as they draft his replacement (and upgrade) this year, whether that's Wilson (my pref.), Fields, Lance, Jones, or Trask, but if they get offered a low first rounder or high second rounder for Darnold, I'd take it. Bottom line is that there's hope even if we don't get Watson. Building a strong all around team is the most important thing, and I believe that's Douglas's objective, and even though I'm beyond impatient waiting for the Jets to actually draft a true FQB which they haven't done since Namath. And because of that frustration, I'm on board with trying to get Watson - for a reasonable cost - but whereas before last night I thought that was pretty much a pre-requisite for being able to compete with the Chiefs to be able to advance to the SB, now I see that's not true. So if we get Watson, great, but if we don't we still need to get a FQB and build up the overall team.
And that is exactly what I have been saying for months. Mahomes or Brady or Rodgers if your oline is horrible and has more holes than a swiss cheese then they become almost irrelevant. There are 2 very important pieces for a QB to succeed and compete : great protection and great running game. Both of these pieces are impacted massively by the offensive line. That was the game changer for the Bucs. Now people will show us stats a couple years from now that FQB like Brady is the only reason the Bucs won the Super Bowl. Without realizing that both his offensive line and defensive line had more of an impact.
I get it, cut 10 guys and we'll have tons of cap to sign Watson and top FAs!!! But don't all those guys we cut have to be replaced? Plus all the other Jets players who are FAs, like Marcus Maye? JD signed a bunch of 1 yr contracts last year. He'll need to sign a bunch more this year to replace or keep all those guys.
Based on Spotrac's Cap info and PFF's free agent predictions, the Jets could: Trade #2, #34, SEA '22 1st round, '23 1st round for Watson. Trade Darnold to the Panthers for their 2nd round pick. Cut Alex Smith, Greg Van Roten, Henry Anderson, and Ryan Griffin. Rework Jamison Crowder's deal. Sign Joe Thuney, Allen Robinson, Bud Dupree, Marcus Maye, Jason Verrett, and K'Waun Williams The Jets would have cap room left over in '21 and only $180M committed in '22. They would also add 5 of the top 100 drafted rookies in the '21 draft including #23 and #40. I disagree that the Jets need to do much more to improve the offense than adding Watson, Thuney, and Robinson. McGovern's play improved a lot towards the 2nd half of the season and adding one of the best guards in the NFL would elevate his play. You don't need a potential pro bowler at every position.
All the team in the world is meaningless when you don't have a good QB. Look at the teams that win Super Bowls, almost every single one has a very good QB. I hate this notion that getting a franchise QB is as easy as deciding to do it one day. It's not. It's very hard. You need to get lucky with a very high draft pick and picking the right guy with it. It's your best chance, though. QB's taken later in the draft have far lower rates of working out than guys taken near the very top.
seems to happen every year. A team wins the superbowl and people take cues from the 1 single game as the script as what is needed to win in the league a single game can be won or lost an any number of ways. It could also be interpreted differently. The author of this thread looks at it like Mahomes sucks under pressure, Darnold also does, therefore the key is to protect Darnold. ...Or you could say the key to winning is to get some pass rushers. ...Or that we need to get rid of Darnold & sign a 43 year old QB for $25 million a year ...Or that we hired the wrong coach and should sign back Todd Bowles for his outstanding game plan in the SB making conclusions based on one game doesn't seem like the best strategy to me
What that game showed me in no uncertain terms is simply this. Who ever controls the line of scrimmage controls the game. Better coaching will adjusts the game plan to accommodate weaknesses to either side of of line of scrimmage. Controlling the line of scrimmage both in passing and running is what makes a good QB excel and even a top 5 QB struggle mightily. KC lost the game because they simply lost the battle at the line of scrimmage on both sides, and the CS never adjusted the game plan to avoid the mad rush on every down with a more balanced run/pass attack. As an example, Brady, as great as he is, has been successful his entire career behind a top notch OL, and has only struggled, on the few occasions when they couldn't control the line of scrimmage. So hell yes I believe in investing on a top notch OL for the Jets to make our new QB as successful as it can. IMHO, It wasn't the lack of weapons at the QB, WR, TE and RB position that sunk KC. They are the best of the best. It was getting mauled at the line of scrimmage and poor play calling to compensate for that fact.
I won't speak for anyone else, but I'm not drawing a conclusion other than to disagree with the conclusion that Darnold sucks because he's had 3 years to prove himself and hasn't done that. From last night's game we can see what a huge difference talent and coaching and a good (or bad) game plan makes in how a QB plays.
So you object to cutting Anderson, Lewis, GVR, and/or Griffin? Those seem like no-brainers to me especially in terms of how much we are currently paying them. We could sign people for the vet minimum and get the same level of production out of every single one of those guys. Even if we don't cut any of the guys I've mentioned, we'll still enter FA with 70-75M in cap space. Put 45M towards the guys that have been discussed (~10.5 for Watson, ~20 for ARob, and ~15M for Thuney) and we still have 25-30M in cap space which would put us somewhere between 10th and 13th in the league in terms of most cap space this offseason. If those moves happen, are we going to be able to sign anymore studs? Of course not. Are we even going to be able to sign Maye to an extension? Probably not, but that's why you cut those guys I listed above so you can make moves like that. Even without those cuts, ~30M is more than enough to fill some holes with solid players where we need them this offseason. Plus, the offense would be the best we've seen in a long, long time with a core of Watson, ARob, Mims, Crowder, Becton, and Thuney.
Massive miscalculation by Reid. But he also had plenty of time to correct it and didn't. He stayed with the same vertical attack and kept trying to hit corners, streaks and deep overs with Hill while he was bracketed. Kudos to the Buccaneers defense but that was one poorly coached game for KC.
Unless your only signing ARob and Thuney to one year contracts, how are you gonna keep paying them next year and beyond when Watson's coin shy rockets up $22M/yr over what he costs this year? Oh, and add Quinnen to that equation 2 years, then add Becton the year after that. At least we won't Jamal chewing up $22m/yr, so there's that.
It's like they were just waiting for the Mahomes Magic to kick in. It's saved them so many times. Unfortunately, the magic never showed up, and on a few of those insane throws the WR failed on their end. Magic is a tough thing to game plan around. No one knows when the Mahomes Magic strikes, it just always seems to. As the game started slipping away, Mahomes Magic was the only thing they had left to count on, and it never came.
For some it’s Mahomes magic... but for most it’s Mahomes reality... last night proved qb’s can’t win on their own. For every great throw he had, there were 3 bad throws. Even though he has the best TE in football, fastest WR in football, one of the best young RB’s in football... without an offensive line, he looked as lost as Darnold. The reality is that when Sam Darnold plays like this only with far less talent, he sucks... When Mahomes does it, the magic wasn’t there...
kudos to bowles for sure. but their D was just too talented for KC's few superstarts and back-up lineman. also could be why bienemy couldn't get a HC job. maybe he just isn't good
Yeah but Mahomes plays like that maybe 5% of the time whereas Darnold plays like that 95% of the time. Do you realize Mahomes had more yards yesterday than Darnold had in any game this entire season? Everyone should know this by now but Sam was the only QB in the entire NFL with a negative EPA from a clean pocket, so the "running for his life" excuse is BS. He's not even good when the protection is perfect.
