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It’s a hot mess . . .
People are making a big deal about Christopher Johnson meeting with Todd Bowles on Monday. He always meets with Bowles on Monday.
One website wrote, “Is Jets’ Todd Bowles on the brink of bad news? He’ll meet with ownership on Monday.”
This is misleading – they always meet.
I don’t see Christopher as the firing type.
In my opinion, if it happens, Ira Axselrad, Christopher’s right-hand man would be a driving force.
I also heard, from a source, that Mike Maccagnan got a longer contract extension than Bowles last off-season, so he might have a little more power than the coach, which wasn’t the case when they came in together in 2015.
Last off-season, Johnson gave Bowles and Maccagnan contract extensions. Bowles got two additional years (through 2020) and it was thought that Maccagnan got the same, but I’m told by a league source that Maccagnan got extended longer. So with that being the case, perhaps he now has more power than Bowles.
I constantly see Maccagnan talking to Axselrad on the sideline before games.
So my point here is simple – if the Jets make a move with the head coach, I believe Chris will need to be pushed by Axselrad or Maccagnan, and perhaps his brother from London.
Christopher is a such a nice guy that I think he’d have a hard time firing the coach. I don’t think Woody would have as hard a time.
I heard from a source that Woody had kind soured on Bowles after the 2016 season, but then all the talk about Woody becoming ambassador kicked in and his brother took over. It was Christopher who gave Bowles the two-year contract extension after last year’s 5-11 season, not Woody. It was Christopher who called Bowles “quite extraordinary” after last season, not Woody.
I’m not calling for Bowles to be fired. I don’t believe in firing coaches in print.
I’m just saying, that with all the speculation about his job, it’s going to take Ira and perhaps Mike/Woody to push Christopher to do it. I don’t think Christopher, of his own volition, would want to go there right now.
What happened on Sunday against Buffalo was totally unacceptable.
I’m not even going to focus on the offense. The offense didn’t play well, but Buffalo does have a very good defense. Tom Brady struggled against them a couple of weeks ago.
If Bowles is in trouble, it has got to be because of the defense.
The Jets gave up 41 points to a Bills team that had scored 33 points combined in its previous four games. And the Bills were starting a QB, Matt Barkley, who has only been with them for a couple of weeks.
The Jets defensive performance today, especially in the first half, was shocking.
Their run defense was a joke, and a QB, who barely knows their offense, threw for 232 yards, two touchdowns and a 117.4 QB rating.
As far as the run defense, the gap control was horrendous. Guys were constantly out of position, contributing to Bills running for 212 yards.
The Jets went mostly with a two-man defensive line today, and got pushed around. It was a bad plan, and they stayed with it most of the game. They should have dropped this concept quickly, but didn’t. It seemed like Bills running backs often had a five-yard running start on plays. The two defensive linemen were consistently manhandled, and without protection, offensive linemen were getting to Darron Lee. Terrible plan.
As for pass defense, there were myriad blown coverage, including by the nickel back who is beyond reproach. Also, Matt Barkley faced almost no pass rush – it was like a seven-on-seven practice passing drill, with no line, and the QB just playing pitch-and-catch.
Their defense today looked like a bunch of guys playing a pickup game in the school-yard. There was so little discipline.
November 11, 2018
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