Gang Green Nation
One thing I’ve tried to be careful about this year is grading the Jets on a curve.
When a team is bad, the easiest thing in the world to do is rage for clicks. The reality entering this season, however, was that the Jets were likely to be a bad team. The roster was short on talent, and the new head coach and general manager had little to do with it. That was the residue of poor decisions the previous regime and current owner made in the past.
With that said, I think there have to be standards for a coaching staff even in a deep rebuild.
Look, I understand the roster has gotten worse even than the one that took the field Week 1 with low expectations. There were three genuine stars on the team in the opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Two have been traded and one other has been shut down for the season with an injury. The Jets are currently starting many players who were on the field for the second half of their preseason games in August.
I’m not saying I’m expecting the Jets to win most weeks. I acknowledge the challenges this team has.
You know where I draw the line? I draw it when I see the lack of professionalism we have witnessed the last three weeks. The Jets don’t look like a team interested in playing out the season. And I would argue the Week 16 loss to the Saints is their new lowest moment.
I can excuse this team failing to a certain point, but when the Jets aren’t even competitive against a 4-10 team it’s tough to defend the coaching staff. You can talk all you want about the Saints playing better ball lately. They still entered this game with a 4-10 record for a reason. This isn’t the sort of team you should ever expect to be blown out by. The Jets are in a tough spot, but they aren’t the first team to put a roster full of holes on the field. These are still NFL players.
I always think one of the weakest defenses of a coach this time of year is, “His team is still playing hard for him.”
These guys are professionals. Even when their team is out of the Playoff race, the film they put out in these games is their resume in this line of work. Fans also spend a lot of money to go to games. To me, playing hard is a baseline expectation, not something to celebrated.
When I watch these games, I do have to wonder, however, how hard this team is actually competing. It’s not everybody. Some guys are out there clearly giving a lot of effort. But I don’t think I see a team fighting with everything it has to win games.
That is one of many issues with this current Jets team. These issues can’t all be laid at the feet of the coaching staff, but you...
