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I was more active on Twitter (X) today than I normally am on game days.
Because in order to bring truth to power, you have to combat misleading narratives, and two were being pushed repeatedly today.
One was the Jets are tanking and that is why they played so poorly today, and in the previous five games.
For the most part, that is BS.
Now, it should be pointed out that Bart Scott, who works for the team’s official website and SNY, said after the Jets’ loss to New England:
“The fact that we put (quarterback) Tyrod Taylor down and we didn’t start him let us know that the mission was to lose, competitive tanking. It wasn’t competitive, it was just tanking.”
It’s hard to argue with what Scott, who often appears on the Jets’ official podcast with Eric Allen on the team’s website, is saying.
If the veteran Taylor is healthy, and you start an undrafted rookie free agent, who went undrafted due to accuracy issues, perhaps you are trying to tank for a higher draft pick, and the Jets will now be picking second overall.
But to me, that is where the tank talk should begin and end.
When you see the Bills, playing with a patchwork line featuring some backups, gashing the Jets on the ground, whether it’s big runs up the middle, often against their two starting DTs, who the media continue to hype, and the two season-long starters behind them, that isn’t tanking.
That is just bad roster construction.
Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs are two ideal backup defensive tackles, who would rotate in for the starters. They are not starters.
Quincy Williams and Jamien Sherwood are also both probably better suited to backup roles. That contract Aaron Glenn gave Sherwood in March was shocking, especially since the film from 2024 wasn’t that great. It’s one thing to try to get something out of Williams, who was under contract already, but to look at Sherwood’s film at 2024, and give him a three-year deal, for $45 million, with $30 million guaranteed. Mind-boggling.
The run defense up the middle was a horror show today.
And Jason McCourty also pointed out today that the Jets do a bad job setting the edge as well.
Do you think the four guys in the middle of the front seven were tanking? They were trying, but they all should be backups.
The Jets finished this season with no interceptions.
Now, people were quick to point out, especially the CBS announcers, all the injuries in the secondary. And that was the second bogus narrative being pushed all today. The Jets are ravaged by injuries and that his impacting them.
But every iteration of this secondary, even when Sauce Garder was still in town, and even when they were healthier a few weeks ago, didn’t garner an interception.
The reason for the lack of picks was not having enough instinctive cover guys in the back seven, and a lousy pass rush, forcing the cover guys to have to hold up too long.
I have to give McCourty credit; he was more candid about the issues with the Jets’ defense today than any analyst all year.
He said that Williams and Sherwood have not played well in zone pass coverage.
That is one of the reasons you are constantly seeing wide-open targets.
In the secondary, did you notice that nickel back Jordan Clark and safety Dean Clark were not starting today?
They were struggling mightily, and should not have been put in such prominent roles, even with injuries – two UDFAs who don’t run well.
They refused to play Nik Needham, who had 29 starts in Miami.
My point is simple – Stop blaming injuries and tanking for what we have seen over the last five weeks.
While I agree with Scott that starting a rookie UDFA with accuracy issues over Taylor, is tanking material, some of this other stuff is just bad coaching and roster construction, not tanking.
When Sherwood got beat for a gain of 26 yards on a crossing route by TE Dalton Kincaid, is that tanking?
It’s stupid to even think that. If there was indeed a tank, Sherwood’s not in on it. He’s just not that instinctive coverage, and that has been the case his entire time as a starter.
Stop with the excuses for what we have seen.
The Jets need a reboot.
They didn’t build anything this year.
With Glenn coming back, the Jets need a total reboot, like the rebuild is starting now.
In other words, they need to move forward like they are starting over again.
And if Glenn has final say on the roster, that needs to change.
January 4, 2025
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