Bowles Talks 1-on-1 to MM about Jets struggles

[AFJF]

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/todd-bowles-candid-explains-news-jets-1-3-article-1.2822780

 

Todd Bowles speaks with a brutal bottom-line honesty that can be tough to take for sensitive souls searching for excuses to explain the Jets’ miserable 1-3 start. He knows that none of this is acceptable.

His team has reached the watershed moment of their season much sooner than he had hoped thanks to a parade of gaffes. For all of the interceptions and big defensive breakdowns that have stained the first month, Bowles is most disturbed by a lack of a killer instinct in crunch time.

“Even with those (mistakes), we’re in the game,” a candid Bowles told the Daily News in the run-up to a pivotal road test against the Steelers on Sunday. “We’re not getting blown out. Somehow in the fourth quarter, we press. Plays that we run correctly in the first three quarters, we don’t execute them in the fourth quarter on either side of the ball. We just have to learn how to finish. We have to learn how to win all over again. Last year was last year. We have to learn how to win again this year.”

The Jets have entered the fourth quarter trailing three times by four, 14 and seven points. So, Bowles is right. They crumble in money time, which reflects poorly on everyone

His thorough examination of the first quarter of the season includes himself. The man in the mirror isn’t immune to the current state of affairs. Accountability has always been one of Bowles most admirable traits.

“I haven’t done a good job,” he said. “Your record says what kind of coach you are... We’re 1-3, so by no means have I done a good job in my mind. I don’t think I did a good job at 10-6. You learn some things as you go, but you have to learn things while you win, not while you become 1-3. We’ve made some major mistakes. That doesn’t mean you give up on your team.”

Work ethic isn’t a concern in his locker room. So, it’s incumbent upon the coaching staff to find creative ways to counter the errors that have plagued the team. Players, of course, must take ownership too.

Ryan Fitzpatrick’s 10 interceptions have headlined the Jets’ offensive struggles. His nine picks, including seven in the fourth quarter, in back-to-back losses to the Chiefs and Seahawks have been backbreakers.

Bowles smartly is ignoring the nonsense to bench Fitzpatrick for Geno Smith, but realizes the veteran must reverse course quickly for the Jets to have any chance to avoid drowning before Halloween.

“He can’t put the game on his shoulders and try to be Superman,” Bowles said of Fitzpatrick. “If it’s not there, it’s not there. Whether we take the sack or we throw it out of bounds or we punt and move on, ball security is what wins in this league. The big difference between last year’s first quarter and this year’s first quarter is that we got a ton of turnovers (in 2015). And this year, we gave up a bunch of turnovers. That’s really the 3-1 and 1-3 scenario when you break it all down.”

The Jets have been overly careless with the ball this season. Their 13 giveaways through four games (10 interceptions, three lost fumbles) is nearly twice as many as they had at this point last season (seven).

Bowles’ defense was much more opportunistic a year ago with 13 takeaways to help the Jets win three of their first four games. This season: three takeaways (two interceptions, one fumble recovery).

The swing from a plus-6 to minus-11 turnover margin reflects in the record.

The leaky secondary has been an equally troublesome storyline. The Jets have allowed a league-high seven completions of at least 40 yards, including four for touchdowns. Only the Falcons and Raiders have allowed more 20-plus yard completions than the Jets’ 17. Opposing quarterbacks have a 116.5 passer rating, second highest in the league.

Although Bowles maintained that “I’m fine with our personnel” across the board, there’s little doubt that his defensive backs need to correct the litany of errors that have cropped up so far.

Players have repeatedly cited “miscommunication” as the crux of the problem.

Bowles called that B.S.

The truth: Brain cramps by one player (a different one each time) is the cause.

“You say miscommunication, because you don’t want to throw anybody under the bus, if you want to be honest,” Bowles said. “But when it’s repped in practice and carried over to the game — and it’s only one person and it’s a mental bust — there really is no communication needed. Because he knows. He understands his job. He understands where he’s supposed to be. And for some reason we have a Fubar, or a f--k up, whatever you want to call it. So we say ‘miscommunication.’ But in football talk, ‘miscommunication’ (means) you don’t throw anybody under the bus.”

“You try to remind everybody (of their responsibilities) and it just goes blank for some reason,” Bowles said of the inordinate number of mental busts. “They play real hard and the energy is good. It’s just awareness... You work at it as a coach, as a player, as a team and you try to get them together to make sure this puzzle fits without them being timid. You don’t want to spook them into, ‘I’m just going to play deep on every play.’ So it’s a fine line... We’re attacking it. We’re not shying away from it. And I guarantee that we’ll get better at it.”

The Jets wrap up their treacherous six-game stretch to start the season with back-to-back road tests against playoff teams from a year ago. So far, Bowles’ team is 0-3 against teams that made the postseason in 2015.

“You just need that one play — that one game — to change the course of your season,” wide receiver Brandon Marshall told the News. “We’ve proven that we can play with playoff teams, but we haven’t proven that we can beat them. So it would be great for us to get a staple win and start that whole flywheel effect. We really need a win.”

Bowles knows it’s a critical juncture. He’s seen games lost early in the second quarter. Seasons can be lost early in the second quarter too.

“I trust our team,” Bowles said. “I believe in our team.”

It’s time for his team to be worthy of that trust and belief.

 

[JiFtheOracle]

This "learning to win" talk.  I've heard it's way overrated and only people with dumb brains talk and think that way.  I was told this but I agree with Todd.

The only thing that is confusing is, this isn't a young team finding themselves, this is the exact same team as last year with even more veterans leadership and a hand picked veteran QB in his 2nd year with the team.  They won 10 games.  So did they get the Men in Black pen treatment at the beginning of the season or did the Bufallo choke job force the team to lose all their confidence? 

[Mike135]

They're in games in the 4th quarter because of the defense.  In spite of our horrible QB tossing INTs, missing easy throws and not finding open receivers.

Come 4th quarter Fitz takes his crap level of play to a whole 'nother level!  Just flinging the rock anywhere and praying.  

The D certainly has had some breakdowns, but they're hardly the main problem.

But thank goodness for cleavage.  Cleavage makes it all better.  I was bummed thinking about our horrible QB this morning, but Melissa Stark helped lift my spirits. 

(Ian looks pretty happy too.)

[Integrity28]

Good article @AFJF, I missed it when you originally posted it.

[whodeawhodat]

This article was written before the steelers game. not sure what really changed...

[joewilly12]

16 minutes ago, whodeawhodat said:

This article was written before the steelers game. not sure what really changed...

Rewind repeat same sh*t after every loss Bowles is a moron he offers the NY Jets nothing many are fooled he has taken no responsibility or accountability for our 1-4 start. 

[The Crusher]

On 10/9/2016 at 8:03 AM, JiF said:

This "learning to win" talk.  I've heard it's way overrated and only people with dumb brains talk and think that way.  I was told this but I agree with Todd.

The only thing that is confusing is, this isn't a young team finding themselves, this is the exact same team as last year with even more veterans leadership and a hand picked veteran QB in his 2nd year with the team.  They won 10 games.  So did they get the Men in Black pen treatment at the beginning of the season or did the Bufallo choke job force the team to lose all their confidence? 

Not a pen.  It's a Neurlizer.  Cost $56.00 on Amazon.  Way cheaper than a Montblanc. 

[Sperm Edwards]

On 10/9/2016 at 7:53 AM, AFJF said:

“We’re not getting blown out. Somehow in the fourth quarter, we press. Plays that we run correctly in the first three quarters, we don’t execute them in the fourth quarter on either side of the ball. We just have to learn how to finish. We have to learn how to win all over again. Last year was last year. We have to learn how to win again this year.”

Maybe I'm just bitter right now and am reading into this, but there are 2 things I dislike about this:

1. In fairness, it's not unique to Bowles by a long shot, but I hate this coachspeak of saying the team didn't execute properly. It's a big fat scream of "the coaching staff did a great job and it's all the players' faults. While this is surely true of at least 1 player on at least 1 play, it's too much of a copout for me. Given the obvious coaching mistakes it would be better to say that, in the 4th quarter, there were coaching mistakes and player mistakes. He does allude to not doing a good job, just by virtue of the team's record, but he doesn't specifically blame himself for the loss: he passes that onto the players for not running the coaches' perfectly-called, perfectly-timed plays. **** him.

2. This stinks to high heaven of Herm Edwards talk. He doesn't lament that we should have beaten the piss out of them, and that opportunities were there but not taken advantage of, for coaches and players alike. No, this is, "Hey I did my job by having the team close enough to try to win it in the end, if only they would listen to my silent brilliance." It's #losertalk.

3." We have to learn to win" as though it's a skill they remembered last year but have simply forgotten this year? Guess what, you didn't know last year either; the task at hand was just far, far simpler and you're all getting exposed because the hard games are coming bunched together to start the season. Learning to win lol. They run one play at a time on the field, not all of them at once every down, that cumulatively equals learning to win. "Sorry, coach, I remembered my assignment but forgot how to win." What a weak excuse for an explanation.

Again, I know it's just coachbabble and many if not all of them do it, but it stinks of a lack of self-awareness.  They had their wonderful practice the week of this interview, and what difference did it make? The only reason they were even close for a while is Marshall - for all the totally justified criticism tossed his way - turned another sure interception-worthy pass into a TD. Absent that the game probably ends as an even bigger blowout than the 31-13 final score.

[JiFtheOracle]

17 minutes ago, The Crusher said:

Not a pen.  It's a Neurlizer.  Cost $56.00 on Amazon.  Way cheaper than a Montblanc. 

Yeah but does it write upside down? 

[The Crusher]

15 minutes ago, JiF said:

Yeah but does it write upside down? 

I don't know.  Had my neuralizer pointed the wrong way. Again!

[PatsFanTX]

They're in games in the 4th quarter because of the defense.  

The defense????

Jets defense is bottom 5 in the NFL.

[nycdan]

5 minutes ago, PatsFanTX said:

 

The defense????

Jets defense is bottom 5 in the NFL.
 

 

If the NFL would simply outlaw passing, the Jets would have a dominant defense.  Stubborn asses clinging to their rules.

[Mike135]

14 minutes ago, PatsFanTX said:

 

The defense????

Jets defense is bottom 5 in the NFL.
 

 

Pitt has a hell of an offense.  The D kept it close for the majority of the game.

Eventually though they're gonna tire (physically and mentally).

There's only so much "Fitz" a defense can take.

[rex-n-effect]

32 minutes ago, PatsFanTX said:

The defense????

Jets defense is bottom 5 in the NFL.

 

Geno fans always want to make it 100% on Fitz.

[jetfan39]

43 minutes ago, rex-n-effect said:

Geno fans always want to make it 100% on Fitz.

who else has played qb this year?

[MaxAF]

I'm not gonna jump on the Geno bandwagon but Fitz lacks the long ball dimension. We need a QB that can throw a rope 50-60 yds down field. For Fitz to throw the ball 50 yds he has to step up and arc it and hope that the receiver can get under it before the defender does. How many times have I seen a defender burnt only to watch the receiver slow down to make the catch or try and take it out of the defenders hands. Opposing secondaries are just not playing the deep ball which makes Fitz easy pickins. Defenses know this hence the mass number of INT's. And when we have an empty backfield it's all that much easier. Something has to change fast before the season is gone. If it isn't already.