Well now...wasn't THAT fun!?! I had the Jets game going on my tablet and the 49'er game on the big screen....(sorry...when it comes to football in my house the wife wins) I kind of tuned out the Jets game mid-3rd quarter and started paying attention to a real football team. Every week now my wife asks me why I do not drop the Jets and just BE a 49'er fan since I've been in CA for the better part of 15 years... Prior to yesterday's game I had any one of a number of reasons/excuses to give her...AFTER yesterday's game I have essentially run out of excuses. I really have no tangible stand point to give her as to WHY I shouldn't just drop the Jets and follow the "local" team. God know the freakin' team hasn't given me any reason to... Anyway... You can go back and look it up...I was on record the day they drafted Geno Smith that he was a mediocre college QB... I also commented that his demeanor and how he handled falling in the draft was a prime example of why NOT to draft him. I was right. John Idzik MAY have a grand plan but it most certainly is not to field a competitive football team. I don't care if you have HALF your football team up for contracts the next year...you do NOT sacrifice THIS year to make sure you can sign a couple of players. God damn it! I don't give a shit if Wilkerson is the next coming of Reggie White...HE does not touch the football! J.J. Watt may be the best football player on the planet...how did that help Houston yesterday? You do NOT go into a season with $21million in cap space if you 100% KNOW that a part of your football team is going to suck ass hole! almost HALF of that 300 yards in the 1st half came on TWO pass plays god damn it! Add to that...how many of his draft picks are still on the team...let along playing? They say that the average hit on any draft is 2 players sticking...that, of course, is based on drafting the normal 7 players. We drafted TWELVE...that, should in effect, mean we have four quality players on our team from the 2014 draft... I see TWO. I'm on record as saying "John Idzik who the fuck is this guy???" Rex Ryan...I'm sorry, say what you want...the man can coach...BUT, he just may not be the right guy for the mess we have now. Rex Ryan excels with a veteran group of players who are self-motivated and KNOW their responsibilities. Rex Ryan is not made to deal with a bunch of young/younger players who need their hands held and play wet nurse. Not an excuse...but fact. I think we, as a team, are going to regret not getting the man what he needs to win because he is the NY Jets next Bill Belicheck. Mark my words...he IS going to get fired from the NY Jets...but I suspect the next team he goes to will spend the next 10 years beating the hell out of the Jets just because that is who he is. I don't know what it is....karma...the stars misaligned...what...I don't know why the NY Jets are continually doomed to fail...but it is what it is... The only way to fix this mess is to start at the top with Idzik...bring in a mother F'n REAL football mind and then step back. At this point, I'd take, as GM, ANYONE who has at least 20 years in the business. Period. Not a god damn assistant to the lawyer of a coach...but you PAY a top flight asshole to fix the whole organization from the top to the bottom. THAT is the only way we work our way back to respectability. I'm going to take a beating for this one too...but something tells me we are going to regret letting Mark Sanchez go too...I can feel it! Ce la vie....
That game was about as bad as can be expected. As Rex said, it was all on him. This has been a coaching failure. The offense started the season looking real promising. Geno was throwing the ball well, distributing the ball to all his receivers and moving up and down the field. The running game looked awesome. The red zone attack sputtered against the Raiders but you could see the start of something that looked like a Morningweg offensive attack in the Packers game. The first half of the Packers game was the best I've seen the Jet offense execute since before Sanchez. But since the Bears game, when Geno threw 2 stupid picks the whole offense has become predictable and pedestrian, and opposition defenses know whats coming and are teeing off. They are putting 9 men in the box on 1st downs knowing it will be a Ivory dive. They setup Geno for 3rd and longs and send the house and he's just not ready for it. The HC has done to Geno what he did to Sanchez. Clip his wings, go ground and pound when he makes a few mistakes. Well guess what, your young QB will make those mistakes. It will be frustrating. But if you dont want that you should start the veteran.
Perfect supporting statement backing up my original...Rex Ryan is not built to coach young players...especially QB's... He needs a veteran team. To be honest, whether it would have been the right or wrong answer...We are a 2 or 3 win time with Mike Vick behind center simply BECAUSE of that dynamic. Long term success be damned....
Several things kinda sent this team in the wrong direction. First was the 8-8 finish from last year. It made people think this team was on the verge and gave the impression that the Jets were better than their record had shown. Instead of 8-8 being the floor, it became the ceiling in 2014 as this is the team that if you take away the two lucky wins, Yeah, they were lucky wins, 6-10 is a more accurate picture. The second was the Raider game. Everybody talked about how great this team was and how far Geno has come and so forth. The reality is, the Raiders are a worse football team than anyone thought and that victory made the Jets look a lot better than they are. All the games since have been a harsh reality check for both the team and its disillusioned fanbase. Remember all those 10-11 win predictions early on? Seems like a long time ago now doesn't it. Hell, it will take a minor miracle to reach 8-8 and honestly, I'm not so sure 8-8 will get Rex walked. Why? Woody hates dead money and he's not gonna pay Rex to coach someone else's team. I also said early on that 2014 wasn't the year of the run. Thanks to Idzik rat holing so much cap space, I was right although I had no idea Idzik would turn cheapskate so quickly nor did I think Woody would be so quick to sign off on it. As usual, we as Jet fans find ourselves at yet another low point. That light at the end of the tunnel is most likely an express train headed southbound just like this team. Am I whining about it? Nope because I've seen this happen over the decades and am rarely surprised by anything the Jets FO does. All Jet Fans should simply adopt a results oriented view of the Jets. Forget the statements, press conferences et al. Just look at the record and stop chasing windmills.
Pfffftt....chasing windmills...I'm chasing a competitive football game on Sunday! LOL I guess my answer is the same as the CBS affiliate there in NY...or so the boards told me... "change the channel to a better football team" if I'm to watch any kind of competitive football. <sigh> I think my time is up for this team this year... To be honest...I would change your statement of "minor miracle" to MAJOR miracle. I have ZERO confidence in this team to be competitive with Miami and only reasonable expectation of splitting with Buffalo...I don't think the Jets are a 4 win team right now...not looking at the rest of the schedule. In fact I wouldn't pick us to win against Jacksonville...
As a final thought...you know what REALLY sucks? I could have saved myself a shit load of money NOT getting DirecTV and NOT getting Sunday Ticket if I wanted to watch competitive football... The 49'ers are on every weekend....period. That's the biggest bitch of it all. Sadly I can't compare to the thousands of poor assholes who paid PSL's and actually bought tickets to the Jets home games...those are the REAL losers in the crowd.
Good post, and i agree regarding the statements, press conferences, etc... that shit never matters, the record does. I don't think many grounded fans thought this was the year of the run, but yesterday really sent it to some place ugly. 8-8 was my preseason prediction, but i don't think we'll get there any longer short of a massive turnaround (which i don't see coming). it is indeed a low point.
It's an ugly looking season, and its definitely reinforcing the fact that we are in fact rebuilding, and last years success doesnt change that. That aspect of it I'm ok with. New GM comes in and cleans house, rebuilding the team in his vision. Its what I wanted as a Jet fan. Show some direction in roster management. Thats where I thought this was going. Idzik put up with Woody's stupid "keep Rex" rule. Keep Rex for a year, rebuild the team and bring in your own guy. No problem. Then he keeps Rex at the end of last season and everything changes. Is he all in with Rex as head coach? Did Woody make him retain Rex? Did he succomb to fan pressure and re-sign him? Does he want Rex to be the man to take the fall this year so his guy comes into a better situation? I'm betting on the latter, but I really dont know.
You said it my man.... Yes, I'm a fairly grounded guy...was hoping for a 10 win season but most certainly would have settled for 8 & 8...But this....this is unconscionable. And Sunday...I'm not sure I'm even going to turn it on. The Broncos are quite capable of laying 60 on us. VERY in fact. Not sure I want to see that.
Now you see...in this I disagree. If I am GM of a team I don't care what the reason is behind my HC. If I'm told to keep him I do...if it's given to me to decide...I do... There is zero excuse to go into a season with $21million in cap space and field a team with this little depth and competitive talent. None...zip nada... That, my friend, is squarely on the GM.
I agree completely Mezz. That's why I'm gonna slow smoke a brisket next Sunday just to give me something else to concentrate on besides watch Peyton Manning bitchslap our secondary and LB's all over MetLife stadium.
I'm not sure what you're disagreeing with me at. Could you elaborate so I could form a bit of a response. I'm not commending him for his lack of cap space use, just pointing out what the reasons could be.
this is pretty much how I feel all the time now about the Jets - no matter what we do, who we draft, I always feel like its going to end badly, specially in relation to the most important position on the field - this team just cannot draft/develop a QB.
That is the $64mm question (or $20mm question if you prefer). I fully get the concept of rolling cap room into the following year. It's usually done with clear goals in mind. Everyone keeps stating they need it to re-sign Mo Wilk. Well.... yes and no.. the Jets do have a 5th yr option on him for next year that would pay him in the area of $6mm. That's a far cry from $20mm. If you look at the RFA and UFA after this year I don't see them signing any of the top earners to lucrative contracts again.. David Harris.. likely gone Willie Colon... please be gone Michael Vick... give him back up $$ or get a vet back up Kyle Wilson... please be gone Dawan Landry... likely gone Powell / Kerley.. re-sign but not for crazy $$ The only other FA worth paying anything of value for is Damon Harrison. Before I bash Idzik too much for doing nothing this year we really don't have a view into his vision for the future. On D the glaring need is CB. Next year the CB's available that aren't long in the tooth worth considering are : Kareem Jackson Brandon Flowers Patrick Robinson On Offense there are so many needs its hard to possibly consider what he's thinking. The whole O line needs to be looked at.. Mangold has a few more years but his replacement needs to be on the roster soon. D'Brick is in the same camp. As for the rest of the O line they aren't worth a damn as starters. At WR other than Decker / Kerley there is no MUST keep player. QB is a fiasco as well. CJ2k isn't worth keeping around, I'd re-sign Powell to a reasonable contract and fill in from there with another reasonable contract in FA as RB doesn't command the $$ it used to for teams.
Jets should trade a few expiring contracts. I'm sure a team would take David Harris for a playoff run. Maybe Colon too
IMO it is time to start over, exit Idzik, exit Rex Ryan. Idzik was never really qualified (doesnt mean he cant be successful), but he accepted the job under the fact that he would not get to choose his own head coach. This limited the Jets options for GMs, we could have had a more quality GM had we allowed them to fire Ryan. I wanted Ryan to stay, the truth is Tannenbaum should have been given one more season, and then bounce both had they failed. Now we are going to fire our head coach, and next year is year three of Idzik, who hasnt done a good job overall. Idzik could end up being great, but he could also end up being really bad, but I rather not wait 3 years to find out. Just start over, is it fair for Idzik? no it is not, but it just needs to happen. Bring in a new GM, bring in a new head coach, and do it the right way.
And I never thought I would say this, but pursue Jim Harbaugh at all costs. If he becomes available, get him, find a GM that can work with him. (That is the main issue in San Fransisco, he wants full control of the team like Belichick, the GM wont give it to him, the GM has picked the players, Harbaugh wants to pick players......like Rex but he might be a little better at it).
