NEW YORK JETS: Half Way Through The Regular Season, D-Generation Rex Is Caught In A Downward Spiral. With The Bye Coming Next Week, The Jets Have Two Weeks Of Decision Making Ahead.
The storm of all perfect storms descended upon Met-Life Stadium Sunday afternoon. Tried as they might to fly through adverse conditions, the Jets never had a chance. Sunday's flight was doomed from go. The plane never even made the tarmac. The pilot never made it to the plane. Marc Sanchez was stopped at the gate. Fans are starting to suspect their fly boy is playing under the influence of Performance Depleting Drugs. Maybe Tim Tebow is diabolically flaking Marc's food at the buffet table? That's called not-so-very-creative fiction and a poor attempt at humor people! But the reality of the Jets condition is the quarterback is playing as if he was on dope none the less.
In an ever downward spiraling season filled with worse upon worse efforts, Sunday's was the worst performance by Marc Sanchez of perhaps both his entire college and professional career. Aiding and abetting in four sacks-against due to horrible presence in the pocket, an interception, a fumble, were only what the box score show. To watch him Sunday, made Jets fans eyes bleed.
Before we get to all the other inclement elements of Sunday's humiliating loss to the Miami
Make no mistake, this was a perfect storm. They are now 3-5 this season, with a 2-2 division record. They barley defeated the Dolphins in overtime in the first match-up. The Jets opening week game against the Bills stands as their best season effort so far. Then their win over the Colts was just that, against the Colts. But the Jets are now thoroughly exposed.
If you take away Shonn Greene's thirty six yard romp, the Jets rushed twenty times for only sixty nine yards. Marc Sanchez was forced to attempt fifty four passes, and wound up throwing twenty six incompletions. But should any offense they generated in the 4th quarter really count considering this game was effectively lost in the first quarter? If you're going by the actual score, the Jets lost the game within the first eleven minutes of the game.
Part of this overall ineptness must fall on the offensive coordinator. Here's a question - what is he doing? Marc's worst season is coinciding with the coordinator's first season. Sparano waited until he faced his former team in Week Three to inaugurate the first hints it might be Tebow Time. Since then, many fans have gotten lost with how seemingly Coach Sparano incoherently implements the Jets weapon of mass disruption. The plan has done more to interrupt Marc Sanchez' flow and promising drives, than anything except for their poor offensive line play. But not Sunday. Sunday was all Marc, all day. He didn't take care of the ball. He had no feel for the pocket. He couldn't even complete a simple screen pass.
Defensively, the Jets still can't stop Reggie Bush. He and Daniel Thomas combined to rush twenty nine times for 101 yards. It was enough. The real defensive blow to the ego was losing to back-up quarterback Matt Moore. Miami's starter, Ryan Tannehill's day didn't start out too promising. But after he pulled a quad muscle via an actual Jets sack, the game took a not so funny football bounce against the Jets. Their special teams, and everything else, feel apart like wet toilet paper.
How bad was New York's start against Miami? Mike Westhoff is known for coaching superior special teams units. Sunday, his teams were repeatedly embarrassed all game long. All players have one bad day at work they would prefer to forget. When one suffers, the others cover. We all get that. Against Miami, all special teams players shared in having their worst day together. That spells doom. An on-side kick and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown in the first quarter alone were the start of a miserable afternoon for Jets fans. Yet another blocked field goal attempt before the half just about disenfranchised everyone in attendance of their pursuit of happiness.
How did they start the 3rd quarter? - By allowing a fifty seven yard kick-off return. By then, the score was howling in the Jets faces with 27-0 winds. Then came a near Marc Sanchez pick, followed by an actual Sanchez pick. Then another sack. Then more and more and more....
The 30-9 final score is hardly indicative of the damage. The Jets played far worse. They suffered poor special teams play, which to be fair, will no doubt be corrected. The Jets defense are having their troubles. They are still a good defense. But they are being asked to do too much now. To be fair, they are without Derrelle Revis, and were without Bart Scott, and so on. But despite injuries, the defense was already proving to be somewhat suspect. And then there was the offense. There was none. With one or two exceptions, the offensive line is inferior. Shonn Greene is trying, but the running game is sub-standard. Additionally, with Santonio Holmes out, and even with Dustin Keller in, there are no game changing receivers to speak of.
All this ultimately brings us to Marc Sanchez and Tim Tebow. The Jets have given Marc Sanchez a fair shot at securing the job without having to look over his shoulder, except for stupid conceptual plays here and there. The job has been his. Tim Tebow has not had the pleasure of starting at quarterback yet. I believe he was afforded one partial drive all season under center.
I do not believe, at all, Tim Tebow will change the Jets fortunes. Not in a box, not with a fox. Not here, nor there, not anywhere. However, at this point, asking why not give the offense to Tebow after one half of a season spent spiraling out of control, is the most valid question in the NFL right now. An independent, yet relative question is, why is he here? There is one fact towards that end which justifies everything. The Dolphins dominated.
All is not lost. Not by a long stretch. The season is ONLY half over. The Jets have two weeks to get back in the lab and conjure a solution.
Mike.BTB
I sadly don't see doing much more this season and not making the Super Bowl with out some big changes
ReplyDeleteI think you're right. The only thing they can do is change questionable personnel. But it is too late now... The trade dead line passed. If you ask me, Tannenbaum is on the hot seat. And I don't believe he and Rex are not tied at the hip.
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