Jets run over by Giants

From the Jets fan's perspective, let's take a look at the pros and cons of this performance. Since it was a dismal loss, I'll start with the cons:

1) The Jets defense is not the dominant unit it once was. For all the poor play of the O, it's been the fall off in the play of the D that has led to the team's declining fortunes this year. The two Bradshaw TD's, and the Cruz TD, were indicative of what's wrong with this squad: they're too enamored with their image, and not convinced they need to bring it every down. All three of those TD plays could have been stuffed. In all three cases, defenders were where they needed to be to snuff out the play, but the defenders in question got manhandled and out-willed by the ball carrier. A good football coach would be tearing a new a-hole for these guys, but Rex just tells them how good they are. This team was built to be D first, and they're good--but not great. The way this team's been constructed, they need to be great.

2) Sanchez has not been the same QB since he was repeatedly mauled by the Ravens early this season. I believe he was concussed in that game, and he's had happy feet and muddled decision making ever since. Whether Sanchez can be the Sanchise is an open question at this point. He might only get one more year to prove he can be, if his play doesn't start to improve.

3) The O-Line was horrible. Granted, the Giants have one of the better pass rushing units in the league, but there are two pro-bowlers on the Jets line, and the whole unit has garnered a lot of good press. It looks unearned after this game. The pro-bowl center gave away the football at the most crucial moment in the game, on a 3rd and goal from the Giant 1. He snapped the ball off his own leg, and ricocheted forward into the Giant endzone for a crushing turnover. A few plays later, the D managed a turnover and the Jets came down to score and make it a one possession game, but it was just a horrible play. Ferguson couldn't contain Pierre-Paul, who constantly harrassed Sanchez. The ground game was fairly ineffective after the first drive. If the young stars on the line can't perform when all chips are down, that doesn't bode well.

4) Rex gives the other team too much bulletin board material, and has his team focused on all the wrong things going into a game. His players are worried about the verbal tete-a-tete, going back and forth through the press all week, when they need to be figuring out their assignments and preparing themselves for the game. The accountability is crap. Rex defends guys making terrible plays, and what's worse, guys showing terrible judgment (think Santonio last week), while the team gets outwilled. This feeds into everything I've always feared about Rex--a players coach looks great for the first year, and then things quickly turn to crap. Well, Rex may be the ultimate players coach. Yet he managed to squeeze two great years out of his team. I think things are now on a downward trajectory. Rex has certainly earned another year, even though the Jets likely won't make the playoffs this year. That said, I'd fire him now, because I don't see anyway this team can be better than they were this year with Rex at the helm. Coughlin had his team ready to play today, despite being with the Giants for the last 10 years. People forget how hard that is. It's easy to get guys motivated when you're a new voice. When players have been hearing you for years, it's much harder. But that's what happens when you discipline your team and have them habituated to hard work. The Jets are habituated to yapping and thinking they'll win, and I don't think they work that hard.

The pros:

1) Not making the playoffs will hopefully open people's (read: Jets fans and management) eyes to the fact that the Ryan era may have to end sooner than later.

2) Revis is everything he's cracked up to be. You just had to figure he would make a huge play as the Giants kept challenging him. He kept single-handedly squelching key plays, and then finally turned in the biggest play of the day for the Jets--causing the pass to get tipped that led to the Harris INT, the play that kept the Jets in the game after the atrocious Mangold turnover. The guy's a leader.patient)