The Big Picture (Reggie Bush)

[Barton]

http://www.newsday.com/sports/weblog/archives/2005/11/the_jets_are_on_1.html

The Jets are on the clock

By Mark La Monica

Actively hoping for the New Orleans Saints to generate a productive, successful football season is just about as American as you can get.

From the complete destruction of their city, and the lives and homes lost to everything else depicted on CNN in the days and weeks after Hurricane Katrina, Saints fandom is a wonderful thing.

Here are two more words that should make everyone in New York a Saints fan this Sunday night: Reggie. Bush.

If the Jets can do the job right and lose to the Saints, they can remain in a tie for second place in the NFL Draft standings.

Let those Colts chase perfection. And those teams in the NFC East can hammer each other into submission. Jets fans have Ludacris goals -- they cannot slip up or get got because they're coming for that No.1 spot.

With a season this awful, the only thing Jets fans can do is look to the future and pray for the No. 1 pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. On that April Saturday, Paul Tagliabue can stroll to the podium and announce, "With the No. 1 pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, the New York Jets select Reggie Bush from Southern California."

How can this happen? We begin with a look at the inverted standings:

TEAM REC GB Opp %

Houston 1-9 -- .350

Jets 2-8 1 .417

Green Bay 2-8 1 .550

New Orleans 2-8 1 .550

Tennessee 2-8 1 .517

San Fran 2-8 1 .417

Arizona 3-7 2 .483

Baltimore 3-7 2 .450

Miami 3-7 2 .400

All these teams have six games left this season, none of which includes Texans vs. Jets in the football equivalent of an "I quit" match.

However, there is hope for the tortured green souls.

Four of the Texans' six remaining games are against teams on this list: Ravens, Titans, Cardinals and 49ers.

Three reasons to send the NFL scheduling guru a holiday fruitcake:

1) Surely the Texans can win one of these games. They've been playing better of late and Andre Johnson is healthy again.

2) Another win for Houston is good for New York.

3) Should the Texans lose all four of those games, the Ravens, Titans, Cardinals and 49ers plummet on the inverted standings, rendering their seasons just plain awful rather than building for next year.

The Jets host the Saints then travel to New England. Back home for ever-improving Oakland, down to Miami for some Jason Taylor and Ronnie Brown (and, sadly, Gus Frerotte), home for the Patriots and Bills.

No gimmes in that group, especially when the Jets must choose their quarterback from a list that reads as such: Brooks Bollinger, Vinny Testaverde and Kliff Kingsbury.

Hmmm, the words "Gus" and "Frerotte" don't sound so bad anymore.

The Saints are hampered by no home field, a coach named Jim Haslett and a collective 33-27 record for its opponents. A win this weekend against the Jets is a must. Otherwise, don't even bother watching USC in the Rose Bowl. A colonoscopy followed by root canal would be more comforting.

Green Bay must deal with injuries to every skill position player who ever heard of Wisconsin and an old Brett Favre. That gaudy 33-27 record for its opponents is indeed imposing, but one of those opponents is 4-6 Detroit. Plus, Favre will not lose his last two games of the season at Lambeau Field. One maybe, but not two.

The Titans and 49ers play three teams on this list. The bad news: The Titans and 49ers stink equally. The good news: Nov. 27, 1 p.m, 49ers at Titans. Oh lord, please don't let there be a tie.

Will the Cardinals be the ones to spoil the Colts' perfect season in Week 17? Not a chance. But Dennis Green will bring another win to the tradition-rich desert.

Kyle Boller might not even be able to start for the Jets. He's that bad. But one of the Ravens' games is at home against Mike Tice's Vikings in Week 16, so that's a guaranteed win.

Miami has the second easiest schedule. There is every reason to believe the Dolphins can squeeze out at least one more victory. Then comes Dec. 18, 2005.

This is where the NFL schedule delivers a two-handed stomach punch followed by a 55-yard groin kick. The Jets host the Dolphins. Two bad teams, two bad records, one Reggie Bush.

It may be impossible to openly root against the Jets that day. But we must think of the bigger picture here.

Wow, great, we beat the Dolphins but we lose Reggie Bush. Not a trade Jets fans should be willing to make. We need to lose games, not draft slots.

So, lift your glasses, raise your leftover turkey sandwich and join me in cheering for the Saints on Sunday night.

[nj meadowlands]

F you Lamonifag. Go Jets Sunday night.

[Maxman]

Rooting for your favorite team to lose is just wrong. WRONG.

[StillerPaul]

3) Should the Texans lose all four of those games, the Ravens, Titans, Cardinals and 49ers plummet on the inverted standings, rendering their seasons just plain awful rather than building for next year.

So lemme get this straight. By not getting Reggie Bush they will continue to be awful, while the one team that gets Reggie Bush will be the one building for the future? Where is the logic in that statement? If thats true, then why don't a team just pull a Mike Ditka and trade their whole freakin' draft for the guy? I don't get some of these writers, they're nuts IMO.

[BwanaZulia]

Rooting for your favorite team to lose is just wrong. WRONG.

Very wrong.

BZ

[Jet Black]

It might be wrong on one level but I bet Spur fans and Cavalier fans had no problem when their teams tanked the season to get Tim Duncan and Lebron James respectively. Some times you have to sacrifice the present for the future.

For me I just want the team to allow its' younger players to develop and play hard competitive football for the remainder of the season. That said, if losing our remaining games is what it takes to get a once in a generation talent like Bush that I have no problem with it.

[Bugg]

Devils and Pens were both in the hunt the year Mario Lemieux was the top pick. Pens tanked the season and wound up with Super Mario. As it hapopens, dues to superior management that came later, the Devs had some success. But for a superstar-which it appears Bush very much is-in the long run it's better to tank it.

Plus, if the Jets lose this game to this ghastly Saints team at home and look awful again, we may be closer to Edwards walking the plank. Losing is now a win/win situation. I know-the "vote of confidence" from the Woodmeister is already in. But be real-that's almost always the last thing that's said before the agate type announcement in the newspaper that starts "JETS: announced that Head Coach Herman Edwards has been relieved of his duties."

[BwanaZulia]

I just want my team to win.

Not lose now and win later.

Not lose now and get a prize.

Not lose now and hope for the best.

Just win.

Play hard. Win.

BZ

[Barton]

It might be wrong on one level but I bet Spur fans and Cavalier fans had no problem when their teams tanked the season to get Tim Duncan and Lebron James respectively. Some times you have to sacrifice the present for the future.

For me I just want the team to allow its' younger players to develop and play hard competitive football for the remainder of the season. That said, if losing our remaining games is what it takes to get a once in a generation talent like Bush that I have no problem with it.

Well Said.

I'd like anybody here to tell me what's the point of winning tomorrow, next week, or any games remaining this season? For WHAT? Come April, nobody will give a flying **** that we beat the Saints on SNF. But we sure as hell will care if we have the 5th overall pick and cant get our hands on Bush or Dbrickshaw Ferguson.

IMHO, its in the best interests of the team for the future, to lose today. Somethings gotta give, this season is already over, we might as well throw some fuel into the fire to let it burn more, so we can rise up from the ashes in April to grab the premier talent - Reggie Bush.