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Any way you slice it, they have a lot of work to do.
They have to improve the roster and other things, like perhaps some aspects of the defensive strategy, which some consider too predictable at times. The defense finished 32nd in the NFL. The Jets have a lot of work to do, especially on that side of the ball in 2022.
So that brings us to this tweet from their official Twitter account, promoting the upcoming episode of their TV show – “One Jets Drive.”
“What does it mean to believe? It’s more than words. Or numbers on a stat sheet. It’s leadership. A culture that runs deeper than 60 minutes on Sunday. Knowing something exists before you see it.”
This is a very philosophical tweet, and I’m not being sarcastic or flippant. It really is.
But they are coming off a 4-13 season.
They missed the playoffs for the 11th straight season, a current NFL high.
There isn’t anything positive about those two facts.
Some people would say that is being negative, but I would disagree, it’s more about being realistic.
“You are what your record says it is.” – Bill Parcells
On the positive side, the Jets have a chance to have a transformative off-season with two picks in the top ten in the first two rounds. That is amazing draft capital. And let’s not forget they also have a pick at the top of the third round. That is amazing draft capital. The value of the two picks in the top ten in the first round is obvious. but high second and third-round picks are very valuable. Players you value often slip out of the first round – just look at Elijah Moore and Michael Carter, who the Jets had much higher grades than where they were picked, and those higher grades were warranted.
The Jets also have plenty of cap space.
They need to hit this off-season out of the park. That’s the only thing that matters right now.
In football, a winning culture should lead to winning on game day. Perhaps that starts happening more if the Jets ace this off-season.
But they are fresh off a 4-13 season, and that is not good. You can’t put lipstick on that and make it pretty.
So not sure about that concept that “a culture that runs deeper than 60 minutes on Sunday” really means. What is more important than what happens on game day in the NFL?
As Herman Edwards once famously said: “You play to win the game.”
And they aren’t just coming off a loss in Buffalo, but a game they amassed 53 yards on offense. Not all numbers on the “stat sheet” matter, but this one does. Bad weather and limited weapons contributed, but 53 yards offense is a really bad deal, no matter how you look at it.
As for “knowing something exists before you see it.”
That I just don’t get.
If that were a reality in life, we would all make millions in the stock market.
I really don’t know what is going to happen with the Jets in the future.
It could be an amazing future.
But this idea of special things are coming, but we just don’t see them yet, is hard to prove, and I’m not going to attempt to.
The football people just need to roll their sleeves up, and kill this off-season, with strong moves in free agency and the draft, and player development in the off-season programs.
That is all you can control.
None of us have a crystal ball and can see the future, so nobody can know “something exists before you see it.”
As Elvis Presley sang, it’s time for “A little less conversation and a little more action.”
January 14, 2021
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