JetsLife

I attended tonight. Hopefully not my last. Exceeded those butterflies and then some. My brother’s new Netflix show. Extraordinary achievement by an extraordinary talent and an even better man. Living With Yourself is name of the show. Funny and brilliant art. When excellence speaks, I listen: L Bell has been talking up Sammy since day 1. At first I grained of salted it. Thought he was ingratiating. Then I started to ponder: this is one of the greatest talents the NFL has ever seen talking up Sam. Great talents by definition don’t talk someone up unless they mean it. Bell said time and again, y’all see it - Darnold is special not least his leadership power. Jets did a better job Sunday of staying out of his way. Monday is a very stiff test. Let Darnold’s preternatural abilities most of all his desire to win abound. This is a very very rare personality the Jets have at QB.

He has tremendous ability and most of all the desire to lead. Let that young man lead to where his destiny lay. And just stay out of his way. This is a talent with good QB skills but HoF competitiveness.

I've been harsh on him mainly based on his Week 1 performance. I've semi thrown at the last 3 matches. And that offensive performance Week 1 was a little bit less than encouraging. Is Gase legit or has he been given a bad hand? Bad hand, hmm. Each new week fills in those blanks more. "You are what your record says you are." - Parcells In 1999 Parcells took an 1-6 team smashed by Vinny's injury and Mirer's ineptitude - and put Ray Lucas in and went on a tear. Who was a 3rd-string QB. Inspiring exhilirating win at NE that nationally televised night affair when Parcells started Ray.

Perhaps they’re also a bit coddled? Like keeping some Lamborghini in bubble wrap vs a rugged Ford F-150 powering through. I played through a hamstring tear in high school where my entire back of my leg was black & blue with bruises. It hurt like bad but when I was on the field in heat of competition I didn’t think about it. And over time it healed, yes more slowly but I still contributed at a similar level. Yes I know these guys are a slight step above us former high school weekend warriors . And that the speed and power of NFL players is orders of magnitude greater than even just several decades ago. But man just gladiator up, pop some pain meds and get on the field. It’s not like you’re making rookie money their Mosley.

Jets may not win the Super Bowl this year. More, at 1pm tmrw. That attempt at humor aside, it's crazy how week to week the NFL has been since free agency and the salary cap. Like no one predicted the Bills to blast Minny in Minny last year as one example. The Lions almost knocking off KC last week. And look at the vaunted Rams, losers of two straight. Every week is a one-game season and to those Jets fans making the trek to Philly, I salute you. Alas, if Darnold decides to risk his life and play: Eagles 30, Jets 6. If Darnold doesn't play: Eagles 41, Jets 3. The 2019 Jets offense doesn't score TDs, they've outlawed it. At 0-4 we'll have the rest of the NFL right where we want them. En route to Super Bowl glory. Gallows humor, can't help myself ... Enjoy the foliage, mates! Post-harvest season is always beautiful out there!

Tho I hope I may have another couple decades on this planet - you never know. Either way my time as a die-hard Jets fan is much closer to the end v the beginning - thank god. My message to the young Jets fans now and always: Don't make the mistakes we did. Don't accept a loser. Never. A winner proves his mettle immediately. This is not my goodbye, just a message from experience: The message is: win now, win tomorrow, win yesterday, win always.

It’s not SOJF to “go by what I see” as Parcells said. It’s not SOJF to say 8 offensive points v Buffalo at home with our full offensive complement - and 4 first half turnovers! - is a historically inept perform. It is not SOJF to focus on results. As Parcells also said “the NFL is about a cut & dry business as you’ll find.” 0-3 is 0-3 is 0-3. I’d argue you are being the SOJF? Hoping against hope when all data indicate otherwise. That’s what SOJF do? The old-new current Jets fan keeps it real. We want results and we want results now. Based on actual true potential. Not just hope. If the Jets get to 1-4, I will admit I was 100% wrong and you were right. I absolutely hope I’m wrong.

Please pardon if this has been covered: Do you think the Jets' awful offensive line is strictly a personnel issue, or is it coaching? Or is it more like 60/40 personnel v coaching ... or what ratio? My impression entering week 1: o-line was a concern & would demonstrate as much occasionally ... BUT: as a veteran unit would hold up enough for the Jets to score around 20 points per game. My general tendency is to blame coaching first. Which I know isn't a hard & fast rule. My thing is: we've all seen decimated o-lines do just enough for an offense to function. If not at a consistently high-scoring level. That's down to good surrounding talent and good coaching.

Watched the full highlights from Sunday. Two young, gifted QBs going at it. Too bad you can't be a fan of more than one team; of course that's sacrilege. But one can appreciate watching teams properly utilize their gifted young QBs. Tailoring game plans to their skill sets. Imaginative play calling, looking to push the ball down field, keeping the opposing defense off balance, virtually zero throwaway wasted play calls. And so on. As the Pats & other cutting-edge offenses run by competent modern-day OCs do virtually every week. Other than the Pats truly a joy to watch, if a bit disheartening as a Jets fan.

And if anyone is that's crazy. But any objective analysis of Gase's recent NFL track record raise questions of his competency. And those questions are based on the one immutable: results. And they've been bad. There were questions in Miami, questions when he was hired here, and questions so far this season. Why? Glaring bad results, and so far this season zero positive results. Let's throw out yesterday and Falk's brief tenure. I'm talking most of all about that 3 & out machine week 1 vs. Buffalo performance putting up 8 points at home. And that's while being gifted 4 turnovers in the first half - that's an almost unheard level of offensive ineptitude. I hope over time and beginning when Darnold returns, questions surrounding Gase's competency start getting answered positively. But my hope is tempered with Gase's track record. Here's another fact: in the salary cap, free agency area competent regimes and head coaches turn things around pretty fast. Maybe not completely in one season - but you see positives from the first whistle. You see teams playing smart, complimentary football keeping mistakes and big negative plays to a minimum. Squeezing the maximum out of their talent. It happened here with Parcells in '97, it happened recently in LA when McVay took over, it happens always when a competent regime and HC take over. Douglas had basically very limited options when he took over. Perhaps you could argue similarly with Gase as he was saddled with Maccagnan. But as HC-OC the offensive performance stops with him, and it's his responsibility to get the most out of it and their entire roster. Has he done that? At best he gets a grade of incomplete; at worst it's arguably a D or a F. We shall see what Gase's results are in the coming weeks and remainder of the season.

Conjecture. If the kicker makes the extra point it's a tie score. Even if he makes all his kicks the Jets are up 3 points - possible Buffalo still surmounts that deficit.

Belichick, Andy Reid, McVay, Payton, Doug Pederson, Arians, others I'm not thinking of. If you've asked your question 5 times they probably stretch back to Week 2 and maybe week 1. So: I'd bet my house these coaches would have had the Jets offense produce much more with Darnold & Siemian at QB. Because that's the major pivotal position among any slew of injuries - QB. Otherwise we've all seen teams like the Pats and others absolutely decimated by injury yet still put up enough offense to attain 11-5 and 12-4 type seasons. The fact is the Jets offense was historically inept at home through almost 6 quarters of Darnold and Siemian. During that period, a competent head coach-OC has his o-line playing much better as a unit, utilizes the weapon that is arguably the best all-around RB to the advantage of the entire offense, and bottom line finds ways to put up some points. Good, competent coaches get their teams to perform in spite of "circumstances." With bad, incompetent coaches there's always excuses until there aren't anymore. Now, I will grant basically no offense succeeds over time with a 3rd-string QB. So Gase and his putrid offense gets a partial pass the past 6 quarters with Falk at the helm. But as you say once Darnold returns, the bullseye is ever more on Gase's back. In football and life, we all know underachievers who don't produce with an always ready excuse. Whereas the winners simply win no matter what circumstances they're faced with.

In places like our next opponent - one bad play is a failure. Read the recent online Men's Health mag profile of Tom Brady - this man grinds as hard as any other human being I've ever heard of in any discipline. Because his standard is being the last one standing. That's my standard, too. I think it's the desire of most of us in here and the Jets. But are they doing the things to get them there? Is their head coach/offensive coordinator? I get it: even I am semi considering giving Gase a pass due to Maccagnan's ineptitude. Then again, I am not. Each game is upwards of 6% of the season and represents an enormous swing win or lose. 6% = 10 losses in a baseball season and by definition 10 losses in a row. Does anyone think that isn't a huge swing in a baseball season? Does anyone think this incessant 3 & out machine this Jets offense is, scoring 11 points total over 8 quarters - is anywhere near any kind of standard? Other than the standard of being one of the most futile scoring offenses in modern NFL history through two games? If my negativity rubs some the wrong way, so be it. I like to win and win now - as Parcells did with us in '97 after Kotite's 4-28. A former boss of mine who as a very young man was a huge business success through sheer willpower, hard work, and brain power man once remonstrated to me when I asked about stock options in his company: "I like to focus on results." Meaning: perform, and then we'll see. Results say it all. The second in life you start making excuses is the second you are BS'ing yourself. Our next opponent doesn't abide excuses - does Gase? Publicly and outwardly sure he doesn't. But his results don't match up to his mouth and they haven't for more than 2 years now. In the NFL that's a lifetime. I hope Gase proves me wrong, I really do. I'll happily admit to being the first one wrong if so. But as another successful person aka as my father once told me: one of the biggest mistakes he made in business is holding on to a losing strategy well after its expiration date. Gase's expiration date is nearing for me - for that week 1 offensive fiasco alone. *Remember: Gase walked in to this job with everything to prove and nothing proven as a HC.* He'd been a recent failure offensively with everything to prove. Thus far he has proven nothing to me on that side of the ball.

Zero problems both times I entered. I enter early though - at least 1 hour before kick off. First week it was the Bud Light gate. Second week I think it was my home Pepsi gate. Same result: utter poopoo offensively. Defense has without a doubt held up it's end of the bargain. Not least having a suspect edge rush, CBs and being on the field seemingly non stop. Good for them. And good for Ficken. Gase's Offense including Gase: we're 2 games in to the season, where is your heart?

Gase is a slick talker. He says all the right things publicly. And he can be funny and engaging. But he doesn't coach his offense like he talks. He talks about wanting aggressive, relentless, tireless players - I've seen none of this from his offense 2 weeks in to what will be has last opportunity as a NFL HC. He's OC'ing like some spawn of former Jets OCs Paul Hackett and Brian Schottenheimer when they were with the Jets. Those two coached in a particular and maddening way: they saw the field in only 10-yard increments, and there was rarely consistent ryhthm or flow keeping opposing defenses off balance. It was the very definition of plodding, 3 & out, crap OC'ing. That's what I've seen from Gase so far. And so that is the Gase riddle: how does this guy keep getting touted, get another HC job, when he keeps failing miserably? I think it's the Manning/other recommendations cologne he somehow still gives off, and that he's convincing talker, he talks the game, says all the right things. No doubt that's what he did in his Jets HC interview process. But when you combine that with zero positive results you have what I fear he is: a charlatan. I'm hoping like Schotty 2.0 with Seattle he improves next year - if there is a next year for him. For Darnold will return, and if the Jets offense is still beyond putrid in the latter half and 1/3 of the season - I could see Chris Johnson axing him. It'd be an enormous admission of a mistake on his part, but that alone could be part of why he'd do it.