NY Jets 2016 Season Post-Season Opinion (TLDR Warning)

[Warfish]

On Today’s Defeat:

Without question, today was one of the most heartbreaking, bitter, painful losses in my 35 years as a Jets Fan.  To lose, like this, to who we lost to, with what was at stake….heart-rending.  Utterly heart-rending.  If you did not feel like someone shot your puppy by the end of today’s game, I would question if your heart is really in it being a Jets Fan.

Some points:

-Our ongoing weakness at Running Back was fatal today.  I like Ivory enough when he’s healthy.  He is rarely healthy.  I like Powell, I suppose, as a #2 Running Back.  When he shows up.  And when he’s healthy.  He’s almost never both.  Our inability to run today was, in my view, our primary flaw an greatest deficiency in beating a Rex Ryan football team.  No running game, no clock control, no field position control, too much pressure on the passing game.  And it all started with having Ridley, God save us, as today’s #1, and effectively only available, Running Back.

-The Defense sh*t the bed.  There is no kind way to say this.  The defense, starting with our highest paid player, utterly sh*t the bed today.  For almost the entire game, they simply could not stop a mediocre Buffalo QB and his one and only WR.  Revis was horrific, burned left and right all day, giving so much of a cushion it was commented on repeatedly by the announcing team, and looking lost on coverages and his help regularly.  Buffalo was successful on so many third-and-long plays, almost all to their one and only WR of note, I was simply flabbergasted it kept working.  Today, the defense came out flat, and stayed flat.  To get this poor a performance, with this much on the line, from Revis…..utterly unforgiveable.  I remain convinced he is by far the most overpaid, overhyped player on our team given his actual production and effect on the game.  Be assured, no one, NO ONE, fears “Revis Island” in the NFL anymore.

-Fitzpatrick.  Showed us the limitation of a Ryan Fitzpatrick today.  With no running game worth speaking of, dropped passes in several key situation (at least three I recall that would have resulted in uncontested TD’s), a strong wind, and average (at best) protection…..well, Ryan Fitzpatrick is Ryan Fitzpatrick, not Tom Brady, not Peyton Manning, not Brett Favre.  He will not win games on his own without help.  The TD in the end zone was unforgiveable.  The final two…..very forgivable, given one was due to no protection (hit while throwing) and the other a last second desperation throw without remotely enough time to actually do anything.  

-Jets Special Teams.  Quigley must be cut.  Sorry man, but you got to go, no Punter lives costing a team in our position seven because of a 21 yard punt.  Fat Kicker must be cut.  He’s horrible, and our man Folk will be back (and he is not terrible).  Both kicking positions should be open next year for material upgrades.  Kerley is a horrible kick returned, but at least kick returning is as irrelevant in today’s NFL as to not matter.  But our kickers, as much as any other individuals, cost us the game today.

Overall, today was a team-effect loss when we needed a total team effort victory.  The Offense was lost without a running game, and the Wide-outs dropped too many game-altering balls that hit their hands (a constant issue this year).  Protection was average at best.  Coaching was average at best, with no fire and no passion in evidence to my eyes, certainly not the level of morale I expected to see from this team in this game.   And Fitz just could not overcome who and what he is (an average talent journeyman QB) and overcome the combined failure of the defense and his wide-outs hands and his injury-prone RB and win anyway.  Not this time.  

2016 Overall:

With all that said, and all that pain still so fresh in mind, I have to constantly remind myself that this year was amazingly GOOD given the last few years of complete, embarrassing, failure combined with ridiculous bluster.  The 2016 Jets were a professional football team, amongst the best in the league, top 10 offense, top 10 defense, franchise record offensive production, QB and #1/#2 WR production we’ve not seen in decades, and a Defense that for most of the year was well above average.  

It’s hard to be so conflicted, I want (desperately) to hate this team right now, in this moment.  I want to ritualistically burn all my Jets gear right now, hearing Rex Ryan speak makes me as close to homicidal as I have ever been in my life.  I loathe than man, and loathe that HE beat us, swept us, this year.  I want to ignore a 6 win differential from the Geno/Rex final season.  Forget that we had 31 TD passes this year, a 1,000 yard RB, two 1,000 WR’s and our most productive offense in my lifetime.  That we were, it has to be said, ******* GOOD this year….no matter how it ended.

I hate, more than anything else, feeling like a Same Old Jet today.  I hate wondering, seriously, if this team will ever seriously make a run before I die.  After 35 years of loyal fandom, the idea, frankly, pains me.  That I (a middle aged due) may be only half-way through a Red Sox-like lifetime of failure and dashed hopes and Same Old Jets suffering.  I hate giving ammunition to the trolls to mock us even more for yet another Same Old Jets moment, just one in a long, long string of them.

It’s almost (but not quite) enough to make me want to buy a Redskins Jersey.  Not quite tho…..I’m a Jets Fan.  We, as a group, can take the worst that the NFL can throw at us, the worst pain ANY fan can be given, and ask for seconds.  Year after year.  A lifetime of it.

So, conflicted it is.  A great, fun to watch, exciting year ended in a painful, embarrassing, Same Old Jets moment.  A young(ish) team, with talent at a lot of places, no major salary cap problems in the near term, and a solid core of players and younger kids to build on.  10 wins, after years of barely getting 4 wins.  A bright future, it seems, no matter how hard it is to see that light right now.

So rather than give in to the Dark Side, I’ll try, best as I can, to stick with the Light.  To see the good, and try my best to ignore the bad, the painful end, the Rex smugly enjoying destroying his former teams season in the midst of his own abject failure.  

There is always next year.  Right?

J….E….T…..S…..JETS! JETS! JETS! 

Because who else are we going to root for?  Who else COULD we root for?

We’re Jets Fans.

We can take it.

[FidelioJet]

Agree completely with your notes on this game.  Just awful...

Sorry though, couldn't even bring myself to read about the total year right now.  I'm simply too disappointed to focus on the big picture right now.

[RevisIsland610]

I agree with a lot of what you say but you keep blaming Revis for his coverage on Watkins but what about Bowles giving him some help on the only Buffalo player who could hurt us. I still have no clue as to why Watkins wasn't double covered. Also, where was the pass rush? Taylor had plenty of time to throw the ball today.

[Beerfish]

Is idzik still a fool for not making cb the highest paid position on the field?

[Ken Schroy]

On Today’s Defeat:

Without question, today was one of the most heartbreaking, bitter, painful losses in my 35 years as a Jets Fan.  To lose, like this, to who we lost to, with what was at stake….heart-rending.  Utterly heart-rending.  If you did not feel like someone shot your puppy by the end of today’s game, I would question if your heart is really in it being a Jets Fan.

Some points:

-Our ongoing weakness at Running Back was fatal today.  I like Ivory enough when he’s healthy.  He is rarely healthy.  I like Powell, I suppose, as a #2 Running Back.  When he shows up.  And when he’s healthy.  He’s almost never both.  Our inability to run today was, in my view, our primary flaw an greatest deficiency in beating a Rex Ryan football team.  No running game, no clock control, no field position control, too much pressure on the passing game.  And it all started with having Ridley, God save us, as today’s #1, and effectively only available, Running Back.

-The Defense sh*t the bed.  There is no kind way to say this.  The defense, starting with our highest paid player, utterly sh*t the bed today.  For almost the entire game, they simply could not stop a mediocre Buffalo QB and his one and only WR.  Revis was horrific, burned left and right all day, giving so much of a cushion it was commented on repeatedly by the announcing team, and looking lost on coverages and his help regularly.  Buffalo was successful on so many third-and-long plays, almost all to their one and only WR of note, I was simply flabbergasted it kept working.  Today, the defense came out flat, and stayed flat.  To get this poor a performance, with this much on the line, from Revis…..utterly unforgiveable.  I remain convinced he is by far the most overpaid, overhyped player on our team given his actual production and effect on the game.  Be assured, no one, NO ONE, fears “Revis Island” in the NFL anymore.

-Fitzpatrick.  Showed us the limitation of a Ryan Fitzpatrick today.  With no running game worth speaking of, dropped passes in several key situation (at least three I recall that would have resulted in uncontested TD’s), a strong wind, and average (at best) protection…..well, Ryan Fitzpatrick is Ryan Fitzpatrick, not Tom Brady, not Peyton Manning, not Brett Favre.  He will not win games on his own without help.  The TD in the end zone was unforgiveable.  The final two…..very forgivable, given one was due to no protection (hit while throwing) and the other a last second desperation throw without remotely enough time to actually do anything.  

-Jets Special Teams.  Quigley must be cut.  Sorry man, but you got to go, no Punter lives costing a team in our position seven because of a 21 yard punt.  Fat Kicker must be cut.  He’s horrible, and our man Folk will be back (and he is not terrible).  Both kicking positions should be open next year for material upgrades.  Kerley is a horrible kick returned, but at least kick returning is as irrelevant in today’s NFL as to not matter.  But our kickers, as much as any other individuals, cost us the game today.

Overall, today was a team-effect loss when we needed a total team effort victory.  The Offense was lost without a running game, and the Wide-outs dropped too many game-altering balls that hit their hands (a constant issue this year).  Protection was average at best.  Coaching was average at best, with no fire and no passion in evidence to my eyes, certainly not the level of morale I expected to see from this team in this game.   And Fitz just could not overcome who and what he is (an average talent journeyman QB) and overcome the combined failure of the defense and his wide-outs hands and his injury-prone RB and win anyway.  Not this time.  

2016 Overall:

With all that said, and all that pain still so fresh in mind, I have to constantly remind myself that this year was amazingly GOOD given the last few years of complete, embarrassing, failure combined with ridiculous bluster.  The 2016 Jets were a professional football team, amongst the best in the league, top 10 offense, top 10 defense, franchise record offensive production, QB and #1/#2 WR production we’ve not seen in decades, and a Defense that for most of the year was well above average.  

It’s hard to be so conflicted, I want (desperately) to hate this team right now, in this moment.  I want to ritualistically burn all my Jets gear right now, hearing Rex Ryan speak makes me as close to homicidal as I have ever been in my life.  I loathe than man, and loathe that HE beat us, swept us, this year.  I want to ignore a 6 win differential from the Geno/Rex final season.  Forget that we had 31 TD passes this year, a 1,000 yard RB, two 1,000 WR’s and our most productive offense in my lifetime.  That we were, it has to be said, ******* GOOD this year….no matter how it ended.

I hate, more than anything else, feeling like a Same Old Jet today.  I hate wondering, seriously, if this team will ever seriously make a run before I die.  After 35 years of loyal fandom, the idea, frankly, pains me.  That I (a middle aged due) may be only half-way through a Red Sox-like lifetime of failure and dashed hopes and Same Old Jets suffering.  I hate giving ammunition to the trolls to mock us even more for yet another Same Old Jets moment, just one in a long, long string of them.

It’s almost (but not quite) enough to make me want to buy a Redskins Jersey.  Not quite tho…..I’m a Jets Fan.  We, as a group, can take the worst that the NFL can throw at us, the worst pain ANY fan can be given, and ask for seconds.  Year after year.  A lifetime of it.

So, conflicted it is.  A great, fun to watch, exciting year ended in a painful, embarrassing, Same Old Jets moment.  A young(ish) team, with talent at a lot of places, no major salary cap problems in the near term, and a solid core of players and younger kids to build on.  10 wins, after years of barely getting 4 wins.  A bright future, it seems, no matter how hard it is to see that light right now.

So rather than give in to the Dark Side, I’ll try, best as I can, to stick with the Light.  To see the good, and try my best to ignore the bad, the painful end, the Rex smugly enjoying destroying his former teams season in the midst of his own abject failure.  

There is always next year.  Right?

J….E….T…..S…..JETS! JETS! JETS! 

Because who else are we going to root for?  Who else COULD we root for?

We’re Jets Fans.

We can take it.

I agree with everything except the bolded line. Fitz is NOT that. Is he a franchise guy? No, but you are not average and throw 30 TD's. Maybe I'm wrong but that's how I feel.

[Warfish]

I agree with a lot of what you say but you keep blaming Revis for his coverage on Watkins but what about Bowles giving him some help on the only Buffalo player who could hurt us. I still have no clue as to why Watkins wasn't double covered. Also, where was the pass rush? Taylor had plenty of time to throw the ball today.

Why should a player making that much money, with that rep, who supposely is the best CB in the NFL (if not ever), need "help"?

Why could Revis, a future HOF, not take their #1 WR out of the game?

Isn't that what we paid for?

Either Revis isn't nearly as good as advertised, or we overpaid for what we got.  Because more than any other player today, Revis and his inability to man up against their WR, cost us this game.  Every time we needed a third and long stop, they burned Revis to make it.

Fitz int in the endzone was bad.  Our D, espcially Revis, letting them march down the field all but uncontested, was worse.

[maury77]

I'm not sure why I'm posting the following in this thread, but here it goes:

 

I have a friend who was a Jets fan for as long as I have known him. 2 years ago he moved to Florida and this year, he announced to me that he had become a Steelers fan. I was amazed that someone in his 40s could just decide to root for a different team one day. On it's face, it does not seem to be anything remarkable, after all, people constantly change their taste in food, art, cinema, etc. But there is something about sports that is different. I could never see myself just get up and decide to root for, say, the Giants. But my friend became a Steelers fan and today he had the "class" to send me pictures of him celebrating in his Steelers jersey after they clinched. I swear to God I wanted to reach through the phone and strangle him. 

Hope springs eternal. In 2016, Brady will be one year older. Aside from Luck and Carr, there are not a lot of young stud QBs in the AFC. It seems like we have a strong foundation in place with Macc and Bowles, let's hope we improve in 2016. 

 

[maury77]

Why should a player making that much money, with that rep, who supposely is the best CB in the NFL (if not ever), need "help"?

Why could Revis, a future HOF, not take their #1 WR out of the game?

Isn't that what we paid for?

Either Revis isn't nearly as good as advertised, or we overpaid for what we got.  Because more than any other player today, Revis and his inability to man up against their WR, cost us this game.  Every time we needed a third and long stop, they burned Revis to make it.

Fitz int in the endzone was bad.  Our D, espcially Revis, letting them march down the field all but uncontested, was worse.

Today was a day for the defense (and Revis) to pitch a shutout ... and they didn't

[RevisIsland610]

I blame the coach because he failed to make any adjustments at all. Revis did not have a good game but Watkins is tough to cover one on one and no pass rush didn't help. If he had some help deep maybe he could have played up on the line and not give Watkins so much space. I'm not exonerating Revis but the coach has to recognize what is not working the entire game and make adjustments accordingly. I think this team was unprepared and unmotivated which is hard for me to believe being that it was their most important game in 5 years. That falls on the coach.

[afosomf]

Why should a player making that much money, with that rep, who supposely is the best CB in the NFL (if not ever), need "help"?

Why could Revis, a future HOF, not take their #1 WR out of the game?

Isn't that what we paid for?

Either Revis isn't nearly as good as advertised, or we overpaid for what we got.  Because more than any other player today, Revis and his inability to man up against their WR, cost us this game.  Every time we needed a third and long stop, they burned Revis to make it.

Fitz int in the endzone was bad.  Our D, espcially Revis, letting them march down the field all but uncontested, was worse.

I told you and others did too that revis is no longer ELITE, he is a good CB, no longer a great one.