Sunday, December 30, 2012
An open letter to Tim Tebow from a fed-up Jets fan - Doc's Bark for December 30, 2012
Dear Tim Tebow:
As you prepare for what could be your final game in a New York Jets uniform, I think it's about time you started reflecting on the insights of your biggest critics. The first thing you, as well as all of your surrogates and supporters, need to get through your heads is that criticism is NOT HATING. Only the most narrow-minded and backwards-thinking human can boil critique down to such dichotomous terms, and in fact represents the lowest form of adult cognition. I guess former Harvard psychologist William G. Perry was right on the mark when he theorized that low-level adult thinking is perpetual adolescence. Therefore, the first and most-lasting advice I can give you and your legion of Tebowmaniacs is GROW UP and stop acting like life is a Middle School popularity contest.
I don't hate you. I personally don't like you either. I'm frankly neutral and uninterested in you as a person or a football player. However, I am pretty damn sick and tired of hearing about you day after day on the radio, television and newspaper. In a world and nation with so many problems, I shouldn't see your name or face on the front page of my daily newspaper. The day you get equal billing with the fiscal cliff, Hurricane Sandy or the Sandy Hook shooting is a day I no longer take journalism seriously and a day you need to disappear from any national conversation.
I really hope I've reached my "rock bottom" when it comes to having any respect or giving you the benefit of the doubt, because both attributes have progressively sunk lower since the day the Jets and Denver Broncos discussed a trade for you. From that day fast forwarding to today, let me tell you that every bit of grief and embarrassment you've endured is primarily your own making and well-deserved. Unlike the rest of the foolish masses who've bought your act hook, line and sinker, I see right through your act and hardly see you as an innocent victim of disrespect. What was your sin? You came to New York to specifically compete for a job that wasn't yours. Oh, I know very well how Mark Sanchez struggled last season and how the Jets brain trust felt he needed solid pushing from a backup, but the job was always going to be his, and rightfully so. Unless you can produce a league-certified contract between you and the Jets explicitly stating that you would be given the starting quarterback job upon a Sanchez implosion or benching, then you were clearly not his next-in-command and have no legitimate beef with your coaches. Plain and simple, you COVETED something of your neighbor that didn't belong to you, was never legally promised to you, and this does not reflect what any reasonable adult would classify as an act of "great friendship" or "professional support." You came to New York with the sole intention of taking away Sanchez's job, whether it was available or not, and you didn't care how you or your surrogates sabotaged Sanchez or the entire Jets season. It was all about you, from the moment you had the option to choose New York over your hometown, Jacksonville, to having members of the media actively lobby for you.
And then, when Sanchez finally got benched, you pitched a fit because you were passed over by a third-stringer, Greg McElroy, for the starting job against San Diego. Here's a little news flash for you: McElroy is a better quarterback than you. He's demonstrated it in practice, film study, review of the playbook and position meetings. Playing quarterback - or "regular quarterback" as you call it - is more than just messing around for 55 minutes until you break down the other team's will while fans are chanting your name and the spotlight's bright. An NFL game is more than just the SportsCenter moments, and you continuously fail to grasp this, just like you continuously fail to grasp the playbook and the purpose of practice. If you want coaches to believe in your ability to play a real 60-minute game, you need to prove your worthiness in practice while game situations are simulated.
For you to cry foul is the height of hypocrisy. You leapfrogged Brady Quinn in Denver when you got your Machiavellian opportunity last year in Denver. Weren't you a third-stringer back then? Yes you were. Did you outplay Quinn in practice? No you didn't. You were simply handed the starting job as a means to appease your hoard of supporters. Did the Broncos win with you as quarterback? Yes they did, several low-scoring games by close margins, until a three-game losing streak almost threw away the division title. Did the Broncos win a wild card playoff game? Yes. So what? Did your statistics and quality of play earn any confidence from the front office and coaching staff? No, and now your former team appears headed towards a possible Super Bowl with Peyton Manning at quarterback, a 36-year-old man coming off four neck surgeries who is still a superior quarterback to you at even his worst physical health.
What this all boils down to is that for the first time in your life, you can't have your cake and eat it too, and at 250+ pounds, perhaps you should be stepping away from the desert cart if you seriously want to play quarterback in the #NFL. You were the young man who got to play high school football for a high school you didn't even attend. Somehow your parents and supporters lobbied enough to get the state of Florida to change scholastic athletic rules just to allow you to play while being home-schooled. Not only that, but when you didn't get to play quarterback right away, you managed to change from one high school team to another, and you were still being home-schooled. It's a shame we're having this conversation in 2012 as opposed to 1990, when I was teaching chemistry and physics and coaching football in Bradenton, Florida, because I would've put my job on the line just to block every effort your family made to let you play football anywhere you weren't attending school. Why? Because I don't believe any child or student should have their own special set of rules compared to the rest of the school population and community, and I firmly believe that if any young man doesn't think our school is good enough for his academic needs, then we're also not good enough for his athletic needs. Never mind my questions of how you managed to meet the state requirement for having high school chemistry and physics (with lab components) in order to matriculate to the University of Florida after being home-schooled. I won't even bother to entertain the question of whether you have any legitimate academic preparation for the real world because it's clear you've been a mercenary to play football since at least age twelve.
But here we are, 2012- you're employed by the New York Jets to play whatever position the coaches tell you to play, and receive your paycheck from ownership. If you're told to play the utility role of jack-of-all-trades, play it to your best effort and commitment. If the coaches honestly want you to play the backup quarterback position, then prove your worth by doing more than standing on the sidelines staring into space and holding your hands in your warmer pockets. Yes, your disinterest and indifference shows loud and clear on the sidelines, and it has all season long. You're completely disengaged mentally from the game, game planning, game adjustments, play charting and every other function a legitimate NFL quarterback performs on the sidelines during a game- and it shows every time you step out on the field. I've counted at least three occasions during the first half of the season when you clearly seemed unprepared to call and run the play your coaches sent you into the huddle with as the quarterback, and it disrupts the huddle not to mention the flow of the game. Is it all your fault? No, I am fully convinced the Jets have the wrong offensive coordinator, but he's still your coach and your job is to correctly follow his play call and lead you teammates on that play, and to date, you've been very ineffective in this expectation. I don't know whether it's a physical thing or mental, but you clearly appear as someone who doesn't buy into what the coaches are doing and your heart clearly isn't into what you are expected to do. That's all on you, because you're being paid a fairly handsome salary to play football, and that's not a bad gig when the starting quarterback position was never legitimately available to you. There are plenty of backup quarterbacks in the NFL who never step onto the field during an entire regular season, so already you were ahead of the game. Why did you have to exacerbate a circus-like situation by demanding more than you legitimately deserved? No matter what kind of spin control you and your surrogates present to the media, the fact is clear that you put yourself above your teammates for the sake of your own personal agenda, and THAT IS being a phony, hypocrite and fraud, Worse, it's more indicative of your true nature and reinforces the image of teenage boy whose parents lobbied to allow their home-schooled son play football at the high school of his choice without ever attending the school, as opposed to the young man who holds press conferences to tell the media how "excited" he is to be a part of the team and contribute any way he can.
I have spent the past 3-4 years saying you're a misplaced fullback or H-back and that you're better suited for those positions as opposed to quarterback, but now I can no longer give you the benefit of the doubt as a football player and must say you're completely unwelcome on any NFL team I would hypothetically coach or support. I've read and listened to enough of your "self-defense" over the past several days and I'm fully convinced you're a bigger locker room cancer than any other player could be to an NFL team, and yes, you are a phony, fraud and hypocrite. For a backup quarterback who clearly lacks the physical and mental skill development to play the position, I think you have way too much to say for your own good at his stage of your career. If you honestly wanted to become a legitimate NFL quarterback, you would've begged to stay in Denver and learn everything you could for a couple of years backing up Peyton Manning, because the harsh reality is that you require more seasoning and development to play the position. You didn't want that. You simply wanted to play, so you came to New York and tried to impose your agenda, and now it's blown up on you. Maybe you'll go home to Jacksonville and succeed playing according to your paradigm in front of your family and fans. I seriously have my doubts as to how well you'll ultimately do, until you consistently demonstrate a capacity for intellectual growth as an NFL quarterback.
Do I look forward to seeing you leave the Jets once this stinker of a season ends? Yes and no. If you're going to remain stuck in "Timmy the 12-year-old" mode, then you can't leave fast enough for me. If you're honestly able to take a cold hard look at yourself in the mirror and assess yourself as a professional football player, perhaps you can accept yourself as part of the Jets backfield and running back rotation, which is where you're best-suited. No one says you'll never throw an NFL pass again (I assume you've heard about the halfback option play?), but you're fooling yourself thinking you're just as much the starting quarterback of the New York Jets as Mark Sanchez is when you don't even do a fraction of the preparation work he does. There's more to being an NFL quarterback than what you think, and it's about time you grew up and paid attention to those responsibilities while everyone's paying attention to you.
Friday, November 23, 2012
Jets fans need to pause and reflect -- Doc's bark for Nov. 23, 2012
There's not much more to say that hasn't been said after Jets Nation vented its collective spleen while Gang Green got stuffed, roasted and carved by New England to the tune of 49-19 last night on prime time television. We've tweeted our guts out, called in to join a still-ongoing bitch-a-thon on local sports radio stations, and stared at ESPN highlights over and over again like the Zapruder film, terribly ironic given yesterday was the 49th anniversary of JFK's assassination. But for all the wailing football fans and talking heads in the media are doing, I'm not hearing one iota of perspective among the emotional masses.
I know what many of you are probably thinking: Shut up, Dave... what the hell do you know about anything, much less professional football? You're just some idiot in wheelchair.
Well, if I'm an idiot in a wheelchair, what's Eric LeGrand? There! I can hit below the belt too, you know. I don't care if it is Thanksgiving weekend... you can't have your cake and eat it too every time you want to create postulates to discredit anything I have to say. Either young Mr. LeGrand and I are both know-nothing idiots in wheelchairs, or we're both disabled human beings who became disabled as a consequence of playing football. I may not have played overly well during my day, but I actually know more about football than how to tie the laces of my cleats.
Don't mistake my admonishment for arrogance. I'm far from the smartest person on the planet, but I am blessed with a unique ability to gather, analyze and synthesize information while connecting it to the big picture and perspective, and I haven't heard much big picture thinking or perspective over the many hours of hysteria since last night's game kicked off.
Let's briefly talk about what we saw last night. Yes, the Jets stunk up the joint and were dead in the water before halftime. Most of us haven't seen a 35-point blitz in one quarter in a long time. I share Al Michaels' personal memory of Super Bowl XXII when the Washington Redskins exploded for 35 points in what seemed like the blink of an eye and the Denver Broncos never knew what hit them. Last night was deja vu all over again for anyone with a head full of NFL (and AFL) history. That's what last night's second quarter was like, the train wreck of historical proportions you didn't realize was instantaneously happening before your very eyes.
Anyone who's played organized football at any level has been on the right and wrong end of such games... it's simply part of the law of averages. Those games really aren't laughers to the team on the receiving end of a big-time butt kicking (see 2010, Patriots 45, Jets 3), or epic collapse. Last night NBC reminded us all about the great comebacks from 35-3 by the 1992 Buffalo Bills in a wild card playoff game against the Houston Oilers (Bill Belichick's personal justification for running up scores) and the Jets own Miracle in the Meadowlands in 2000, coming all the way back from down 30-7 in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Dolphins 40-37 in overtime at almost 2:00am. As we all know, I wore the uniform of the Temple Owls and Tampa Bay Buccaneers many years ago (queue in laugh track), so losing games by 30 or more points was pretty routine for me, and unfortunately, you can only play William and Mary so many times in order to see things from the brighter side of the scoreboard.
Do 49-19 losses bug me? Yeah... especially when the game matters, especially when my team losses 49-19 with a still-existing chance of making a wild card berth, especially when my team has already lost 34-0, 30-9 and 28-7 this season. Too many stinkers like this gives me indigestion, no matter what's on the dinner menu.
But what bugged me most was the cruel, uninformed, snarky, and disrespectful carrying on by my fellow Jets fans, members of the media and members of the football fraternity. In fact, I'll go as far as saying that I haven't been as turned off my some people's comments since the masses ganged up on Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler during the 2010 NFC Championship Game when he went down with a knee injury that couldn't be treated without complicating his Type I Diabetes. In short, I was a little ashamed by many of the comments many folks were tweeting and saying on radio, just like I was back in January 2011.
So how do we turn last night's Jets debacle into a teachable moment so we can all grow and learn from this as vested fans and supporters?
The first thing we can do is start learning how to use vocabulary properly. Without calling out specific members of the media, one cannot call the Jets an "embarrassment" and "pretenders" in the same sentence. These are two distinctly different words and they have two completely different meanings in the context of NFL parity.
To simplify things, there are four possible adjective categories one can use to describe an NFL team: dynastic, contender, pretender or embarrassment. Here's a simple rule-of-thumb to follow when you use these terms:
1. A dynastic team is one that routinely wins NFL titles during an extended number of years, like an entire decade (see the 1960s Green Bay Packers, 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers and 1980s San Francisco 49ers).
2. A contender, or contending team is one that routinely wins their division during an extended number of years and at least plays in as many conference championship games (see the Dallas Cowboys of 1966-1982, the Oakland Raiders of 1967-1983, the Minnesota Vikings of 1969-1980, the Buffalo Bills of 1988-1999, and the New England Patriots since 1994).
3. A pretender is a team that routinely finishes at or above .500 during an extended number of years, occasionally making the playoffs, possibly even winning their division every now and then, and could go far if planets are aligned just right (see the New York Jets since 1997).
4. An embarrassment is a team that routinely finishes well below .500 during an extended number of years, where .500 is a very exceptional season and a playoff berth is a miracle (see the New Orleans Saints of 1967-1985, Tampa Bay Buccaneers of 1983-1996, and the Oakland Raiders since 2003).
Okay? Got it? Good. Now, let's take a breath and look at our Jets with a critical and rational eye. For those carrying on that the 2012 Jets are the most embarrassing in franchise history, I should remind you that this franchise has been playing since 1960 when it was the AFL's New York Titans, a team that essentially went bankrupt under owner Harry Wismer.
4-7 is embarrassing? 4-7 is lousy. Embarrassing is a different level of lousy. What about the 4-28 Rich Kotite era of 1995-1996, piggybacking the Fake Spike collapse of 1994 under Pete Carroll? What about the 9-33 Jets of 1975-1977 under the leadership of Charley Winner, Lou Holtz and Walt Michaels? I appreciate that many Jets fans think Super Bowl III and 1968 was as long ago as the Fall of Rome and so many young fans today feel personally persecuted for still waiting for a sniff of a Jets Super Bowl since the day Bill Parcells arrived at the old Hofstra facility, but you guys really have no idea what "bad old days" really mean in the history of this franchise.
Yes, this season has been a major letdown for Jets Nation and at times painful to watch, but having watched this team since 1966-1967, through great seasons and absolutely awful, and being on borrowed time with a morphine pump surgically implanted in my belly, I'm actually just happy to watch another season, even this 4-7 slop. You bitch about when the Jets are going to make it back to the Super Bowl while I don't expect to live long enough to see a Super Bowl played in New Jersey. It's all relative, folks; get a damn grip on yourselves and smell some reality.
Fact: the 2012 Jets are having a very sub-par season in many respects. Fact: compared to the Patriots, the Jets are big-time pretenders, even with back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances in 2009 and 2010. Fact: the Jets can really embarrass themselves on and off the field. Fact: the Jets are NOT an embarrassing football team. This is a team that beat the Colts 35-9, hung 48 points on the Bills, and came close to upsetting the Texans at home and the Patriots on the road. Yes, this is also a team that has lost three home games to the 49ers, Dolphins and Patriots to the tune of 113-28. Hello?! When the Jets are going good, they can be very good, and when they're going bad, they go bad big. No matter how you slice it, that's a sure sign of a very mediocre and maddingly inconsistent team, just like the other 16 teams that were at, just above or just below .500 going into Thanksgiving weekend. That's parity. Has the bottom fallen out on this team? Not if there's better than a cockeyed chance they can run the table and finish 9-7 in spite of themselves.
Fact: since the great Parcells graced Jets Nation with his presence in 1997, the Jets are an overall 132-121 with seven playoff berths, two AFC East crowns and three trips to the AFC Championship Game (1998, 2009-2010). Add in the 7-7 postseason record and the Jets are 139-128 since the stench of the Kotite era was removed. You know what that works out to, on average, for almost sixteen seasons? 9-7. Yes, for all the physically-present head coaches the Jets have had -- Parcells, Al Groh, Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan -- and big-name stars on the roster, the Jets are basically a 9-7 team that makes the playoffs every few seasons and gives fans some added thrills to break the monotony. Compared to the dark days of 1975-1977 and 1995-1996 (neither period representative of years in endless oblivion like other well-known and long-time NFL losers), sixteen years of "better than average" is pretty okay. Compared to NFL organizations that are truly contenders or potential dynasties, the Jets have a long way to go before results back up constant talking. Think about it: since 1994, Bob Kraft's Patriots have six Super Bowl appearances, winning three, and that's on top of thirteen AFC East titles. Folks, the Patriots are what a contender looks like. The Jets are not. The Jets are a pretender unable to make the leap to contender status.
How do the Jets make that leap from sixteen years (or perhaps even four decades) of being a pretender to a sustained run as a bonafide NFL contender? Change ownership? Change the front office? Change the head coach? Change the coaching staff? Change the quarterback? Change the entire roster? Relocation to the NFC? All of the above? None of the above?
How about changing the overall perspective about the organization? Yes, more than forcing Woody Johnson to sell the team to someone less distracted by GOP politics, replacing Mike Tannenbaum as GM, Rex Ryan as head coach, or Mark Sanchez as quarterback, or any other minor move or major overhaul, the entire Jets organization needs to take a long hard collective look in the mirror and ask "what kind of team do we want to be?"
The Jets can't be the Florham Park Patriots, or the Green Giants, or any other knock-off version of a team that knocked everyone's socks off for one magical season or one dominant decade. The Jets have spent too many years trying to be Parcells' old Giants or Belichick's Patriots, or the 1985 Bears, and it's simply not working. Hell, the Jets can't even figure out a way to become the reincarnation of Weeb Ewbank's 1968 Jets, and for good reason... those teams already existed and are now part of past history! When Rex Ryan became head coach in 2009, one of his first goals was to make sure his players all knew how to play like Jets, but Rex never really explained what a Jet was supposed to play like, so this entire roster is perpetually trying to define itself and its style as a knock-off of other teams, leaving everyone in an identity crisis.
As I've written before, there's a lack of vision, or as we might say in the academic world, the Jets are in ontological and epistemological crisis. I'm still waiting for Rex Ryan to paint a verbal picture of what a truly great Jets performance looks like beyond the final score and how many busted up bodies are in the opposing training room. How many times have we heard Rex say "we'll take it" even though his supposedly vaunted defense gave up 200 yards rushing or 400 yards passing, or the offense barely showed a pulse? Sure, you can win ugly; Herm Edwards loved winning games "Shreck style", but every head coach should have his "perfect" game within his thought process, no differently than master chefs envision the prefect menu item or conductors envision the perfect symphony.
I frankly don't care if the Jets ideally see themselves as having a suffocating defense, or a bombs-away passing attack, or a meat-grinder run-oriented offense. I don't care if the Jets want to win every game 45-42, 10-7 or 52-9, but if they know what an ideal Jets game looks like, then they need to build their team accordingly. Have a vision. Articulate the vision. Create an identity. Build a team that matches the identity and stick with that core essence for several years and see how it progresses. You can't be the '85 Bears reincarnated one year, Ground and Pound the next, then Air Coryell the third. Even the old Soviet Union had five-year plans! The general manager, head coach, coaching staff and entire team roster need to consistently match the team vision and identity. It's like being a salesperson -- if you don't believe in the product or its value, you'll never sell it.
Should Mike Tannenbaum be fired as GM? Perhaps the time has come for a change, but it all depends on the organizational vision and identity. Tannenbaum might very well be the right GM if he's in sync with the vision, but we don't know because Tannenbaum seems to be making too many personnel moves based on coupon clipping theory rather than what it takes to build a genuine NFL contender.
The same is true for Rex Ryan as head coach. If the Jets had a comprehensive vision besides "find a way to win more games than the Patriots or Giants do", perhaps Rex might be someone who can guide the team as long as Chuck Noll did with the Steelers, or Tom Landry did with the Cowboys, or Don Shula did with the Dolphins, but we don't know, because Rex's too obsessed trying to compete with his father's legacy as defensive coordinator of the 1985 Bears as well as the number of Super Bowl rings Bill Belichick owns. If the Jets can have real stability under Rex and make the leap to contender status, that would be very preferable, but there are times Rex seems befuddled at how to be the voice and face of an NFL franchise. Just like Tannenbaum, if Rex can't develop or articulate a vision, much less put one into action, then he should be fired.
What about Mark Sanchez? What about him?! I haven't seen a Jets fan base so eager to chase a quarterback out of town since the days of Richard Todd, and don't think there aren't some very eerie parallels between these two franchise players within the annals of Jets history. Just a few hours ago, I heard one ESPN bloviator tell another "I really wanted to see the Jets give Sanchez one game, all to himself, without any Tebow substitutions or interruptions, so we could see what Sanchez can really do. Now we see. He lost by 30 points. Get him out of there and put in Tebow."
REALLY? Sanchez deserved one such game, after ten weeks of having his entire 2012 season disrupted by Tim Tebow and his legion of fanatical supporters, and that's his final trial to prove his worth as an NFL quarterback? How did we get from ten weeks of "oh, c'mon... just give Tebow a couple of series. Let him play! Let him show what he can do!" to a week 11 ultimatum for the Jets franchise quarterback? How stupid have we all become?! For ten weeks, every misinformed fan and media member begged for Tebow to get his fair chance, and now the same people are willing to hand the keys to the entire offense over to a fullback masquerading as quarterback with no need for an audition anymore?! I hate to break the news to everyone yet again, but Tim Tebow is NOT a legitimate NFL quarterback with his current physical size, muscular bulk and grasp of an offensive playbook, and if the Jets are going to hand the full-time reigns over to anyone other than Sanchez, it should be Greg McElroy, who has the right physical stature and level of scheme comprehension.
Last night's interception? From my view of the play it looked like Jeremy Kerley cut his route too wide as Sanchez committed to throw the pass into soft safety coverage. The fumble? Busted plays happen no matter how many years experience a quarterback has, and Sanchez had the presence of mind to slide to the ground once he realized the play was going nowhere. Sliding into Brandon Moore's ass was more due to Moore being pushed backwards by Vince Wilfork than Sanchez looking for an inappropriate place to bury his head.
And while we're on the subject of fumbling, did anyone pay attention to how hard the Patriots defensive players were smacking Jets ball carriers? You get popped like Sanchez, Joe McKnight and Shonn Greene got popped last night, you'd lose your grip on the ball too, if only to reach and see if your teeth are still in your mouth.
But let's look at things more fundamentally... no one trusts Sanchez as quarterback... not the fans, coaches, owner, or members of the media. Don't tell me he's had almost four years to demonstrate how lousy he is... fans were calling for his benching by his fourth NFL game, a 24-10 loss at New Orleans, the first loss of the 2009 season after a 3-0 start, where he committed four turnovers. Oh, and it got worse as the bonus baby rookie, trying to play NFL quarterback in what really should've been his junior year at USC, committed six more turnovers two weeks later in a 16-13 overtime loss at home to the Bills, and three more a month later in a 24-22 loss at home to Jacksonville, and five more a week after that in a 31-14 loss at New England.
And let's not forget Hot dog-gate during the final minutes of a 38-0 week 7 win at Oakland.
Everyone's fed up and making final calls for his head on Thanksgiving 2012?! You were all doing the same damn thing by Thanksgiving 2009! If Sanchez is a mess at quarterback, it's not anywhere near of his own doing. For all the mistakes and dumb things a kid in his early 20s has done in four years calling signals behind center, eating junk food on the bench, giving lame press conferences, and dating too many celebrities, we, as Jets Nation, have inflicted far more damage than he has!
The Jets invested a top-five draft pick and a lot of money in him and he's yet to enjoy a genuinely full opportunity to mature and develop into the franchise NFL quarterback he was expected to become. Think about it... by Thanksgiving 2009 this kid's head was already screwed up with fans screaming for his head and his coaches forcing him to wear color-coded wrist bands and deal with all sorts of stupid word-association games in order to avoid mistakes. AVOID MISTAKES?! Rookies are supposed to make mistakes, even highly drafted and well-paid ones.
He was a kid, for heavens sake! A mere puppy! He still is! My mustache is almost old enough to be his father... we don't fully grasp how young he really is, especially coming out of college two years too early. You can't tell a kid to play quarterback like it's defensive driving school. That screws his head up and makes him afraid. Fear of failure has a warped way of manifesting itself by causing a series of mistakes like uncontrollable hiccups or flatulence. It's a wonder being the Jets starting quarterback hasn't given Sanchez a permanent case of irritable bowel syndrome.
Has Sanchez been coddled? Maybe yes. maybe no. Some fans and media members think Sanchez hasn't been challenged for his job security. Maybe that's the case, but maybe not having a legitimate back-up who can take away his job has created terror instead of complacency. If you know you're left holding the bag at quarterback and there's no one to bail you out, no Don Strock to your David Woodley moments, that's not overly comfortable either. You don't have a choice but to keep strapping on your helmet and taking your lumps for the team, over and over again. You're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. If you can't comprehend how Sanchez may feel between a rock and a hard place as quarterback of an offense that resembles a stripped-down Buick, think about how screwed the average adult is dealing with a mother-in-law.
How is a mother-in-law a metaphor for Sanchez's dilemma? When I was married I couldn't stand my mother-in-law (I still can't, by the way, and I haven't seen the woman in almost four years), and my wife would threaten me before every family gathering if I dared say anything nasty to her mother, no matter how many insulting things the woman publicly said about me or my own family. Well, if you were raised like I was, your mother taught you that if you don't have anything nice to say about someone, keep your mouth shut. Well, without fail, every time my wife and I would return home from a family gathering, she'd scream at me "why won't you talk with my mother?!" Here I am, trying to be the polite person my mother raised me to be and avoid letting my mouth get me into trouble among a bunch of Nussbaums, and my wife is pissed because I opted not to engage with a woman I absolutely despised. THAT'S what damned if you do, damned if you don't looks like! THAT'S what Mark Sanchez has to deal with as the starting quarterback of the New York Jets!
No one besides Rex Ryan and his big mouth had any illusions that the 2009 Jets were anything close to a Super Bowl contender. Most folks, and we can all go back and look it up, were fully prepared for and expected an 8-8 season as the Jets rebuilt their offense with Sanchez after Brett Favre and 2008 blew up on everyone. 9-7 was a very pleasant surprise and making it to the AFC Championship Game in Indianapolis was icing on the cake with such a young and inexperienced quarterback.
Here we are, three years later, and everyone's still freaking out that Sanchez makes mistakes, often the same ones over and over again. Well... so does Eli Manning every now and then, even with two Super Bowl titles and MVP awards, and so does Tony Romo in Dallas, and Phillip Rivers in San Diego, and Jay Cutler in Chicago, and Ryan Fitzpatrick in Buffalo. When is it going to be Tebow Time in those cities? The great Peyton Manning still throws interceptions, be it in Indianapolis or Denver. He even throws a pick-six every now and then. Drew Brees of the Saints throws his fair share of interceptions too. Matthew Stafford in Detroit completed only 31 of 61 passes yesterday in an overtime loss to Houston. That's a 50.8 completion percentage. Where are the Lions fans calling for Tebow to replace him? Atlanta's Matt Ryan threw five interceptions last week against Arizona. Why aren't Falcons fans calling for his benching and begging for a trade for Tebow? Quarterbacks make mistakes, even the great or elite ones, all without the existence of one Timothy Richard Tebow waiting in the wings like some vulture.
Joe Namath, the greatest quarterback in Jets history, had a lifetime completion percentage of barely 50 percent during his thirteen-year AFL-NFL career. He threw more interceptions than touchdowns. In fact, during the Jets 1968 Super Bowl season, Namath completed 49.2 percent of his passes, throwing 17 interceptions against 15 touchdowns. On four occasions, Namath threw two or more interceptions. Twice he threw five interceptions, in losses to 1-12-1 Buffalo and 5-9 Denver. Did the Jets bench Namath? No, despite defensive coordinator Walt Michaels wanting to kill him a few times. And the Jets won the Super Bowl that season.
How did Namath's rookie season, 1965, go? The Jets went 5-8-1 and Namath completed 48.2 percent of his passes (18 TD, 15 INT) on the way to being AFL Rookie of the Year. 1966? 6-6-2, 49.3 completion percentage, 19 TD, 27 INT. 1967? 8-5-1, 52.5 completion percentage, 26 TD, 28 INT.
What do we see, boys and girls? The Jets let Namath play quarterback, grow into the position, make his mistakes and not play in fear. Did Joe Willie give his coaches plenty of agita in the process? Yes, he did, but he also became the first quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in a single season (14 games back then) and the Jets won a Super Bowl. In four years, Namath threw 1,692 passes, barely completed half of them, and tossed 87 interceptions along the way to a Super Bowl title. The Jets won 30 regular season games during his first four seasons. Do the math... one glorious championship season included, the Jets were approximately 8-6 on average during those first four seasons. What a coincidence! 8-6 for a 14-game regular season is very similar to 9-7 for a 16-game season. The Jets weren't some overlooked AFL dynasty during Joe Willie's early years. They needed to take a leap up from pretender to contender, which they basically did for one special season.
Sanchez has thrown 1,754 passes, completing more than half of them, with 61 interceptions. The Jets have won 32 regular season games during Sanchez's tenure, which averages out to 8-8 and pretender yet to be contender status. If you toss in fumbles and any other blunders, the only major difference between the Jets during Namath's first four years and the Jets during Sanchez's is Super Bowl III. The 1960s were a different time. Perhaps Sanchez needs 5-6 years to grow into where Broadway Joe was by Super Bowl III? But we don't give Sanchez enough time to test that theory, because we have no patience with learning curves to begin with.
Ever since Joe Willie left the Jets in 1977, no matter who's the head coach or quarterback, the mantra has been don't screw anything up... just go out and win like Joe did. What has been the result? A bunch of 8-8 and 9-7 seasons sprinkled with some 4-12, 6-10, 11-5 and a heap of headcase quarterbacks who couldn't live up to impossible expectations... and we're doing it to Mark Sanchez too! When do we stop the madness and break this ridiculous cycle, especially since Joe Namath was hardly the standard for quarterbacking efficiency to begin with?! Even if Sanchez gets benched for Tebow, how long will it be before Jets Nation turns Tebow into a headcase? Gunslingers, perpetual scramblers and game managers can all end up seriously neurotic trying to please our fan base.
I can imagine it now... Rex Ryan and the Jets brain trust finally relent and give the fans what they've called for, Tebow starting at quarterback, perhaps the regular season home finale, a Sunday night affair December 23rd against San Diego. Tebow runs around aimlessly for 58 minutes, completing a mere two passes all night to Jets players and six to Chargers defensive players. Somehow the Jets trail by eight at the two-minute warning, Tebow pulls a rabbit out of his helmet with a last-play touchdown scramble, then gets sacked on the two-point conversion attempt and the Jets lose. How do his fans and supporters react? Oh, he almost did it! He kept us in position to win the whole night and almost won it on the power of his legs and the spirit of Christ in his soul.
Excuse me while I take a moment to hypothetically vomit my guts out... You and I all know that if Tebow's interceptions outnumber completions by a 3:1 ratio, we're all going to beg for an atheist who can throw to the correct colored jerseys ASAP! Two completions and six picks will not -- and should not -- earn Tebow, or any supposed savior, the benefit of the doubt or another start as the Jets quarterback, be it running a pro-style or wildcat offense.
One last dagger at Tebowmania... he reportedly had two broken ribs suffered against Seattle and couldn't even throw a pass last night, but he was the active back-up quarterback and in uniform on the sidelines while a perfectly healthy McElroy wasn't. After the game, Tebow, according to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, was tossing passes right-handed to a young boy from Jacksonville attending the game as part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. In the locker room, Tebow told reporters that he wanted to be available "in case there was an emergency and he was needed." Oh really?! What would've constituted an "emergency" -- Sanchez suffering an injury slamming his head into Brandon Moore's tuchus? Sanchez tossing three or four interceptions? The Jets being down by thirty points at halftime? Woody Johnson receiving an urgent telegram from the Easter Bunny?!
Or is Tebow such a narcissist that he "talked" his way into being dressed and active for the sake of appearance and enhancing his "brand" on NBC's prime-time coverage and with little sick kids from Florida? I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'll take a bumbling Sanchez who gives it his all, mistakes and all, for 60 minutes over Tebow wasting 58 minutes and waiting for the two-minute warning so he can save the day like Mighty Mouse (see Andy Kaufman's 1975 debut on "Saturday Night Live") and have his "SportsCenter moment."
I've questioned his motives for refusing to see himself as anything other than a starting quarterback in the NFL, for "agreeing" to a trade to New York so he could back-up "a great friend" in Sanchez while sharks circled Sanchez after last season's collapse, and for maintaining publicly how he's "always competing" every day with the Jets. Now I must raise the toughest question of all: did Tebow misrepresent a rib injury and put his own interests, persona and agenda ahead of a properly-set team roster last night by taking a spot better suited with McElroy active? If that's the case, and if I was calling the shots with the Jets, Tebow would be immediately released and his contract voided for violation of team and league policy, and Tannenbaum, Ryan and the entire Jets coaching staff would be terminated effective six hours after the final gun of the 2012 season sounded. Period. Exclamation point. End of discussion. Let Tebow hire the NFLPA to fight for his severance, and let Tannenbaum, Ryan and the rest of the coaches consult attorneys if they think they're wrongfully terminated.
If "Play like a Jet" means the logo on the helmet takes precedent over the names on the back of jerseys or lockers, then manipulating a roster to put the team at disadvantage for the sake of an injured player's public image is an absolutely inexcusable and intolerable offense.
This finally leads me to the most important and potentially volatile issue facing the Jets as 2012 sets the stage for 2013. If you look at the roster, the Jets have a few over-paid and under-performing players beyond what anyone thinks of Sanchez. Such players eat up valuable salary-cap space and force Tannenbaum and Ryan to fill slots with Wal-Mart quality talent, and it's undermining the team's overall depth, strength, stamina and performance. Whether fans and media members want to accept it or not, Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes become salary-cap liabilities coming back from season-ending injuries, especially if Revis plans to stage yet another hold-out to hold Woody Johnson's money hostage. As I've written before with his 2010 hold-out, the quest to be the highest-paid defensive player, even by a mere penny, means Revis cares more about his own financial portfolio and ego than ever bringing a Lombardi trophy to MetLife Stadium draped in Jet green and white. All those millions Revis and his agents strong-arm for him are millions the Jets can't use to sign other great talents, on offense and defense, to free agent contracts or contract extensions, and that's how a team in the salary-cap era fails to maintain roster stability and build a contender. $16M to Revis, and $10M to Holmes leaves any GM only $100M to put together the best possible 53-man roster. Take away $8M for Sanchez, a few more millions for center Nick Mangold, Tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, tight end Dustin Keller, linebacker David Harris, cornerback Antonio Cromartie, safeties Le Ron Landry and Yeremiah Bell and perhaps a few other starters, and before you know it, the poor GM is trying to find starting right tackles and third-down pass rushing specialists for the league minimum. Add that all up and that's how a salary cap of $125M or so gets you 8-8 or 9-7 year after year, if you're lucky.
The Jets have already let some talented players leave, post-injury or not, simply because the players over-inflated their price tags... Leon Washington, Alan Faneca, Pete Kendall, Brad Smith, Thomas Jones, Braylon Edwards, Jay Feely... we often overlook how valuable role players are on an NFL roster, and so do some of those role players in their personal quest for top dollar. Many decades ago, Branch Ricky, then the GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates, offered a pay cut to perennial National League home run champ and future hall of famer Ralph Kiner on the basis of "we're a last-place team with or without you, big paycheck or small." As great a talent as Revis is, the Jets brain trust needs to ask itself if Revis at $16M is really worth it if the team is basically mediocre with or without him. Since being drafted in 2007, the Jets are 4-12, 9-7, 9-7, 11-5, and 8-8 with him (give or take a missed game or two for a tweaked hamstring), and 3-6 without him since his week 3 knee injury. 41-39 with a healthy Revis the first five seasons. $16M for a cornerback, granted one of the best, and barely better than .500? Is he really worth it, considering how well the Jets defensive secondary has played without him so far this year? I'm not saying force Revis to accept a pay cut all the way down to $1M or $2M next year, or even release him, but sit down and have an honest discussion with him about reality, team economics and the team's overall performance since he's been drafted. Coming off reconstructive knee surgery, Revis can't hold the team financial hostage. Just like Tebow and being suited up last night when reportedly unable to play, no single player can put himself above the team if winning a Super Bowl is the primary goal. 53 men have to learn how to work together physically, intellectually, economically and socially, or else they can forget ever winning one Super Bowl title, much less several en route to becoming a dynasty. Revis, Holmes, Tebow and everyone else with an image-related agenda needs to face the music and accept that this is the New York Jets, in quest of returning to the Super Bowl and winning for the first time since January 1969, not the New York Revises, Holmeses or Tebows. Do these guys really want to be remembered as champions, with shiny rings and legacies to last a lifetime, or do they want to suck as many dollars away from the rest of their teammates for their own personal wealth? It's a pretty basic question with a fairly simple answer, even in this era of multi-million-dollar salaries.
At the end of last season's collapse, Rex Ryan said the Jets all needed to do some soul searching in order to recommit to winning in 2012. Even if all things break just right the next five weeks, the Jets will still only be a 9-7 team, hardly the kind of record Super Bowl champions regularly have, so it's clear there's still a lot more soul searching to do. But this time the soul searching needs to be deep beneath the surface and utilize every physical sense, not just speech.
We always talk about the heart of champions and the souls of teams. Based on what we're all seeing so far in 2012, all of Jets Nation -- ownership, front office, coaches, players, fans and media pundits -- need to relocate the true heart and soul necessary for the Jets to ever have all the right parts and wherewithal to be the champions everyone keeps yammering about. If becoming a champion is the goal, you need to play like a 12-4 team, not just talk like one. Talking like a 12-4 team when you're scuffling to finish 9-7 doesn't make you a 12-4 team, no matter how much you believe a championship is possible. Eventually every team has to shut up and simply play football, assuming the team -- and its supporters -- knows what playing winning football looks like.
I know what many of you are probably thinking: Shut up, Dave... what the hell do you know about anything, much less professional football? You're just some idiot in wheelchair.
Well, if I'm an idiot in a wheelchair, what's Eric LeGrand? There! I can hit below the belt too, you know. I don't care if it is Thanksgiving weekend... you can't have your cake and eat it too every time you want to create postulates to discredit anything I have to say. Either young Mr. LeGrand and I are both know-nothing idiots in wheelchairs, or we're both disabled human beings who became disabled as a consequence of playing football. I may not have played overly well during my day, but I actually know more about football than how to tie the laces of my cleats.
Don't mistake my admonishment for arrogance. I'm far from the smartest person on the planet, but I am blessed with a unique ability to gather, analyze and synthesize information while connecting it to the big picture and perspective, and I haven't heard much big picture thinking or perspective over the many hours of hysteria since last night's game kicked off.
Let's briefly talk about what we saw last night. Yes, the Jets stunk up the joint and were dead in the water before halftime. Most of us haven't seen a 35-point blitz in one quarter in a long time. I share Al Michaels' personal memory of Super Bowl XXII when the Washington Redskins exploded for 35 points in what seemed like the blink of an eye and the Denver Broncos never knew what hit them. Last night was deja vu all over again for anyone with a head full of NFL (and AFL) history. That's what last night's second quarter was like, the train wreck of historical proportions you didn't realize was instantaneously happening before your very eyes.
Anyone who's played organized football at any level has been on the right and wrong end of such games... it's simply part of the law of averages. Those games really aren't laughers to the team on the receiving end of a big-time butt kicking (see 2010, Patriots 45, Jets 3), or epic collapse. Last night NBC reminded us all about the great comebacks from 35-3 by the 1992 Buffalo Bills in a wild card playoff game against the Houston Oilers (Bill Belichick's personal justification for running up scores) and the Jets own Miracle in the Meadowlands in 2000, coming all the way back from down 30-7 in the fourth quarter to beat the Miami Dolphins 40-37 in overtime at almost 2:00am. As we all know, I wore the uniform of the Temple Owls and Tampa Bay Buccaneers many years ago (queue in laugh track), so losing games by 30 or more points was pretty routine for me, and unfortunately, you can only play William and Mary so many times in order to see things from the brighter side of the scoreboard.
Do 49-19 losses bug me? Yeah... especially when the game matters, especially when my team losses 49-19 with a still-existing chance of making a wild card berth, especially when my team has already lost 34-0, 30-9 and 28-7 this season. Too many stinkers like this gives me indigestion, no matter what's on the dinner menu.
But what bugged me most was the cruel, uninformed, snarky, and disrespectful carrying on by my fellow Jets fans, members of the media and members of the football fraternity. In fact, I'll go as far as saying that I haven't been as turned off my some people's comments since the masses ganged up on Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler during the 2010 NFC Championship Game when he went down with a knee injury that couldn't be treated without complicating his Type I Diabetes. In short, I was a little ashamed by many of the comments many folks were tweeting and saying on radio, just like I was back in January 2011.
So how do we turn last night's Jets debacle into a teachable moment so we can all grow and learn from this as vested fans and supporters?
The first thing we can do is start learning how to use vocabulary properly. Without calling out specific members of the media, one cannot call the Jets an "embarrassment" and "pretenders" in the same sentence. These are two distinctly different words and they have two completely different meanings in the context of NFL parity.
To simplify things, there are four possible adjective categories one can use to describe an NFL team: dynastic, contender, pretender or embarrassment. Here's a simple rule-of-thumb to follow when you use these terms:
1. A dynastic team is one that routinely wins NFL titles during an extended number of years, like an entire decade (see the 1960s Green Bay Packers, 1970s Pittsburgh Steelers and 1980s San Francisco 49ers).
2. A contender, or contending team is one that routinely wins their division during an extended number of years and at least plays in as many conference championship games (see the Dallas Cowboys of 1966-1982, the Oakland Raiders of 1967-1983, the Minnesota Vikings of 1969-1980, the Buffalo Bills of 1988-1999, and the New England Patriots since 1994).
3. A pretender is a team that routinely finishes at or above .500 during an extended number of years, occasionally making the playoffs, possibly even winning their division every now and then, and could go far if planets are aligned just right (see the New York Jets since 1997).
4. An embarrassment is a team that routinely finishes well below .500 during an extended number of years, where .500 is a very exceptional season and a playoff berth is a miracle (see the New Orleans Saints of 1967-1985, Tampa Bay Buccaneers of 1983-1996, and the Oakland Raiders since 2003).
Okay? Got it? Good. Now, let's take a breath and look at our Jets with a critical and rational eye. For those carrying on that the 2012 Jets are the most embarrassing in franchise history, I should remind you that this franchise has been playing since 1960 when it was the AFL's New York Titans, a team that essentially went bankrupt under owner Harry Wismer.
4-7 is embarrassing? 4-7 is lousy. Embarrassing is a different level of lousy. What about the 4-28 Rich Kotite era of 1995-1996, piggybacking the Fake Spike collapse of 1994 under Pete Carroll? What about the 9-33 Jets of 1975-1977 under the leadership of Charley Winner, Lou Holtz and Walt Michaels? I appreciate that many Jets fans think Super Bowl III and 1968 was as long ago as the Fall of Rome and so many young fans today feel personally persecuted for still waiting for a sniff of a Jets Super Bowl since the day Bill Parcells arrived at the old Hofstra facility, but you guys really have no idea what "bad old days" really mean in the history of this franchise.
Yes, this season has been a major letdown for Jets Nation and at times painful to watch, but having watched this team since 1966-1967, through great seasons and absolutely awful, and being on borrowed time with a morphine pump surgically implanted in my belly, I'm actually just happy to watch another season, even this 4-7 slop. You bitch about when the Jets are going to make it back to the Super Bowl while I don't expect to live long enough to see a Super Bowl played in New Jersey. It's all relative, folks; get a damn grip on yourselves and smell some reality.
Fact: the 2012 Jets are having a very sub-par season in many respects. Fact: compared to the Patriots, the Jets are big-time pretenders, even with back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances in 2009 and 2010. Fact: the Jets can really embarrass themselves on and off the field. Fact: the Jets are NOT an embarrassing football team. This is a team that beat the Colts 35-9, hung 48 points on the Bills, and came close to upsetting the Texans at home and the Patriots on the road. Yes, this is also a team that has lost three home games to the 49ers, Dolphins and Patriots to the tune of 113-28. Hello?! When the Jets are going good, they can be very good, and when they're going bad, they go bad big. No matter how you slice it, that's a sure sign of a very mediocre and maddingly inconsistent team, just like the other 16 teams that were at, just above or just below .500 going into Thanksgiving weekend. That's parity. Has the bottom fallen out on this team? Not if there's better than a cockeyed chance they can run the table and finish 9-7 in spite of themselves.
Fact: since the great Parcells graced Jets Nation with his presence in 1997, the Jets are an overall 132-121 with seven playoff berths, two AFC East crowns and three trips to the AFC Championship Game (1998, 2009-2010). Add in the 7-7 postseason record and the Jets are 139-128 since the stench of the Kotite era was removed. You know what that works out to, on average, for almost sixteen seasons? 9-7. Yes, for all the physically-present head coaches the Jets have had -- Parcells, Al Groh, Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan -- and big-name stars on the roster, the Jets are basically a 9-7 team that makes the playoffs every few seasons and gives fans some added thrills to break the monotony. Compared to the dark days of 1975-1977 and 1995-1996 (neither period representative of years in endless oblivion like other well-known and long-time NFL losers), sixteen years of "better than average" is pretty okay. Compared to NFL organizations that are truly contenders or potential dynasties, the Jets have a long way to go before results back up constant talking. Think about it: since 1994, Bob Kraft's Patriots have six Super Bowl appearances, winning three, and that's on top of thirteen AFC East titles. Folks, the Patriots are what a contender looks like. The Jets are not. The Jets are a pretender unable to make the leap to contender status.
How do the Jets make that leap from sixteen years (or perhaps even four decades) of being a pretender to a sustained run as a bonafide NFL contender? Change ownership? Change the front office? Change the head coach? Change the coaching staff? Change the quarterback? Change the entire roster? Relocation to the NFC? All of the above? None of the above?
How about changing the overall perspective about the organization? Yes, more than forcing Woody Johnson to sell the team to someone less distracted by GOP politics, replacing Mike Tannenbaum as GM, Rex Ryan as head coach, or Mark Sanchez as quarterback, or any other minor move or major overhaul, the entire Jets organization needs to take a long hard collective look in the mirror and ask "what kind of team do we want to be?"
The Jets can't be the Florham Park Patriots, or the Green Giants, or any other knock-off version of a team that knocked everyone's socks off for one magical season or one dominant decade. The Jets have spent too many years trying to be Parcells' old Giants or Belichick's Patriots, or the 1985 Bears, and it's simply not working. Hell, the Jets can't even figure out a way to become the reincarnation of Weeb Ewbank's 1968 Jets, and for good reason... those teams already existed and are now part of past history! When Rex Ryan became head coach in 2009, one of his first goals was to make sure his players all knew how to play like Jets, but Rex never really explained what a Jet was supposed to play like, so this entire roster is perpetually trying to define itself and its style as a knock-off of other teams, leaving everyone in an identity crisis.
As I've written before, there's a lack of vision, or as we might say in the academic world, the Jets are in ontological and epistemological crisis. I'm still waiting for Rex Ryan to paint a verbal picture of what a truly great Jets performance looks like beyond the final score and how many busted up bodies are in the opposing training room. How many times have we heard Rex say "we'll take it" even though his supposedly vaunted defense gave up 200 yards rushing or 400 yards passing, or the offense barely showed a pulse? Sure, you can win ugly; Herm Edwards loved winning games "Shreck style", but every head coach should have his "perfect" game within his thought process, no differently than master chefs envision the prefect menu item or conductors envision the perfect symphony.
I frankly don't care if the Jets ideally see themselves as having a suffocating defense, or a bombs-away passing attack, or a meat-grinder run-oriented offense. I don't care if the Jets want to win every game 45-42, 10-7 or 52-9, but if they know what an ideal Jets game looks like, then they need to build their team accordingly. Have a vision. Articulate the vision. Create an identity. Build a team that matches the identity and stick with that core essence for several years and see how it progresses. You can't be the '85 Bears reincarnated one year, Ground and Pound the next, then Air Coryell the third. Even the old Soviet Union had five-year plans! The general manager, head coach, coaching staff and entire team roster need to consistently match the team vision and identity. It's like being a salesperson -- if you don't believe in the product or its value, you'll never sell it.
Should Mike Tannenbaum be fired as GM? Perhaps the time has come for a change, but it all depends on the organizational vision and identity. Tannenbaum might very well be the right GM if he's in sync with the vision, but we don't know because Tannenbaum seems to be making too many personnel moves based on coupon clipping theory rather than what it takes to build a genuine NFL contender.
The same is true for Rex Ryan as head coach. If the Jets had a comprehensive vision besides "find a way to win more games than the Patriots or Giants do", perhaps Rex might be someone who can guide the team as long as Chuck Noll did with the Steelers, or Tom Landry did with the Cowboys, or Don Shula did with the Dolphins, but we don't know, because Rex's too obsessed trying to compete with his father's legacy as defensive coordinator of the 1985 Bears as well as the number of Super Bowl rings Bill Belichick owns. If the Jets can have real stability under Rex and make the leap to contender status, that would be very preferable, but there are times Rex seems befuddled at how to be the voice and face of an NFL franchise. Just like Tannenbaum, if Rex can't develop or articulate a vision, much less put one into action, then he should be fired.
What about Mark Sanchez? What about him?! I haven't seen a Jets fan base so eager to chase a quarterback out of town since the days of Richard Todd, and don't think there aren't some very eerie parallels between these two franchise players within the annals of Jets history. Just a few hours ago, I heard one ESPN bloviator tell another "I really wanted to see the Jets give Sanchez one game, all to himself, without any Tebow substitutions or interruptions, so we could see what Sanchez can really do. Now we see. He lost by 30 points. Get him out of there and put in Tebow."
REALLY? Sanchez deserved one such game, after ten weeks of having his entire 2012 season disrupted by Tim Tebow and his legion of fanatical supporters, and that's his final trial to prove his worth as an NFL quarterback? How did we get from ten weeks of "oh, c'mon... just give Tebow a couple of series. Let him play! Let him show what he can do!" to a week 11 ultimatum for the Jets franchise quarterback? How stupid have we all become?! For ten weeks, every misinformed fan and media member begged for Tebow to get his fair chance, and now the same people are willing to hand the keys to the entire offense over to a fullback masquerading as quarterback with no need for an audition anymore?! I hate to break the news to everyone yet again, but Tim Tebow is NOT a legitimate NFL quarterback with his current physical size, muscular bulk and grasp of an offensive playbook, and if the Jets are going to hand the full-time reigns over to anyone other than Sanchez, it should be Greg McElroy, who has the right physical stature and level of scheme comprehension.
Last night's interception? From my view of the play it looked like Jeremy Kerley cut his route too wide as Sanchez committed to throw the pass into soft safety coverage. The fumble? Busted plays happen no matter how many years experience a quarterback has, and Sanchez had the presence of mind to slide to the ground once he realized the play was going nowhere. Sliding into Brandon Moore's ass was more due to Moore being pushed backwards by Vince Wilfork than Sanchez looking for an inappropriate place to bury his head.
And while we're on the subject of fumbling, did anyone pay attention to how hard the Patriots defensive players were smacking Jets ball carriers? You get popped like Sanchez, Joe McKnight and Shonn Greene got popped last night, you'd lose your grip on the ball too, if only to reach and see if your teeth are still in your mouth.
But let's look at things more fundamentally... no one trusts Sanchez as quarterback... not the fans, coaches, owner, or members of the media. Don't tell me he's had almost four years to demonstrate how lousy he is... fans were calling for his benching by his fourth NFL game, a 24-10 loss at New Orleans, the first loss of the 2009 season after a 3-0 start, where he committed four turnovers. Oh, and it got worse as the bonus baby rookie, trying to play NFL quarterback in what really should've been his junior year at USC, committed six more turnovers two weeks later in a 16-13 overtime loss at home to the Bills, and three more a month later in a 24-22 loss at home to Jacksonville, and five more a week after that in a 31-14 loss at New England.
And let's not forget Hot dog-gate during the final minutes of a 38-0 week 7 win at Oakland.
Everyone's fed up and making final calls for his head on Thanksgiving 2012?! You were all doing the same damn thing by Thanksgiving 2009! If Sanchez is a mess at quarterback, it's not anywhere near of his own doing. For all the mistakes and dumb things a kid in his early 20s has done in four years calling signals behind center, eating junk food on the bench, giving lame press conferences, and dating too many celebrities, we, as Jets Nation, have inflicted far more damage than he has!
The Jets invested a top-five draft pick and a lot of money in him and he's yet to enjoy a genuinely full opportunity to mature and develop into the franchise NFL quarterback he was expected to become. Think about it... by Thanksgiving 2009 this kid's head was already screwed up with fans screaming for his head and his coaches forcing him to wear color-coded wrist bands and deal with all sorts of stupid word-association games in order to avoid mistakes. AVOID MISTAKES?! Rookies are supposed to make mistakes, even highly drafted and well-paid ones.
He was a kid, for heavens sake! A mere puppy! He still is! My mustache is almost old enough to be his father... we don't fully grasp how young he really is, especially coming out of college two years too early. You can't tell a kid to play quarterback like it's defensive driving school. That screws his head up and makes him afraid. Fear of failure has a warped way of manifesting itself by causing a series of mistakes like uncontrollable hiccups or flatulence. It's a wonder being the Jets starting quarterback hasn't given Sanchez a permanent case of irritable bowel syndrome.
Has Sanchez been coddled? Maybe yes. maybe no. Some fans and media members think Sanchez hasn't been challenged for his job security. Maybe that's the case, but maybe not having a legitimate back-up who can take away his job has created terror instead of complacency. If you know you're left holding the bag at quarterback and there's no one to bail you out, no Don Strock to your David Woodley moments, that's not overly comfortable either. You don't have a choice but to keep strapping on your helmet and taking your lumps for the team, over and over again. You're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. If you can't comprehend how Sanchez may feel between a rock and a hard place as quarterback of an offense that resembles a stripped-down Buick, think about how screwed the average adult is dealing with a mother-in-law.
How is a mother-in-law a metaphor for Sanchez's dilemma? When I was married I couldn't stand my mother-in-law (I still can't, by the way, and I haven't seen the woman in almost four years), and my wife would threaten me before every family gathering if I dared say anything nasty to her mother, no matter how many insulting things the woman publicly said about me or my own family. Well, if you were raised like I was, your mother taught you that if you don't have anything nice to say about someone, keep your mouth shut. Well, without fail, every time my wife and I would return home from a family gathering, she'd scream at me "why won't you talk with my mother?!" Here I am, trying to be the polite person my mother raised me to be and avoid letting my mouth get me into trouble among a bunch of Nussbaums, and my wife is pissed because I opted not to engage with a woman I absolutely despised. THAT'S what damned if you do, damned if you don't looks like! THAT'S what Mark Sanchez has to deal with as the starting quarterback of the New York Jets!
No one besides Rex Ryan and his big mouth had any illusions that the 2009 Jets were anything close to a Super Bowl contender. Most folks, and we can all go back and look it up, were fully prepared for and expected an 8-8 season as the Jets rebuilt their offense with Sanchez after Brett Favre and 2008 blew up on everyone. 9-7 was a very pleasant surprise and making it to the AFC Championship Game in Indianapolis was icing on the cake with such a young and inexperienced quarterback.
Here we are, three years later, and everyone's still freaking out that Sanchez makes mistakes, often the same ones over and over again. Well... so does Eli Manning every now and then, even with two Super Bowl titles and MVP awards, and so does Tony Romo in Dallas, and Phillip Rivers in San Diego, and Jay Cutler in Chicago, and Ryan Fitzpatrick in Buffalo. When is it going to be Tebow Time in those cities? The great Peyton Manning still throws interceptions, be it in Indianapolis or Denver. He even throws a pick-six every now and then. Drew Brees of the Saints throws his fair share of interceptions too. Matthew Stafford in Detroit completed only 31 of 61 passes yesterday in an overtime loss to Houston. That's a 50.8 completion percentage. Where are the Lions fans calling for Tebow to replace him? Atlanta's Matt Ryan threw five interceptions last week against Arizona. Why aren't Falcons fans calling for his benching and begging for a trade for Tebow? Quarterbacks make mistakes, even the great or elite ones, all without the existence of one Timothy Richard Tebow waiting in the wings like some vulture.
Joe Namath, the greatest quarterback in Jets history, had a lifetime completion percentage of barely 50 percent during his thirteen-year AFL-NFL career. He threw more interceptions than touchdowns. In fact, during the Jets 1968 Super Bowl season, Namath completed 49.2 percent of his passes, throwing 17 interceptions against 15 touchdowns. On four occasions, Namath threw two or more interceptions. Twice he threw five interceptions, in losses to 1-12-1 Buffalo and 5-9 Denver. Did the Jets bench Namath? No, despite defensive coordinator Walt Michaels wanting to kill him a few times. And the Jets won the Super Bowl that season.
How did Namath's rookie season, 1965, go? The Jets went 5-8-1 and Namath completed 48.2 percent of his passes (18 TD, 15 INT) on the way to being AFL Rookie of the Year. 1966? 6-6-2, 49.3 completion percentage, 19 TD, 27 INT. 1967? 8-5-1, 52.5 completion percentage, 26 TD, 28 INT.
What do we see, boys and girls? The Jets let Namath play quarterback, grow into the position, make his mistakes and not play in fear. Did Joe Willie give his coaches plenty of agita in the process? Yes, he did, but he also became the first quarterback to pass for 4,000 yards in a single season (14 games back then) and the Jets won a Super Bowl. In four years, Namath threw 1,692 passes, barely completed half of them, and tossed 87 interceptions along the way to a Super Bowl title. The Jets won 30 regular season games during his first four seasons. Do the math... one glorious championship season included, the Jets were approximately 8-6 on average during those first four seasons. What a coincidence! 8-6 for a 14-game regular season is very similar to 9-7 for a 16-game season. The Jets weren't some overlooked AFL dynasty during Joe Willie's early years. They needed to take a leap up from pretender to contender, which they basically did for one special season.
Sanchez has thrown 1,754 passes, completing more than half of them, with 61 interceptions. The Jets have won 32 regular season games during Sanchez's tenure, which averages out to 8-8 and pretender yet to be contender status. If you toss in fumbles and any other blunders, the only major difference between the Jets during Namath's first four years and the Jets during Sanchez's is Super Bowl III. The 1960s were a different time. Perhaps Sanchez needs 5-6 years to grow into where Broadway Joe was by Super Bowl III? But we don't give Sanchez enough time to test that theory, because we have no patience with learning curves to begin with.
Ever since Joe Willie left the Jets in 1977, no matter who's the head coach or quarterback, the mantra has been don't screw anything up... just go out and win like Joe did. What has been the result? A bunch of 8-8 and 9-7 seasons sprinkled with some 4-12, 6-10, 11-5 and a heap of headcase quarterbacks who couldn't live up to impossible expectations... and we're doing it to Mark Sanchez too! When do we stop the madness and break this ridiculous cycle, especially since Joe Namath was hardly the standard for quarterbacking efficiency to begin with?! Even if Sanchez gets benched for Tebow, how long will it be before Jets Nation turns Tebow into a headcase? Gunslingers, perpetual scramblers and game managers can all end up seriously neurotic trying to please our fan base.
I can imagine it now... Rex Ryan and the Jets brain trust finally relent and give the fans what they've called for, Tebow starting at quarterback, perhaps the regular season home finale, a Sunday night affair December 23rd against San Diego. Tebow runs around aimlessly for 58 minutes, completing a mere two passes all night to Jets players and six to Chargers defensive players. Somehow the Jets trail by eight at the two-minute warning, Tebow pulls a rabbit out of his helmet with a last-play touchdown scramble, then gets sacked on the two-point conversion attempt and the Jets lose. How do his fans and supporters react? Oh, he almost did it! He kept us in position to win the whole night and almost won it on the power of his legs and the spirit of Christ in his soul.
Excuse me while I take a moment to hypothetically vomit my guts out... You and I all know that if Tebow's interceptions outnumber completions by a 3:1 ratio, we're all going to beg for an atheist who can throw to the correct colored jerseys ASAP! Two completions and six picks will not -- and should not -- earn Tebow, or any supposed savior, the benefit of the doubt or another start as the Jets quarterback, be it running a pro-style or wildcat offense.
One last dagger at Tebowmania... he reportedly had two broken ribs suffered against Seattle and couldn't even throw a pass last night, but he was the active back-up quarterback and in uniform on the sidelines while a perfectly healthy McElroy wasn't. After the game, Tebow, according to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio, was tossing passes right-handed to a young boy from Jacksonville attending the game as part of the Make-a-Wish Foundation. In the locker room, Tebow told reporters that he wanted to be available "in case there was an emergency and he was needed." Oh really?! What would've constituted an "emergency" -- Sanchez suffering an injury slamming his head into Brandon Moore's tuchus? Sanchez tossing three or four interceptions? The Jets being down by thirty points at halftime? Woody Johnson receiving an urgent telegram from the Easter Bunny?!
Or is Tebow such a narcissist that he "talked" his way into being dressed and active for the sake of appearance and enhancing his "brand" on NBC's prime-time coverage and with little sick kids from Florida? I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'll take a bumbling Sanchez who gives it his all, mistakes and all, for 60 minutes over Tebow wasting 58 minutes and waiting for the two-minute warning so he can save the day like Mighty Mouse (see Andy Kaufman's 1975 debut on "Saturday Night Live") and have his "SportsCenter moment."
I've questioned his motives for refusing to see himself as anything other than a starting quarterback in the NFL, for "agreeing" to a trade to New York so he could back-up "a great friend" in Sanchez while sharks circled Sanchez after last season's collapse, and for maintaining publicly how he's "always competing" every day with the Jets. Now I must raise the toughest question of all: did Tebow misrepresent a rib injury and put his own interests, persona and agenda ahead of a properly-set team roster last night by taking a spot better suited with McElroy active? If that's the case, and if I was calling the shots with the Jets, Tebow would be immediately released and his contract voided for violation of team and league policy, and Tannenbaum, Ryan and the entire Jets coaching staff would be terminated effective six hours after the final gun of the 2012 season sounded. Period. Exclamation point. End of discussion. Let Tebow hire the NFLPA to fight for his severance, and let Tannenbaum, Ryan and the rest of the coaches consult attorneys if they think they're wrongfully terminated.
If "Play like a Jet" means the logo on the helmet takes precedent over the names on the back of jerseys or lockers, then manipulating a roster to put the team at disadvantage for the sake of an injured player's public image is an absolutely inexcusable and intolerable offense.
This finally leads me to the most important and potentially volatile issue facing the Jets as 2012 sets the stage for 2013. If you look at the roster, the Jets have a few over-paid and under-performing players beyond what anyone thinks of Sanchez. Such players eat up valuable salary-cap space and force Tannenbaum and Ryan to fill slots with Wal-Mart quality talent, and it's undermining the team's overall depth, strength, stamina and performance. Whether fans and media members want to accept it or not, Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes become salary-cap liabilities coming back from season-ending injuries, especially if Revis plans to stage yet another hold-out to hold Woody Johnson's money hostage. As I've written before with his 2010 hold-out, the quest to be the highest-paid defensive player, even by a mere penny, means Revis cares more about his own financial portfolio and ego than ever bringing a Lombardi trophy to MetLife Stadium draped in Jet green and white. All those millions Revis and his agents strong-arm for him are millions the Jets can't use to sign other great talents, on offense and defense, to free agent contracts or contract extensions, and that's how a team in the salary-cap era fails to maintain roster stability and build a contender. $16M to Revis, and $10M to Holmes leaves any GM only $100M to put together the best possible 53-man roster. Take away $8M for Sanchez, a few more millions for center Nick Mangold, Tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, tight end Dustin Keller, linebacker David Harris, cornerback Antonio Cromartie, safeties Le Ron Landry and Yeremiah Bell and perhaps a few other starters, and before you know it, the poor GM is trying to find starting right tackles and third-down pass rushing specialists for the league minimum. Add that all up and that's how a salary cap of $125M or so gets you 8-8 or 9-7 year after year, if you're lucky.
The Jets have already let some talented players leave, post-injury or not, simply because the players over-inflated their price tags... Leon Washington, Alan Faneca, Pete Kendall, Brad Smith, Thomas Jones, Braylon Edwards, Jay Feely... we often overlook how valuable role players are on an NFL roster, and so do some of those role players in their personal quest for top dollar. Many decades ago, Branch Ricky, then the GM of the Pittsburgh Pirates, offered a pay cut to perennial National League home run champ and future hall of famer Ralph Kiner on the basis of "we're a last-place team with or without you, big paycheck or small." As great a talent as Revis is, the Jets brain trust needs to ask itself if Revis at $16M is really worth it if the team is basically mediocre with or without him. Since being drafted in 2007, the Jets are 4-12, 9-7, 9-7, 11-5, and 8-8 with him (give or take a missed game or two for a tweaked hamstring), and 3-6 without him since his week 3 knee injury. 41-39 with a healthy Revis the first five seasons. $16M for a cornerback, granted one of the best, and barely better than .500? Is he really worth it, considering how well the Jets defensive secondary has played without him so far this year? I'm not saying force Revis to accept a pay cut all the way down to $1M or $2M next year, or even release him, but sit down and have an honest discussion with him about reality, team economics and the team's overall performance since he's been drafted. Coming off reconstructive knee surgery, Revis can't hold the team financial hostage. Just like Tebow and being suited up last night when reportedly unable to play, no single player can put himself above the team if winning a Super Bowl is the primary goal. 53 men have to learn how to work together physically, intellectually, economically and socially, or else they can forget ever winning one Super Bowl title, much less several en route to becoming a dynasty. Revis, Holmes, Tebow and everyone else with an image-related agenda needs to face the music and accept that this is the New York Jets, in quest of returning to the Super Bowl and winning for the first time since January 1969, not the New York Revises, Holmeses or Tebows. Do these guys really want to be remembered as champions, with shiny rings and legacies to last a lifetime, or do they want to suck as many dollars away from the rest of their teammates for their own personal wealth? It's a pretty basic question with a fairly simple answer, even in this era of multi-million-dollar salaries.
At the end of last season's collapse, Rex Ryan said the Jets all needed to do some soul searching in order to recommit to winning in 2012. Even if all things break just right the next five weeks, the Jets will still only be a 9-7 team, hardly the kind of record Super Bowl champions regularly have, so it's clear there's still a lot more soul searching to do. But this time the soul searching needs to be deep beneath the surface and utilize every physical sense, not just speech.
We always talk about the heart of champions and the souls of teams. Based on what we're all seeing so far in 2012, all of Jets Nation -- ownership, front office, coaches, players, fans and media pundits -- need to relocate the true heart and soul necessary for the Jets to ever have all the right parts and wherewithal to be the champions everyone keeps yammering about. If becoming a champion is the goal, you need to play like a 12-4 team, not just talk like one. Talking like a 12-4 team when you're scuffling to finish 9-7 doesn't make you a 12-4 team, no matter how much you believe a championship is possible. Eventually every team has to shut up and simply play football, assuming the team -- and its supporters -- knows what playing winning football looks like.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
One real Turkey of Pigskin Analysis - Doc's bark for November 20, 2012
Thanksgiving approaches while football and culinary gluttons prepare to enter the land of Gobble-gobbelopolis, and I'm just as unable to get my head around this football season going into the end of November as I was back in the beginning of September. Wonders never cease to amaze me as the Twitterverse is all atwitter with football fans prognosticating college rankings, bowl matchups, and wild card chances for their favorite Division I-A (er... FBS... or is it BCS?) or NFL teams. I typically advise football fans not to worry about postseason scenarios until at least midseason, but even at this point of autumn I have no clue how things may shake out. Is this all due to parity, convoluted overtime rules, over-emphasis on player safety, under-emphasis on player fundamentals, the cosmic randomness of our galaxy, or some other silly notion on par with Sabermetrics in baseball?
Beats me, but each passing weekend convinces me more and more that football seasons are getting stranger and stranger.
Take Saturday's NCAA football action as evidence Earth's axis might be tilted a bit more than usual. In Exhibit A, I present to you this final score from West Point: Temple 63, Army 32. Uh huh! Uh huh! Everyone not consuming hallucinogens knows Temple football teams don't score 63 points in a single game. Heck! Sometimes Temple football teams don't score 63 points in a month! But there it was, thanks to 351 yards and seven rushing touchdowns by Montel Harris, the Temple Owls football team imitated the Temple basketball team.
In fact, the Temple-Army game was one of twelve games played on Saturday that seemed more like lopsided basketball games. Twelve different teams scored at least 50 points, and among them three topped 60 (Temple, Clemson in beating North Carolina State 62-48, Oregon State in beating Cal 62-14) and one topped 70 (Morehead State beat Valparaiso 76-24). Topping 70 actually isn't so unique anymore, since Oregon manages that feat a couple of times each season, but Oregon didn't even top 20 this weekend, falling in overtime to Stanford 17-14, an absolute scoring drought compared to all the points-o-plenty from this weekend's action.
The Clemson-NC State game led the pack on games completely devoid of defense. Of the twelve teams topping the 50-point plateau Saturday, four actually surrendered more than thirty points, most notably Oklahoma which sqeaked by West Virginia 50-49. 50-49 is not what people expect for Sooners-Mountaineers. 50-49 is what we expect when Penn and Princeton get together at the Palestra for an Ivy League hoops battle.
By comparison, Exhibit B provides us nine NCAA Men's basketball games from Saturday where at least one team failed to score 50 points. All nine teams lost their games, the worst performance being Mercer, scoring a mere 36 losing by 26 to the University of Illinois-Chicago.
When did college football games start having basketball scores? I can't wait to see some of these defensive stalwarts (ha) in a bowl game in six weeks. Can you imagine two of these programs getting together and fans throwing toilet paper streamers from the stands after the first touchdown is scored, like they do at basketball games? People complain that the NFL has become too much of a passing league due to rules progressively favoring quarterbacks and receivers, but I beg to differ... the NFL has become a passing league because too many defensive players never learned how to master tackling in college. Watch any Big-12 football game! You'll see what I mean. Heck! Watch the replay of Saturday's Temple-Army game. If the Pentagon trained soldiers the way Army defenders slowed down Montel Harris, we would've surrendered to Iraq years ago.
Let's take a look at Exhibit C, the NFL regular season as week 11 nears its conclusion. Wasn't it only a few weeks ago when fans and pundits were lamenting how seemingly superior the NFC was to the AFC based on teams with winning records? Yeah, what about it? Has anyone taken a look at the standings today?
There are exactly two 9-1 teams - Houston in the AFC South and Atlanta in the NFC South. There is one 8-2 team, Baltimore leading the AFC North. San Francisco is 7-2-1, comfortably leading the NFC West. New England, Denver, Green Bay and Chicago are all 7-3.
What's my point? There are 17 -- yes, seventeen -- teams (8 in the AFC, 9 in the NFC) that are within one game above or below .500 -- 17 teams that are either 6-4, 5-5 or 4-6 -- middle of the pack teams somehow in the mix for a postseason berth -- the Jets, Dolphins, Bills, Colts, Titans, Bengals, Steelers, Chargers, Giants, Cowboys, Redskins, Buccaneers, Saints, Vikings, Lions, Seahawks and Cardinals are all jumbled within two games of each other and still have a legitimate chance of at least a wild card spot. That's more than half the league right in the bulge of the NFL's bell curve known as parity. Any of these teams can get hot, win enough games down the stretch at the right time, and you never know what could happen. It was only a mere ten months ago that the 9-7 Giants snatched the NFC East crown on the final night of the regular season and parlayed it to a Super Bowl title, their second in five years. Which one among these 17 teams might be this year's Super Bowl champ? The first Sunday in February is still around eleven weeks away. Anything can happen for the good.
And anyting can happen for the bad. Remember last year? The Bears were 7-3 and looked like the NFC front runner alongside the 10-0 Packers. What happened? The Packers went 15-1 but weren't as strong as weeks earlier and got bounced out of the playoffs, and the Bears lost their starting quarterback and ended up 8-8 and out of the postseason. Injuries are a killer. Case in point, Exhibit D -- the 1993 Dolphins. After winning a crazy Thanksgiving Day game in snowy Dallas (the "Leon Lett touched the blocked field goal" game), Miami was 9-2 and on a roll, even without Dan Marino (lost weeks earlier to an Achilles injury). Five straight losses later, they were 9-7 and out of the playoffs.
The Texans are 9-1 now, but a year ago they were 10-3 and barely hung on to win the AFC South after injuries forced them down to their third-string quarterback, rookie Tyler Yates. Six weeks to go is a long, long time and all sorts of good and bad things can happen to a team looking forward towards the postseason. Yesterday's 43-37 overtime win against 1-9 Jacksonville may be reason for concern. The first concern is Houston needed overtime on top of a late fourth-quarter comeback to beat a 1-9 team at home. The second concern is that the Texans needed a 527-yard passing (completing 43 of 55), five-touchdown performance by quarterback Matt Schaub in order to drive this comeback win. The third concern is that one of the league's top defenses gave up 458 yards and 37 points to one of the league's most anemic offenses.
Wasn't it only two weeks ago the Falcons were 8-0 and seemingly invincible, or at least kinda awesome? They don't seem so invincible or awesome after struggling to beat Arizona at home Sunday, 23-19. Matt Ryan threw five interceptions, and the Falcons added a fumble for good measure, yet managed to win in spite of themselves and a -5 turnover margin. Ryan's extreme generosity -- the first QB to toss 5 INT, zero TD and win since Bart Starr did it with the 1967 Packers -- got me thinking about NFL quarterbacks, especially given how many teams have questions if not extensive fan-based hysterics on hand directed towards their quarterbacks and passing games.
It's not every day that a quarterback throws 5 INT in an NFL game, and as we now know, winning a game you throw 5 INT is even rarer. Since 1960, the NFL and old AFL have played a combined 11,327 regular season games, and in 148 of those games (approximately 1.3 percent), a quarterback has thrown 5 INT. Matt Ryan became just the 13th NFL quarterback since 1960 to throw 5 INT in a game and win.
It's even less frequent for a quarterback to pass for 500 or more yards in an NFL game. In case you were wondering, the very first time an NFL quarterback accomplished the feat was September 28, 1951 when Norm Van Brocklin passed for 554 yards and five touchdowns, leading the then-Los Angeles Rams to a 54-14 win against the old New York Yankees (yes... there used to be an NFL team called the Yankees). Van Brocklin's feat (a mere five days before Bobby Thompson's "Shot heard 'round the World"... yes... there also used to be a MLB team called the New York Giants... PLEASE read a sports history book, those of you born in the 21st century! Sheesh!), believe it or not, is still the single-game NFL record for passing yards, 61 years and counting.
More importantly, since Van Brocklin's still-standing record day in 1951, thirteen other quarterbacks have eclipsed the 500-yard plateau (no one ever accomplished the feat more than once), Schaub's 527 yards being the second-most (tying Warren Moon's 527 yards, reached on December 16, 1990, when the the former Houston Oilers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 27-10). When you think about it, you might think passing for 500 yards is not only pretty special, but also helps a team win and win big, and normally the lots-of-yards equals lots-of-points makes sense, but not in the NFL, my friends. Believe it or not, of the fourteen quarterbacks to pass for 500 yards in a game, six were actually the losing quarterback on that day.
Another quirky thing about passing for 500 yards is that all those yards don't necessarily translate to lots of points. In fact, nine of those fourteen quarterbacks' offensive units failed to score at least 40 points, and one quarterback, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, generated a mere sixteen points in losing a game that he passed for 510 yards. Yessir... On November 19, 2006 (six years ago yesterday) Brees (he of lots of passing records and an offensive unit that scores bunches of points) passed for 510 yards and the Saints lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 31-16. On that day, Brees passed for two touchdowns and the Saints did little else besides move up and down the field without scoring points. Sometimes a lot of passing yards doesn't translate into touchdown passes, so it helps if other players are scoring points. Case in point is Phil Simms' 513-yard performance against the Bengals on October 13, 1985. Simms passed for only one touchdown, the fewest in a 500-yard game, and the Giants lost 35-30.
Does a quarterback need to throw a lot of passes, or complete a lot of passes, in order to accumulate 500 yards in a single game? Well, thirteen threw at least 40 pass attempts (the lone exception was Y.A. Tittle, who threw 39 passes on October 28, 1962, beating the Redskins 49-34), two threw at least 60 passes (Simms completed 40 of 62; Dan Marino completed 35 of 60 in 1988), two completed at least 40 passes (Simms' 40 in 1985 and Schaub's 43 on Sunday) but four quarterbacks completed fewer than 30 passes (Tittle, Moon and Van Brocklin all completed 27; Ben Roethlisberger completed 29 in a 37-36 win over Green Bay on December 20, 2009).
The most-efficient passing performance among the fourteen 500-yard games was Tittle's 1962 gem, completing 27 of 39 passes (69.2 percent) for 505 yards and 7 touchdowns. The least-efficient, if we can even say that, was Dan Marino's game on October 23, 1988, completing 35 of 60 passes (58.3 percent) for 521 yards and 3 touchdowns. Unfortunately, Marino also threw 5 INT and the Dolphins lost to the New York Jets 44-30 (see... I told you throwing 5 INT is typically a losing proposition.
What about throwing for 500 yards and touchdown passes? Tittle threw seven. Van Brocklin, Schaub and Matthew Stafford (Lions, January 1, 2012) each threw five. Tom Brady (Patriots, September 12, 2011) threw four. Moon, Esiason, Marino, Eli Manning (Giants, September 16, 2012), Vince Ferragamo (Rams, December 26, 1982) and Roethlisberger each threw three. Brees and Elvis Grbac (Chiefs, November 5, 2000) each threw two. Simms threw one.
Perhaps the oddest factoid about the fourteen 500-yard games in NFL history is that only two involved overtime, Schaub's game on Sunday and Boomer Esiason's 522-yard performance on November 10, 1996. Esiason completed 35 of 59 passes and threw 3 touchdowns in a 37-34 Arizona win over the Redskins.
Last, for those fans of obscure and potentially useless trivia, November is the most-frequent month for 500-yard passing performances with four, September, October and December each have three, and January had one such performance.
After ten games played by all 32 teams so far this regular season, 34 quarterbacks have thrown at least 100 passes and are listed among the league rankings. Supposedly, the "standard" for "good" quarterback play, in this era, includes a pass completion percentage above sixty and a quarterback efficiency rating above eighty. Guess how many of 34 quarterbacks are currently completing less than sixty percent of their passes? Thirteen, and with the exception of Michael Vick, everyone else has 1-4 years of NFL experience. Guess how many of 34 quarterbacks currently have an efficiency rating below eighty? Nine, and with the exception of Michael Vick, everyone else has 1-4 years of NFL experience.
What do these two statistical trends possibly mean? Relatively young and inexperienced quarterbacks tend to struggle with consistency and efficiency... and Michael Vick really hasn't improved with age. These two trends may also suggest that consistency and efficiency improve with age, experience and maturity, and that it likely takes more than 3-4 years to grow into being an NFL quarterback, just like it takes at least that long to grow into a lot of professions or occupations, like medicine and teaching, so if you're a fan of a young and struggling quarterback, perhaps it might make good sense to back off, be more patient and let your team's quarterback mature and evolve into his potential (see New York Jets fans and Mark Sanchez critics).
Do quarterback sacks worry you? It's hard for a quarterback to throw passes lying on his back, right? Well, let's suppose being sacked at least 15 times in the first ten games is an arbitrary caution threshold for a team's passing game. Guess how many of 34 quarterbacks have been sacked less than 15 times heading into Thanksgiving? Seven -- Peyton (Broncos) and Eli (Giants) Manning , Josh Freeman (Bucs), Brandon Weeden (Browns), the Texans' Schaub, Arizona's John Skelton and Tennessee's Matt Hasselbach -- and Skelton and Hasselbach haven't even been their team's full-time starter all season.
On the other hand, guess how many of the 34 quarterbacks have been sacked at least 25 times heading into Thansgiving? Six -- Michael Vick (Eagles), Sam Bradford (Rams), Aaron Rodgers (Packers), Christian Ponder (Vikings), Jay Cutler (Bears) and Kevin Kolb (Cardinals) -- and Kolb shares the quarterback duties with Skelton!
What does this all possibly mean? Well, in addition to Michael Vick seeming to be on the wrong end of a lot of statistical trends for quarterbacks, anybody playing quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals is a glorified tackling dummy for opposing pass rushers. We might also wish to note that the number of times your quarterback is running for his life or being knocked to the ground may not necessarily dictate success or lackthereof, since the most-sacked list includes Rodgers of the 7-3 Packers and Cutler of the 7-3 Bears, and the least-sacked list includes Weeden of the 2-8 Browns.
Perhaps touchdown-to-interception ratio matters to you. After all, tossing five picks like Matt Ryan did Sunday usually doesn't bode well for success, although that brings his season total to seven versus 20 touchdowns. But there are six quarterbacks from the list of 34 who've thrown more interceptions than touchdowns (Dallas' Tony Romo, Carolina's Cam Newton, Miami's Ryan Tannehill, Cleveland's Weeden, Matt Cassel of the Chiefs and Arizona's Skelton), and only three play for teams still with a middle-of-the-pack chance at the playoffs (Romo, Tannehill and Skelton).
Just like completion percentage, yardage and sacks, any individual statistical trend may not tell us anything worth a bag of beans about quarterbacks and team success, but putting all of these statistical trends together may give you a reasonable profile on what makes for a winning and successful quarterback. For my money, I think it's fairly safe to say that unless you're an incredibly gifted athlete surrounded by several other incredibly gifted athletes, you probably can't be a winning NFL quarterback if you're constantly under pressure, running for your life, unable to consistently complete passes (especially scoring passes) to your best receivers, completing too many passes to guys in the wrong-colored jerseys, and are still in the early half of your learning and development curve. In other words, youth, lack of supporting cast and mistakes are not a quarterback's best friend in the cold cruel NFL.
What's our take-home lesson heading into the final six weeks of the regular season? Stop complaining about your team's starting quarterback, let him play, and see where it leads. In the meantime, let indigestion be limited to turkey consumption, not your quarterback's passing statistics.
Beats me, but each passing weekend convinces me more and more that football seasons are getting stranger and stranger.
Take Saturday's NCAA football action as evidence Earth's axis might be tilted a bit more than usual. In Exhibit A, I present to you this final score from West Point: Temple 63, Army 32. Uh huh! Uh huh! Everyone not consuming hallucinogens knows Temple football teams don't score 63 points in a single game. Heck! Sometimes Temple football teams don't score 63 points in a month! But there it was, thanks to 351 yards and seven rushing touchdowns by Montel Harris, the Temple Owls football team imitated the Temple basketball team.
In fact, the Temple-Army game was one of twelve games played on Saturday that seemed more like lopsided basketball games. Twelve different teams scored at least 50 points, and among them three topped 60 (Temple, Clemson in beating North Carolina State 62-48, Oregon State in beating Cal 62-14) and one topped 70 (Morehead State beat Valparaiso 76-24). Topping 70 actually isn't so unique anymore, since Oregon manages that feat a couple of times each season, but Oregon didn't even top 20 this weekend, falling in overtime to Stanford 17-14, an absolute scoring drought compared to all the points-o-plenty from this weekend's action.
The Clemson-NC State game led the pack on games completely devoid of defense. Of the twelve teams topping the 50-point plateau Saturday, four actually surrendered more than thirty points, most notably Oklahoma which sqeaked by West Virginia 50-49. 50-49 is not what people expect for Sooners-Mountaineers. 50-49 is what we expect when Penn and Princeton get together at the Palestra for an Ivy League hoops battle.
By comparison, Exhibit B provides us nine NCAA Men's basketball games from Saturday where at least one team failed to score 50 points. All nine teams lost their games, the worst performance being Mercer, scoring a mere 36 losing by 26 to the University of Illinois-Chicago.
When did college football games start having basketball scores? I can't wait to see some of these defensive stalwarts (ha) in a bowl game in six weeks. Can you imagine two of these programs getting together and fans throwing toilet paper streamers from the stands after the first touchdown is scored, like they do at basketball games? People complain that the NFL has become too much of a passing league due to rules progressively favoring quarterbacks and receivers, but I beg to differ... the NFL has become a passing league because too many defensive players never learned how to master tackling in college. Watch any Big-12 football game! You'll see what I mean. Heck! Watch the replay of Saturday's Temple-Army game. If the Pentagon trained soldiers the way Army defenders slowed down Montel Harris, we would've surrendered to Iraq years ago.
Let's take a look at Exhibit C, the NFL regular season as week 11 nears its conclusion. Wasn't it only a few weeks ago when fans and pundits were lamenting how seemingly superior the NFC was to the AFC based on teams with winning records? Yeah, what about it? Has anyone taken a look at the standings today?
There are exactly two 9-1 teams - Houston in the AFC South and Atlanta in the NFC South. There is one 8-2 team, Baltimore leading the AFC North. San Francisco is 7-2-1, comfortably leading the NFC West. New England, Denver, Green Bay and Chicago are all 7-3.
What's my point? There are 17 -- yes, seventeen -- teams (8 in the AFC, 9 in the NFC) that are within one game above or below .500 -- 17 teams that are either 6-4, 5-5 or 4-6 -- middle of the pack teams somehow in the mix for a postseason berth -- the Jets, Dolphins, Bills, Colts, Titans, Bengals, Steelers, Chargers, Giants, Cowboys, Redskins, Buccaneers, Saints, Vikings, Lions, Seahawks and Cardinals are all jumbled within two games of each other and still have a legitimate chance of at least a wild card spot. That's more than half the league right in the bulge of the NFL's bell curve known as parity. Any of these teams can get hot, win enough games down the stretch at the right time, and you never know what could happen. It was only a mere ten months ago that the 9-7 Giants snatched the NFC East crown on the final night of the regular season and parlayed it to a Super Bowl title, their second in five years. Which one among these 17 teams might be this year's Super Bowl champ? The first Sunday in February is still around eleven weeks away. Anything can happen for the good.
And anyting can happen for the bad. Remember last year? The Bears were 7-3 and looked like the NFC front runner alongside the 10-0 Packers. What happened? The Packers went 15-1 but weren't as strong as weeks earlier and got bounced out of the playoffs, and the Bears lost their starting quarterback and ended up 8-8 and out of the postseason. Injuries are a killer. Case in point, Exhibit D -- the 1993 Dolphins. After winning a crazy Thanksgiving Day game in snowy Dallas (the "Leon Lett touched the blocked field goal" game), Miami was 9-2 and on a roll, even without Dan Marino (lost weeks earlier to an Achilles injury). Five straight losses later, they were 9-7 and out of the playoffs.
The Texans are 9-1 now, but a year ago they were 10-3 and barely hung on to win the AFC South after injuries forced them down to their third-string quarterback, rookie Tyler Yates. Six weeks to go is a long, long time and all sorts of good and bad things can happen to a team looking forward towards the postseason. Yesterday's 43-37 overtime win against 1-9 Jacksonville may be reason for concern. The first concern is Houston needed overtime on top of a late fourth-quarter comeback to beat a 1-9 team at home. The second concern is that the Texans needed a 527-yard passing (completing 43 of 55), five-touchdown performance by quarterback Matt Schaub in order to drive this comeback win. The third concern is that one of the league's top defenses gave up 458 yards and 37 points to one of the league's most anemic offenses.
Wasn't it only two weeks ago the Falcons were 8-0 and seemingly invincible, or at least kinda awesome? They don't seem so invincible or awesome after struggling to beat Arizona at home Sunday, 23-19. Matt Ryan threw five interceptions, and the Falcons added a fumble for good measure, yet managed to win in spite of themselves and a -5 turnover margin. Ryan's extreme generosity -- the first QB to toss 5 INT, zero TD and win since Bart Starr did it with the 1967 Packers -- got me thinking about NFL quarterbacks, especially given how many teams have questions if not extensive fan-based hysterics on hand directed towards their quarterbacks and passing games.
It's not every day that a quarterback throws 5 INT in an NFL game, and as we now know, winning a game you throw 5 INT is even rarer. Since 1960, the NFL and old AFL have played a combined 11,327 regular season games, and in 148 of those games (approximately 1.3 percent), a quarterback has thrown 5 INT. Matt Ryan became just the 13th NFL quarterback since 1960 to throw 5 INT in a game and win.
It's even less frequent for a quarterback to pass for 500 or more yards in an NFL game. In case you were wondering, the very first time an NFL quarterback accomplished the feat was September 28, 1951 when Norm Van Brocklin passed for 554 yards and five touchdowns, leading the then-Los Angeles Rams to a 54-14 win against the old New York Yankees (yes... there used to be an NFL team called the Yankees). Van Brocklin's feat (a mere five days before Bobby Thompson's "Shot heard 'round the World"... yes... there also used to be a MLB team called the New York Giants... PLEASE read a sports history book, those of you born in the 21st century! Sheesh!), believe it or not, is still the single-game NFL record for passing yards, 61 years and counting.
More importantly, since Van Brocklin's still-standing record day in 1951, thirteen other quarterbacks have eclipsed the 500-yard plateau (no one ever accomplished the feat more than once), Schaub's 527 yards being the second-most (tying Warren Moon's 527 yards, reached on December 16, 1990, when the the former Houston Oilers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 27-10). When you think about it, you might think passing for 500 yards is not only pretty special, but also helps a team win and win big, and normally the lots-of-yards equals lots-of-points makes sense, but not in the NFL, my friends. Believe it or not, of the fourteen quarterbacks to pass for 500 yards in a game, six were actually the losing quarterback on that day.
Another quirky thing about passing for 500 yards is that all those yards don't necessarily translate to lots of points. In fact, nine of those fourteen quarterbacks' offensive units failed to score at least 40 points, and one quarterback, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, generated a mere sixteen points in losing a game that he passed for 510 yards. Yessir... On November 19, 2006 (six years ago yesterday) Brees (he of lots of passing records and an offensive unit that scores bunches of points) passed for 510 yards and the Saints lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 31-16. On that day, Brees passed for two touchdowns and the Saints did little else besides move up and down the field without scoring points. Sometimes a lot of passing yards doesn't translate into touchdown passes, so it helps if other players are scoring points. Case in point is Phil Simms' 513-yard performance against the Bengals on October 13, 1985. Simms passed for only one touchdown, the fewest in a 500-yard game, and the Giants lost 35-30.
Does a quarterback need to throw a lot of passes, or complete a lot of passes, in order to accumulate 500 yards in a single game? Well, thirteen threw at least 40 pass attempts (the lone exception was Y.A. Tittle, who threw 39 passes on October 28, 1962, beating the Redskins 49-34), two threw at least 60 passes (Simms completed 40 of 62; Dan Marino completed 35 of 60 in 1988), two completed at least 40 passes (Simms' 40 in 1985 and Schaub's 43 on Sunday) but four quarterbacks completed fewer than 30 passes (Tittle, Moon and Van Brocklin all completed 27; Ben Roethlisberger completed 29 in a 37-36 win over Green Bay on December 20, 2009).
The most-efficient passing performance among the fourteen 500-yard games was Tittle's 1962 gem, completing 27 of 39 passes (69.2 percent) for 505 yards and 7 touchdowns. The least-efficient, if we can even say that, was Dan Marino's game on October 23, 1988, completing 35 of 60 passes (58.3 percent) for 521 yards and 3 touchdowns. Unfortunately, Marino also threw 5 INT and the Dolphins lost to the New York Jets 44-30 (see... I told you throwing 5 INT is typically a losing proposition.
What about throwing for 500 yards and touchdown passes? Tittle threw seven. Van Brocklin, Schaub and Matthew Stafford (Lions, January 1, 2012) each threw five. Tom Brady (Patriots, September 12, 2011) threw four. Moon, Esiason, Marino, Eli Manning (Giants, September 16, 2012), Vince Ferragamo (Rams, December 26, 1982) and Roethlisberger each threw three. Brees and Elvis Grbac (Chiefs, November 5, 2000) each threw two. Simms threw one.
Perhaps the oddest factoid about the fourteen 500-yard games in NFL history is that only two involved overtime, Schaub's game on Sunday and Boomer Esiason's 522-yard performance on November 10, 1996. Esiason completed 35 of 59 passes and threw 3 touchdowns in a 37-34 Arizona win over the Redskins.
Last, for those fans of obscure and potentially useless trivia, November is the most-frequent month for 500-yard passing performances with four, September, October and December each have three, and January had one such performance.
After ten games played by all 32 teams so far this regular season, 34 quarterbacks have thrown at least 100 passes and are listed among the league rankings. Supposedly, the "standard" for "good" quarterback play, in this era, includes a pass completion percentage above sixty and a quarterback efficiency rating above eighty. Guess how many of 34 quarterbacks are currently completing less than sixty percent of their passes? Thirteen, and with the exception of Michael Vick, everyone else has 1-4 years of NFL experience. Guess how many of 34 quarterbacks currently have an efficiency rating below eighty? Nine, and with the exception of Michael Vick, everyone else has 1-4 years of NFL experience.
What do these two statistical trends possibly mean? Relatively young and inexperienced quarterbacks tend to struggle with consistency and efficiency... and Michael Vick really hasn't improved with age. These two trends may also suggest that consistency and efficiency improve with age, experience and maturity, and that it likely takes more than 3-4 years to grow into being an NFL quarterback, just like it takes at least that long to grow into a lot of professions or occupations, like medicine and teaching, so if you're a fan of a young and struggling quarterback, perhaps it might make good sense to back off, be more patient and let your team's quarterback mature and evolve into his potential (see New York Jets fans and Mark Sanchez critics).
Do quarterback sacks worry you? It's hard for a quarterback to throw passes lying on his back, right? Well, let's suppose being sacked at least 15 times in the first ten games is an arbitrary caution threshold for a team's passing game. Guess how many of 34 quarterbacks have been sacked less than 15 times heading into Thanksgiving? Seven -- Peyton (Broncos) and Eli (Giants) Manning , Josh Freeman (Bucs), Brandon Weeden (Browns), the Texans' Schaub, Arizona's John Skelton and Tennessee's Matt Hasselbach -- and Skelton and Hasselbach haven't even been their team's full-time starter all season.
On the other hand, guess how many of the 34 quarterbacks have been sacked at least 25 times heading into Thansgiving? Six -- Michael Vick (Eagles), Sam Bradford (Rams), Aaron Rodgers (Packers), Christian Ponder (Vikings), Jay Cutler (Bears) and Kevin Kolb (Cardinals) -- and Kolb shares the quarterback duties with Skelton!
What does this all possibly mean? Well, in addition to Michael Vick seeming to be on the wrong end of a lot of statistical trends for quarterbacks, anybody playing quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals is a glorified tackling dummy for opposing pass rushers. We might also wish to note that the number of times your quarterback is running for his life or being knocked to the ground may not necessarily dictate success or lackthereof, since the most-sacked list includes Rodgers of the 7-3 Packers and Cutler of the 7-3 Bears, and the least-sacked list includes Weeden of the 2-8 Browns.
Perhaps touchdown-to-interception ratio matters to you. After all, tossing five picks like Matt Ryan did Sunday usually doesn't bode well for success, although that brings his season total to seven versus 20 touchdowns. But there are six quarterbacks from the list of 34 who've thrown more interceptions than touchdowns (Dallas' Tony Romo, Carolina's Cam Newton, Miami's Ryan Tannehill, Cleveland's Weeden, Matt Cassel of the Chiefs and Arizona's Skelton), and only three play for teams still with a middle-of-the-pack chance at the playoffs (Romo, Tannehill and Skelton).
Just like completion percentage, yardage and sacks, any individual statistical trend may not tell us anything worth a bag of beans about quarterbacks and team success, but putting all of these statistical trends together may give you a reasonable profile on what makes for a winning and successful quarterback. For my money, I think it's fairly safe to say that unless you're an incredibly gifted athlete surrounded by several other incredibly gifted athletes, you probably can't be a winning NFL quarterback if you're constantly under pressure, running for your life, unable to consistently complete passes (especially scoring passes) to your best receivers, completing too many passes to guys in the wrong-colored jerseys, and are still in the early half of your learning and development curve. In other words, youth, lack of supporting cast and mistakes are not a quarterback's best friend in the cold cruel NFL.
What's our take-home lesson heading into the final six weeks of the regular season? Stop complaining about your team's starting quarterback, let him play, and see where it leads. In the meantime, let indigestion be limited to turkey consumption, not your quarterback's passing statistics.
Monday, October 29, 2012
Jets Fuel Line needs an Immediate Flush -- Doc's Bark for October 29, 2012
I saw more than I needed to yesterday afternoon. We all did. Having watched yesterday's Dolphins-Jets game from a horizontal position on my sofa, without turning on my computer or laptop, I have no idea what the rest of the sports world thought, but at precisely 2:28pm Eastern Daylight Time on October 28th, I tweeted from my phone: Rex [Ryan] and [Tony] Sparano need to go.
I also have no idea what the rest of the sports world thinks today about the Jets, because I've yet to open my newspapers or deeply listen to local radio or television coverage (a pending hurricane kinda has me preoccupied), so this column is quite free of influence from anyone else. No one planted any seeds in my mind or thoughts... canning the head coach and offensive coordinator, effective 9:00am Tuesday morning, is my own idea, and exactly what I would do if owner of the New York Jets.
Yes, a relative pillar of patience and stable supporter of Rex Ryan, I finally reached the point of no return, and reiterated my thoughts on Twitter to Jets fans at 4:32pm, after the carnage of a 30-9 debacle was complete, and yet again at 4:38pm to SNYTV during Rex Ryan's post-game press conference and one last time for good measure at 5:05pm. The Jets have begun their bye week and changes need to be made... contrary to popular consensus, the change shouldn't be at quarterback. It should be at head coach, offensive coordinator, and the "back-up" quarterback.
Working backwards, Mark Sanchez is not the problem. He's neither the only reason nor the main reason for the Jets offensive putridness. He's forced to play in a dysfunctional scheme, behind a porous offensive line, with a revolving door of receivers and running backs, and a less-than-holy mercenary looking over his shoulder while he finds the best angle to stick a knife in Sanchez's back. As I said a few days ago, just like I've said months ago and more than a year ago, Tim Tebow is not an NFL quarterback. He's a hybrid fullback-tight end with religious-based delusions of being a starting quarterback.
The Jets traded for him in March after Tebow became expendable in Denver, after playing a key role in the Broncos playoff run last season. Fact: The Broncos brain trust viewed Tebow as a novelty act, not the man to lead the Broncos back to Super Bowl contention as a starting quarterback. To lose one's job to Peyton Manning is hardly a sin or blasphemy. Manning is sure to be enshrined in Canton in the not-too-distant future. The real sin was Tebow's refusal to step back and stay on as Manning's understudy for a couple of years, learning to develop the physical and intellectual skills necessary to play quarterback in this league. Tebow had and has an overinflated sense of his talent and worth for someone who can't effectively throw a football in a passing league.This is more profound than the struggles Sanchez has quarterbacking the Jets. Tebow doesn't understand game plan nuances, reading defenses, searching for progressions, or the mechanics of dropping back from center, standing in the pocket, and throwing the ball. Sanchez knows what has to be done, but struggles to do it consistently. Tebow ignores the fundamentals and simply wants to be the hero when the clouds darken and the Burning Bush emits commands.
The best thing Tebow could've done for himself, the NFL and his loyal flock of zealot fans was to admit he had tons to learn and miles to go before he would ever be the real level of quarterback he needed to be, or prophesized himself to be, and agree to apprentice at the foot of the master, Manning. Manning could've given the Broncos the resurrection this great franchise and its fans craved and deserves, and after completing the greatest personal comeback story in sports for two or three years, he could've handed the position back to a better-groomed, polished and educated Tebow, who would've been properly ready to lead the Broncos for a decade or more. But Tebow wants to be the Messiah, not an Apostle, and a trade became a necessity.
Only two NFL teams wanted Tebow once he became available: the Jets and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tebow's originally from the Jacksonville area, so returning to his hometown could've been good, but the Jags made it clear they were committed to the development of Blane Gabbert as their starting quarterback, and there was no way Tebow would play second banana in his own hometown, so he forced a trade to the Jets, where his "Great friend", Sanchez, was in crisis after an uneven third year as quarterback during an 8-8 season. Hmmm... with friends like Tebow, who needs enemies, right? Just remember... the Apostles supposedly killed Jesus, Aristotle, Plato and Socrates were all killed by their proteges, and even Julius Ceasar was done in by the man closest to him, Et Tu, Timmy?!
Tebow is poison to the Jets offense and Sanchez's development... a bigger potential cancer than Santonio Holmes could ever be, because no matter how much Tebow tries to say the right things to the Jets, the fans and media, and be a "team player", Tebow sees himself as a Christian Conquistador who will rescue New York from its moral and athletic failings. He silently thrives on idiot fans at MetLife Stadium yelling for him to replace Sanchez, and publicly roots for Sanchez to be the best failure he can possibly be, so Tebow can step in and act out his fanatsy of conquering whatever the hell he thinks he's supposed to conquer. Listening on TV and radio, reading in the local and national newspapers, it's more andmore evident he's on a warped mission to save the world's heathens one busted play at a time.
It's personally offensive and enraging that the media gives this third-rate talent as much publicity and attention as they do. He's the third-best quarterback on the Jets and makes too few positive contributions on gameday to warrant all this attention. Shame on ESPN, SNY, USA TODAY and the New York Daily News -- among other media sources -- for giving Tebow such an undeserved forum, especially at the expense of Sanchez. As loathe as I am to call out people by name, shame on Manish Mehta for recently interviewing Tebow, unless the intent was for all Jets fans to see how little regard or respectTebow has for Sanchez, evidenced by Tebow's repeated refusal to even state Sanchez's name, regarding the most benign questions as well as straight-to-the-core questions about who is and deserves to be the Jets starting quarterback. Shame on Herm Edwards, for incessantly calling for Tebow to replace Sanchez as quarterback, referring to Tebow as the "Toot-toot Train" ready to pull out of the station. I've known of Herm Edwards since 1977, when he was still a young and obscure defensive back with the Philadelpha Eagles. I watched him play while I shared Veterans Stadium during my Temple University Days. Eagles and Owls are birds of a feather who flock together. I celebrated Herm's hiring as Jets head coach in 2001 and mourned his parting five years later.
But Herm's making a buffoon of himself, going "Toot! Toot!" on Sportscenter. Yes, Herm made the switch from aging and beat-up Vinny Testaverde to young and fresh Chad Pennington in 2002 and it paid off well, but the 2012 Jets are not the 2002 version, and Tim Tebow is no Chad Pennington in any of the most remote senses. Chad Pennington was a legitmate NFL quarterback who had the physical and intelectual tools and tangibles. Tebow doesn't... I repeat... Tebow DOESN'T.
The NFL trading deadline is November 6th, Election Day. If the Jets front office and coaching staff truly hopes to save this season and Sanchez's career, everyone will admit the Tebow trade was a mistake, the trade was made for reasons that had nothing to do with the genuine success of the team, no one knows what to do with Tebow, and Tebow clearly has zero commitment to helping the team in a role other than starting quarterback, so it's time to cut bait and trade him or cut him outright if no other team is stupid enough to covet him.
Tebow sealed his fate in the first quarter when the Dolphins blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone to open up a 10-0 lead. The punt blocker came right through theheart of the Jets offensive line, right through the middle... the region the backfield punt protector is personally responsible for. Tebow was the backfield punt protector and completely ignored the rusher... he didn't try to block him and whiff... he simply ignored him and stood his ground like a cardboard cut-out. Sorry, Mr. Tebow, but if that's your job assignment, and as a 255-LB fullback, you play where the coaches put your ass and what justifies the paycheck your general manager pays you. Sabotaging a punt play deep in your own territory will not force the coaches to make you the quarterback, and if that's your approach as part of a covert hostile takeover campaign of the quarterback position, clean out your locker, pack your duffle bag, and get the hell out of Florham Park.
Billy Kilmer quarterbacked the New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins during the late-1960s and early-1970s, but he started off his NFL career playing halfback for the San Francisco 49ers during the early-1960s. Joe Theismann quarterbacked the Redskins to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in 1982 and 1983, but he returned punts during the mid-1970s, just to prove to the late George Allen that he could contribute to the team and be a real football player.
Paul Hornung made a Hall of Fame worthy transition form quarterback to halfback for the 1960s Green Bay Packers. George Blanda survived a 26-year Hall of Fame career kicking when his quarterback days became reduced. Marlin Briscoe and Freddie Solomon became very capable wide receivers on Super Bowl teams, forced to change positions when African-American quarterbacks were very rare. John Sciarra and Scott Frost became defensive backs, Brian Mitchell became an all-purpose running back and kick returner.
Lots of players have had to change positions and reinvent themselves in order to have meaningful NFL careers. Tebow's inability and refusal to honestly view himself as anything other than a starting quarterback has been a disturbing issue since before he was drafted in 2010. We can't all be what we want to be at certain junctures of our lives. I wanted to be a quarterback in the worst way, but there aren't that many successful NFL quarterbacks under six feet tall, so I learned to be a running back, punter and kick returner. When I arrived at Temple University as a 195-LB fullback, the coaches told me I needed another 30 LBS in order to survive as an every-down halfback. When I moved from a physics department to a chemistry department, I had to adjust my teaching and research focus, and did it in reverse years later when I ended up back in a physics department. It's call adapting to your situation. Tebow is completely incapable of this. This ends up being a drag on the offensive roster.
The Jets are in crisis at 3-5, 1-4 in their last 5 games, and Tebow at quarterback is not the answer... his passive-agressive insistance on being groomed to be the Jets quarterback is an underlying part of a problem. We solve problems in our world. Trading or outright releasing Tebow is a key part of the solution to fixing what ails the Jets. I'd rather not waste the second half of the season waiting for the inevitable. Unless Tebow is going to be told "you're the starting fullback; shut up, get in the huddle and stay there", there's always going to remain a circus surrounding him and what his role should or could be while Sanchez dangles in the wind. It's no longer fair to Sanchez or Tebow. Sanchez is the quarterback; end of story and debate. Tebow can either join the backfield and take handoffs from Sanchez and improve his ability to catch swing passes, or he can become the NFL's most popular unemployed player for the second half of the 2012 season.
The bigger problem with the Jets is coaching, particularly on offense. Regardless of Tebow's personal agenda,Tony Sparano has no clue of what he's doing with this Jets offense, and it's clear he lacks the vision, intuition and insight to be an offensive coordinator. Just as it became evident in Miami, it's evident here in New York that Sparano is ill-suited to be anything other than an offensive line coach. For the second straight year, the Jets offensive line is playing well-below its reputation. One year is either an aberration or a consequence of discontinuity of talent. Two years running indicates failed coaching. It's no secret Matt Slauson and Aaron Howard aren't the second coming of Pete Kendall, alan Faneca and Damien Woody, but good coaching can help overcome the drop-off in talent and experience while a unit learns to grow together with new parts. Bill Callahan is one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL, and the Jets made a huge mistake letting him slip away while pursuing Sparano as a two-for-one replacement for Callahan and former coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Fans and media members vilified Schottenheimer for the Jets falling short of offensive greatness during the past six years, but Schottenheimer wasn't the problem. He was handcuffed by too much player turnover and the fear all coaches inherently have in young quarterbacks. It was a disservice to Sanchez, Schottenheimer and the entire Jets offensive unit to put a muzzle on Sanchez and use "Ground and Pound" as a "Prevent Offense." Sometimes you just have to open up the playbook, give the young quarterback all the plays, and let him learn how to run the offense, mistakes and all. Instead, the Jets are still operating on a limited scheme, hoping play calls are limited to anything that doesn't result in disaster, and that's not the way to handle a quarterback, especially one supposedly under contract until 2015.
As I wrote in my previous column, lots of other NFL quarterbacks have made their fair share of ugly and repeated mistakes without fear of losing their jobs, so why should that be the case with Sanchez on account of coaches too hell-bent on saving their own asses? I'd rather have an offensive coordinator with an unlimited imagination and faith in Sanchez to do his best, mature as a leader, and get positive results far more often than not. Sparano, no matter the pass-run ratio of his play calling, lacks faith in Sanchez and certainly doesn't know Sanchez as well as he should. Sparano, an offensive line coach, can't even get his front five to block like its capable of, and there are three All-Pros on that line: center Nick Mangold, Left Tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, and Right Guard Brandon Moore. Even with that talent there's no excuse for the line springing leaks on pass protection as much as it does.
For his failure with the line and overall offense, Sparano needs to be let go. The Jets can either import an offensive line coach for the remainder of the season or pool together duties among current assistants. The time has come to promote Matt Cavanaugh form quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. He's been there since the start of Sanchez's career, so he knows his offensive leader, follows his wavelength of thinking, is in rhythm with the kid's temperament. If this is a passing league, commitment to running notwithstanding, your offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach really should be the same person. Cavanaugh's been around the game for a long time, dating back to his days as a young backup in New England during the late-1970s. He's played and coached in the NFL for over thirty years. Let Sanchez and the rest of the offensive unit get the full benefit of Cavanaugh's experience and wisdom.
This finally brings me to Rex Ryan. Sometimes you have to go with facts, your gut and what you hear when a head coaching change is warranted. Here's the key fact: exactly one year ago, the Jets were 5-3 and in second place in the AFC East and holding one of the wild card positions. Since then, 6-10 and 3-8 since the Eagles cleaned the Jets clock going into the final three weeks of the 2011 regular season. Rex calls himself a winner, but the last 12 months doesn't reflect it.
As I wrote in my last column, Rex lacks a full feel for all three parts of the game: offense, defense, special teams. Just as "the vision thing" did in George Bush-41's re-election bid in 1992, this lack of vision is Rex's ultimate undoing as head coach of the Jets. Think about it... Rex was one of the league's hottest defensive coordinators for years in Baltimore and couldn't even land the head coaching job with the Ravens. I'm not going to completely rule out Rex's battle with obesity and yellow teeth as factors, but perhaps the biggest knock on him was that he's a Ryan, a chip off the ol' Buddy, and anyone who follows football history and the Ryan family legacy knows that members of the Ryan clan have a limited shelf life as coaches before their act grows old and stale, or the players become too old and slow, or opponents finally catch up to a Ryan defense and learn how to score bunches on it.
Yes, Buddy Ryan was the architect of the famed "46 Defense" that helped lead the 1985 Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl title. Yes, Buddy Ryan was the mastermind milking two more solid seasons (1976-1977) out of the "Purple People Eaters" defense in Minnesota, as the Vikings won their eighth and ninth NFC Central Division titles during a 13-year span (1968-1980, 11 division titles, 4 conference titles, 4 Super Bowl losses). Yes, Buddy Ryan was the head coach of a Philadelphia Eagles team that earned three straight playoff berths (1988-1990) for the first time since Dick Vermeil led the Eagles to four straight playoff berths and one Super Bowl (1978-1981). And yes, Buddy Ryan was one of Weeb Ewbank's bright stable of assistant coaches when the Jets won Super Bowl III in January 1969.
But Buddy Ryan was also the same head coach who got fired after five years coaching the Eagles because his team lost in the first round of the playoffs each time, each loss more disappointing than the previous one. Buddy Ryan is the same head coach who got fired after two seasons (1994-1995) leading the Arizona Cardinals to a 12-20 record after declaring Cardinals fans "finally have a winner."
Buddy Ryan was also the defensive coordinator of the 1993 Houston Oilers who was encouraged to leave after throwing a punch at offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride (offensive guru of the 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl champ New York Giants) during a sideline dispute -- during a regular season game the Oilers were winning -- and after the biggest post-season meltdown in history, blowing a 35-3 lead at Buffalo and losing 41-38 to the Bills in overtime.
Buddy Ryan was also the defensive coordinator when the bottom fell out on the Jets defense in 1975, giving up a then-dubious record of 433 points in 14 games. Yes, unable to rescue an aging and slow unit, Ryan's defense gave up 30 or more points six times, surrendering 31, 37, 42, 43, 45 and 52 points during those six games. The 1976 defense wasn't much better after Buddy moved onto to the Vikings. That Jets defense gave up 30 or more points seven times, surrendering 33, 37, 38 twice, 41, 42, and 46 points.
Many folks like to point to the Rich Kotite Jets of 1995-1996 as the darkest period in Jets history because of their 4-28 record, but I beg to differ. Those Jets at least were 6-5 and tied for first place in the AFC East in 1994 before a stunning collapse inspired by a "Fake Spike" play by Dan Marino, and that same core of players went 9-7 in 1997, Bill Parcells' first year resurrecting the franchise. The 1975-1976 Jets, who went 6-22, were a collection of over-the-hill remnants from Super Bowl III and inexperienced free agents and draft picks. The defense's collapse was swift and painful, and it took years to properly rebuild the unit Buddy Ryan let decline. Like all people and coaches, Buddy Ryan has a golden legacy and a not-so-golden legacy, but the take-home lesson is that when things go bad on a Buddy Ryan-coached team or unit, it goes bad fast. Like it or not, we could be seeing the swift decline of a Jets defense Rex Ryan touts on par with his dad's '85 Bears or Rex's old group, the Ravens of the turn of the century.
Yes, the Dolphins only generated 235 yards of total offense yesterday, and yes, the offense only mustered two touchdowns, but the Jets lost 30-9, which means the Jets defense failed to keep the Dolphins off the scoreboard enough times relative to scoring opportunities. The very first drive of the game more than demonstrated how the defense wasn't ready to back up its own trash talk, as the Dolphins drove the ball down the field and into the red zone. Even though the drive was aided by a foolish 15-yard penalty by Antonio Cromartie and only ended in a Dan Carpenter field goal, the Jets defense wasn't really stopping anyone when it most needed to in order to set the tone for the game. This goes to the heart of Rex's failing as a head coach and defensive guru: too much talk and bluster between Monday and Friday and not enough readiness to impose their will on Sunday.
Rex said he never saw it coming. He should have. He's known for over a year that his mouth writes too many checks for his players to cash on Sunday, he's acknowledged it and pledged to rectify the matter. But he hasn't. In his defiant way to be himself, he continues to put his team at a big disadvantage as soon as the National Anthem is sung, and 6-10 and 3-8 is all we need to know anymore. This is not the same team that went to back-to-back AFC title games in 2009 and 2010, and Rex is no longer the man with all the answers and spirit to guide this team. With each post-game press conference he sounds more and more lost of the big picture, and this is even after games the Jets win, as infrequent as that's become.
Perhaps the most damning indictment of Rex comes from the image of seeing Sanchez's frustration after throwing another incomplete pass to a receiver he didn't want to throw to. Sanchez plays like the naive math and science student who gets shell-shocked by a mid-term exam that looks nothing like all the repetitious end-of-chapter review questions and exercises he or she did from the course textbook while cramming for the exam. In other words, the ill-prepared student rehearsed on low-level regurgitative content but never really studied the subject matter. Sanchez's pre-game preparation seems disturbingly familiar. Whatever Sparano and Ryan are doing during the week is not getting Sanchez fully ready for Sunday and Sanchez is encountering what he's not anticipating and vice-versa. That's not on the player. That's on coaching. Smart math and science educators are supposed to properly prepare students for exams that use and apply course content, not just present the "lectureable" content. Smart football coaches need to properly prepare players, especially quarterbacks and receivers, with real game situations, not just situations that simulate basic mechanics of a play. In other words, instead of avoiding what could go wrong, build coaching and preparation around everything that could go wrong and see how plays can still succeed. Rex Ryan keep claiming Sanchez gives the Jets the best chance to win, but how can Sanchez win if he continuously thrown to the wolves without tools to ward off predators?
Yes, if I owned the Jets, Rex would be fired effective 9:00am Tuesday morning, along with Tony Sparano, and Tim Tebow would either be traded or unconditionally waived. I'd hand the head coaching duties to Mike Westhoff, yesterday's special teams debacles notwithstanding, elevate Matt Cavanaugh to offensive coordinator, advise my assistant coaches to pool together and fix our offensive line and defensive issues, and tell Mark Sanchez to go play quarterback, worry about making the best of plays instead of avoiding the worst, and stop looking over his shoulder.
I also have no idea what the rest of the sports world thinks today about the Jets, because I've yet to open my newspapers or deeply listen to local radio or television coverage (a pending hurricane kinda has me preoccupied), so this column is quite free of influence from anyone else. No one planted any seeds in my mind or thoughts... canning the head coach and offensive coordinator, effective 9:00am Tuesday morning, is my own idea, and exactly what I would do if owner of the New York Jets.
Yes, a relative pillar of patience and stable supporter of Rex Ryan, I finally reached the point of no return, and reiterated my thoughts on Twitter to Jets fans at 4:32pm, after the carnage of a 30-9 debacle was complete, and yet again at 4:38pm to SNYTV during Rex Ryan's post-game press conference and one last time for good measure at 5:05pm. The Jets have begun their bye week and changes need to be made... contrary to popular consensus, the change shouldn't be at quarterback. It should be at head coach, offensive coordinator, and the "back-up" quarterback.
Working backwards, Mark Sanchez is not the problem. He's neither the only reason nor the main reason for the Jets offensive putridness. He's forced to play in a dysfunctional scheme, behind a porous offensive line, with a revolving door of receivers and running backs, and a less-than-holy mercenary looking over his shoulder while he finds the best angle to stick a knife in Sanchez's back. As I said a few days ago, just like I've said months ago and more than a year ago, Tim Tebow is not an NFL quarterback. He's a hybrid fullback-tight end with religious-based delusions of being a starting quarterback.
The Jets traded for him in March after Tebow became expendable in Denver, after playing a key role in the Broncos playoff run last season. Fact: The Broncos brain trust viewed Tebow as a novelty act, not the man to lead the Broncos back to Super Bowl contention as a starting quarterback. To lose one's job to Peyton Manning is hardly a sin or blasphemy. Manning is sure to be enshrined in Canton in the not-too-distant future. The real sin was Tebow's refusal to step back and stay on as Manning's understudy for a couple of years, learning to develop the physical and intellectual skills necessary to play quarterback in this league. Tebow had and has an overinflated sense of his talent and worth for someone who can't effectively throw a football in a passing league.This is more profound than the struggles Sanchez has quarterbacking the Jets. Tebow doesn't understand game plan nuances, reading defenses, searching for progressions, or the mechanics of dropping back from center, standing in the pocket, and throwing the ball. Sanchez knows what has to be done, but struggles to do it consistently. Tebow ignores the fundamentals and simply wants to be the hero when the clouds darken and the Burning Bush emits commands.
The best thing Tebow could've done for himself, the NFL and his loyal flock of zealot fans was to admit he had tons to learn and miles to go before he would ever be the real level of quarterback he needed to be, or prophesized himself to be, and agree to apprentice at the foot of the master, Manning. Manning could've given the Broncos the resurrection this great franchise and its fans craved and deserves, and after completing the greatest personal comeback story in sports for two or three years, he could've handed the position back to a better-groomed, polished and educated Tebow, who would've been properly ready to lead the Broncos for a decade or more. But Tebow wants to be the Messiah, not an Apostle, and a trade became a necessity.
Only two NFL teams wanted Tebow once he became available: the Jets and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tebow's originally from the Jacksonville area, so returning to his hometown could've been good, but the Jags made it clear they were committed to the development of Blane Gabbert as their starting quarterback, and there was no way Tebow would play second banana in his own hometown, so he forced a trade to the Jets, where his "Great friend", Sanchez, was in crisis after an uneven third year as quarterback during an 8-8 season. Hmmm... with friends like Tebow, who needs enemies, right? Just remember... the Apostles supposedly killed Jesus, Aristotle, Plato and Socrates were all killed by their proteges, and even Julius Ceasar was done in by the man closest to him, Et Tu, Timmy?!
Tebow is poison to the Jets offense and Sanchez's development... a bigger potential cancer than Santonio Holmes could ever be, because no matter how much Tebow tries to say the right things to the Jets, the fans and media, and be a "team player", Tebow sees himself as a Christian Conquistador who will rescue New York from its moral and athletic failings. He silently thrives on idiot fans at MetLife Stadium yelling for him to replace Sanchez, and publicly roots for Sanchez to be the best failure he can possibly be, so Tebow can step in and act out his fanatsy of conquering whatever the hell he thinks he's supposed to conquer. Listening on TV and radio, reading in the local and national newspapers, it's more andmore evident he's on a warped mission to save the world's heathens one busted play at a time.
It's personally offensive and enraging that the media gives this third-rate talent as much publicity and attention as they do. He's the third-best quarterback on the Jets and makes too few positive contributions on gameday to warrant all this attention. Shame on ESPN, SNY, USA TODAY and the New York Daily News -- among other media sources -- for giving Tebow such an undeserved forum, especially at the expense of Sanchez. As loathe as I am to call out people by name, shame on Manish Mehta for recently interviewing Tebow, unless the intent was for all Jets fans to see how little regard or respectTebow has for Sanchez, evidenced by Tebow's repeated refusal to even state Sanchez's name, regarding the most benign questions as well as straight-to-the-core questions about who is and deserves to be the Jets starting quarterback. Shame on Herm Edwards, for incessantly calling for Tebow to replace Sanchez as quarterback, referring to Tebow as the "Toot-toot Train" ready to pull out of the station. I've known of Herm Edwards since 1977, when he was still a young and obscure defensive back with the Philadelpha Eagles. I watched him play while I shared Veterans Stadium during my Temple University Days. Eagles and Owls are birds of a feather who flock together. I celebrated Herm's hiring as Jets head coach in 2001 and mourned his parting five years later.
But Herm's making a buffoon of himself, going "Toot! Toot!" on Sportscenter. Yes, Herm made the switch from aging and beat-up Vinny Testaverde to young and fresh Chad Pennington in 2002 and it paid off well, but the 2012 Jets are not the 2002 version, and Tim Tebow is no Chad Pennington in any of the most remote senses. Chad Pennington was a legitmate NFL quarterback who had the physical and intelectual tools and tangibles. Tebow doesn't... I repeat... Tebow DOESN'T.
The NFL trading deadline is November 6th, Election Day. If the Jets front office and coaching staff truly hopes to save this season and Sanchez's career, everyone will admit the Tebow trade was a mistake, the trade was made for reasons that had nothing to do with the genuine success of the team, no one knows what to do with Tebow, and Tebow clearly has zero commitment to helping the team in a role other than starting quarterback, so it's time to cut bait and trade him or cut him outright if no other team is stupid enough to covet him.
Tebow sealed his fate in the first quarter when the Dolphins blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone to open up a 10-0 lead. The punt blocker came right through theheart of the Jets offensive line, right through the middle... the region the backfield punt protector is personally responsible for. Tebow was the backfield punt protector and completely ignored the rusher... he didn't try to block him and whiff... he simply ignored him and stood his ground like a cardboard cut-out. Sorry, Mr. Tebow, but if that's your job assignment, and as a 255-LB fullback, you play where the coaches put your ass and what justifies the paycheck your general manager pays you. Sabotaging a punt play deep in your own territory will not force the coaches to make you the quarterback, and if that's your approach as part of a covert hostile takeover campaign of the quarterback position, clean out your locker, pack your duffle bag, and get the hell out of Florham Park.
Billy Kilmer quarterbacked the New Orleans Saints and Washington Redskins during the late-1960s and early-1970s, but he started off his NFL career playing halfback for the San Francisco 49ers during the early-1960s. Joe Theismann quarterbacked the Redskins to back-to-back Super Bowl appearances in 1982 and 1983, but he returned punts during the mid-1970s, just to prove to the late George Allen that he could contribute to the team and be a real football player.
Paul Hornung made a Hall of Fame worthy transition form quarterback to halfback for the 1960s Green Bay Packers. George Blanda survived a 26-year Hall of Fame career kicking when his quarterback days became reduced. Marlin Briscoe and Freddie Solomon became very capable wide receivers on Super Bowl teams, forced to change positions when African-American quarterbacks were very rare. John Sciarra and Scott Frost became defensive backs, Brian Mitchell became an all-purpose running back and kick returner.
Lots of players have had to change positions and reinvent themselves in order to have meaningful NFL careers. Tebow's inability and refusal to honestly view himself as anything other than a starting quarterback has been a disturbing issue since before he was drafted in 2010. We can't all be what we want to be at certain junctures of our lives. I wanted to be a quarterback in the worst way, but there aren't that many successful NFL quarterbacks under six feet tall, so I learned to be a running back, punter and kick returner. When I arrived at Temple University as a 195-LB fullback, the coaches told me I needed another 30 LBS in order to survive as an every-down halfback. When I moved from a physics department to a chemistry department, I had to adjust my teaching and research focus, and did it in reverse years later when I ended up back in a physics department. It's call adapting to your situation. Tebow is completely incapable of this. This ends up being a drag on the offensive roster.
The Jets are in crisis at 3-5, 1-4 in their last 5 games, and Tebow at quarterback is not the answer... his passive-agressive insistance on being groomed to be the Jets quarterback is an underlying part of a problem. We solve problems in our world. Trading or outright releasing Tebow is a key part of the solution to fixing what ails the Jets. I'd rather not waste the second half of the season waiting for the inevitable. Unless Tebow is going to be told "you're the starting fullback; shut up, get in the huddle and stay there", there's always going to remain a circus surrounding him and what his role should or could be while Sanchez dangles in the wind. It's no longer fair to Sanchez or Tebow. Sanchez is the quarterback; end of story and debate. Tebow can either join the backfield and take handoffs from Sanchez and improve his ability to catch swing passes, or he can become the NFL's most popular unemployed player for the second half of the 2012 season.
The bigger problem with the Jets is coaching, particularly on offense. Regardless of Tebow's personal agenda,Tony Sparano has no clue of what he's doing with this Jets offense, and it's clear he lacks the vision, intuition and insight to be an offensive coordinator. Just as it became evident in Miami, it's evident here in New York that Sparano is ill-suited to be anything other than an offensive line coach. For the second straight year, the Jets offensive line is playing well-below its reputation. One year is either an aberration or a consequence of discontinuity of talent. Two years running indicates failed coaching. It's no secret Matt Slauson and Aaron Howard aren't the second coming of Pete Kendall, alan Faneca and Damien Woody, but good coaching can help overcome the drop-off in talent and experience while a unit learns to grow together with new parts. Bill Callahan is one of the best offensive line coaches in the NFL, and the Jets made a huge mistake letting him slip away while pursuing Sparano as a two-for-one replacement for Callahan and former coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Fans and media members vilified Schottenheimer for the Jets falling short of offensive greatness during the past six years, but Schottenheimer wasn't the problem. He was handcuffed by too much player turnover and the fear all coaches inherently have in young quarterbacks. It was a disservice to Sanchez, Schottenheimer and the entire Jets offensive unit to put a muzzle on Sanchez and use "Ground and Pound" as a "Prevent Offense." Sometimes you just have to open up the playbook, give the young quarterback all the plays, and let him learn how to run the offense, mistakes and all. Instead, the Jets are still operating on a limited scheme, hoping play calls are limited to anything that doesn't result in disaster, and that's not the way to handle a quarterback, especially one supposedly under contract until 2015.
As I wrote in my previous column, lots of other NFL quarterbacks have made their fair share of ugly and repeated mistakes without fear of losing their jobs, so why should that be the case with Sanchez on account of coaches too hell-bent on saving their own asses? I'd rather have an offensive coordinator with an unlimited imagination and faith in Sanchez to do his best, mature as a leader, and get positive results far more often than not. Sparano, no matter the pass-run ratio of his play calling, lacks faith in Sanchez and certainly doesn't know Sanchez as well as he should. Sparano, an offensive line coach, can't even get his front five to block like its capable of, and there are three All-Pros on that line: center Nick Mangold, Left Tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson, and Right Guard Brandon Moore. Even with that talent there's no excuse for the line springing leaks on pass protection as much as it does.
For his failure with the line and overall offense, Sparano needs to be let go. The Jets can either import an offensive line coach for the remainder of the season or pool together duties among current assistants. The time has come to promote Matt Cavanaugh form quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. He's been there since the start of Sanchez's career, so he knows his offensive leader, follows his wavelength of thinking, is in rhythm with the kid's temperament. If this is a passing league, commitment to running notwithstanding, your offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach really should be the same person. Cavanaugh's been around the game for a long time, dating back to his days as a young backup in New England during the late-1970s. He's played and coached in the NFL for over thirty years. Let Sanchez and the rest of the offensive unit get the full benefit of Cavanaugh's experience and wisdom.
This finally brings me to Rex Ryan. Sometimes you have to go with facts, your gut and what you hear when a head coaching change is warranted. Here's the key fact: exactly one year ago, the Jets were 5-3 and in second place in the AFC East and holding one of the wild card positions. Since then, 6-10 and 3-8 since the Eagles cleaned the Jets clock going into the final three weeks of the 2011 regular season. Rex calls himself a winner, but the last 12 months doesn't reflect it.
As I wrote in my last column, Rex lacks a full feel for all three parts of the game: offense, defense, special teams. Just as "the vision thing" did in George Bush-41's re-election bid in 1992, this lack of vision is Rex's ultimate undoing as head coach of the Jets. Think about it... Rex was one of the league's hottest defensive coordinators for years in Baltimore and couldn't even land the head coaching job with the Ravens. I'm not going to completely rule out Rex's battle with obesity and yellow teeth as factors, but perhaps the biggest knock on him was that he's a Ryan, a chip off the ol' Buddy, and anyone who follows football history and the Ryan family legacy knows that members of the Ryan clan have a limited shelf life as coaches before their act grows old and stale, or the players become too old and slow, or opponents finally catch up to a Ryan defense and learn how to score bunches on it.
Yes, Buddy Ryan was the architect of the famed "46 Defense" that helped lead the 1985 Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl title. Yes, Buddy Ryan was the mastermind milking two more solid seasons (1976-1977) out of the "Purple People Eaters" defense in Minnesota, as the Vikings won their eighth and ninth NFC Central Division titles during a 13-year span (1968-1980, 11 division titles, 4 conference titles, 4 Super Bowl losses). Yes, Buddy Ryan was the head coach of a Philadelphia Eagles team that earned three straight playoff berths (1988-1990) for the first time since Dick Vermeil led the Eagles to four straight playoff berths and one Super Bowl (1978-1981). And yes, Buddy Ryan was one of Weeb Ewbank's bright stable of assistant coaches when the Jets won Super Bowl III in January 1969.
But Buddy Ryan was also the same head coach who got fired after five years coaching the Eagles because his team lost in the first round of the playoffs each time, each loss more disappointing than the previous one. Buddy Ryan is the same head coach who got fired after two seasons (1994-1995) leading the Arizona Cardinals to a 12-20 record after declaring Cardinals fans "finally have a winner."
Buddy Ryan was also the defensive coordinator of the 1993 Houston Oilers who was encouraged to leave after throwing a punch at offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride (offensive guru of the 2007 and 2011 Super Bowl champ New York Giants) during a sideline dispute -- during a regular season game the Oilers were winning -- and after the biggest post-season meltdown in history, blowing a 35-3 lead at Buffalo and losing 41-38 to the Bills in overtime.
Buddy Ryan was also the defensive coordinator when the bottom fell out on the Jets defense in 1975, giving up a then-dubious record of 433 points in 14 games. Yes, unable to rescue an aging and slow unit, Ryan's defense gave up 30 or more points six times, surrendering 31, 37, 42, 43, 45 and 52 points during those six games. The 1976 defense wasn't much better after Buddy moved onto to the Vikings. That Jets defense gave up 30 or more points seven times, surrendering 33, 37, 38 twice, 41, 42, and 46 points.
Many folks like to point to the Rich Kotite Jets of 1995-1996 as the darkest period in Jets history because of their 4-28 record, but I beg to differ. Those Jets at least were 6-5 and tied for first place in the AFC East in 1994 before a stunning collapse inspired by a "Fake Spike" play by Dan Marino, and that same core of players went 9-7 in 1997, Bill Parcells' first year resurrecting the franchise. The 1975-1976 Jets, who went 6-22, were a collection of over-the-hill remnants from Super Bowl III and inexperienced free agents and draft picks. The defense's collapse was swift and painful, and it took years to properly rebuild the unit Buddy Ryan let decline. Like all people and coaches, Buddy Ryan has a golden legacy and a not-so-golden legacy, but the take-home lesson is that when things go bad on a Buddy Ryan-coached team or unit, it goes bad fast. Like it or not, we could be seeing the swift decline of a Jets defense Rex Ryan touts on par with his dad's '85 Bears or Rex's old group, the Ravens of the turn of the century.
Yes, the Dolphins only generated 235 yards of total offense yesterday, and yes, the offense only mustered two touchdowns, but the Jets lost 30-9, which means the Jets defense failed to keep the Dolphins off the scoreboard enough times relative to scoring opportunities. The very first drive of the game more than demonstrated how the defense wasn't ready to back up its own trash talk, as the Dolphins drove the ball down the field and into the red zone. Even though the drive was aided by a foolish 15-yard penalty by Antonio Cromartie and only ended in a Dan Carpenter field goal, the Jets defense wasn't really stopping anyone when it most needed to in order to set the tone for the game. This goes to the heart of Rex's failing as a head coach and defensive guru: too much talk and bluster between Monday and Friday and not enough readiness to impose their will on Sunday.
Rex said he never saw it coming. He should have. He's known for over a year that his mouth writes too many checks for his players to cash on Sunday, he's acknowledged it and pledged to rectify the matter. But he hasn't. In his defiant way to be himself, he continues to put his team at a big disadvantage as soon as the National Anthem is sung, and 6-10 and 3-8 is all we need to know anymore. This is not the same team that went to back-to-back AFC title games in 2009 and 2010, and Rex is no longer the man with all the answers and spirit to guide this team. With each post-game press conference he sounds more and more lost of the big picture, and this is even after games the Jets win, as infrequent as that's become.
Perhaps the most damning indictment of Rex comes from the image of seeing Sanchez's frustration after throwing another incomplete pass to a receiver he didn't want to throw to. Sanchez plays like the naive math and science student who gets shell-shocked by a mid-term exam that looks nothing like all the repetitious end-of-chapter review questions and exercises he or she did from the course textbook while cramming for the exam. In other words, the ill-prepared student rehearsed on low-level regurgitative content but never really studied the subject matter. Sanchez's pre-game preparation seems disturbingly familiar. Whatever Sparano and Ryan are doing during the week is not getting Sanchez fully ready for Sunday and Sanchez is encountering what he's not anticipating and vice-versa. That's not on the player. That's on coaching. Smart math and science educators are supposed to properly prepare students for exams that use and apply course content, not just present the "lectureable" content. Smart football coaches need to properly prepare players, especially quarterbacks and receivers, with real game situations, not just situations that simulate basic mechanics of a play. In other words, instead of avoiding what could go wrong, build coaching and preparation around everything that could go wrong and see how plays can still succeed. Rex Ryan keep claiming Sanchez gives the Jets the best chance to win, but how can Sanchez win if he continuously thrown to the wolves without tools to ward off predators?
Yes, if I owned the Jets, Rex would be fired effective 9:00am Tuesday morning, along with Tony Sparano, and Tim Tebow would either be traded or unconditionally waived. I'd hand the head coaching duties to Mike Westhoff, yesterday's special teams debacles notwithstanding, elevate Matt Cavanaugh to offensive coordinator, advise my assistant coaches to pool together and fix our offensive line and defensive issues, and tell Mark Sanchez to go play quarterback, worry about making the best of plays instead of avoiding the worst, and stop looking over his shoulder.
Friday, October 26, 2012
I’LL TAKE MY SPORTS WITHOUT THE HYPERBOLE, THANK YOU -- Doc's Bark for October 27, 2012
Dear sports fans --
I have something difficult to tell you, although by the end of this column you will understand why I feel compelled to tell you some harsh reality at the very start of things.
The world isn’t as you imagine or expect it to be.
There’s no Santa Claus.
There’s no Easter Bunny.
There’s no Messiah.
There’s no Utopia waiting for us across the Great Beyond.
There isn’t even a Great Beyond.
I, the ultimate party-pooper, must tell you some harsh reality so you can accept less esoteric truths:
Over the past couple of weeks, baseball and football fans have suffered shocks to their collective systems as Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter broke an ankle during the ALCS and Baltimore Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis tore a triceps muscle. In both cases, the injuries were season-ending and their teams had a difficulty adjusting to losing their leader. The Yankees, already down two games to none against the Detroit Tigers, ultimately bowed out in a four-game sweep, meekly surrendering to a weaker opponent en route to the World Series. The Ravens limped into Houston, only to be blasted by the Texans, 43-13. For the Yankees, they now enter a long winter of discontent, regrets, and wound licking before starting 2013 anew in Spring Training. For the now 5-2 Ravens, they have one week to recover from a rude butt-kicking and get ready for their remaining nine regular season games and a playoff race.
While it’s sad, stunning and demoralizing to lose in such dominating fashion, everyone needs to remember that games are always won or lost, and sometimes we must play games without special leaders. Why? Just like winning and losing are a part of sports, so, unfortunately, are injuries, and the older we get, the more vulnerable we all are to injuries and breaking down. Contrary to whatever mantra Joan Rivers lives by, aging is not meant to be graceful, and even the best players’ bodies break down at age 37-38. Derek Jeter was the Yankees shortstop and captain for 17 years; a major injury at the worst possible time was bound to happen. Same thing with Ray Lewis. You can’t expect someone to play middle linebacker in a high-collision sport for 17 years without all those collisions catching up.
The Yankees were already having a bad series against the Tigers, so it’s possible Jeter staying healthy might not have prevented the inevitable. The Yankees weren’t hitting their weight and were helpless against Detroit pitchers. Surprise, surprise... As the Yankees played worse, the home fans booed them. However, this booing was going on before Jeter busted his ankle, so it’s hard to tell which really did in the Yankees: Jeter’s injury or angry words coming from the half-empty bleachers at the new stadium on 161st Street.
Here’s a novel thought: maybe Detroit was meant to win the series and American League pennant?! The Tigers certainly had more dominant pitching and were peaking coming into October, as opposed to staggering, like the Yankees. Contrary to popular theory, the World Series is no longer the Yankees birthright. Since winning their fourth of five World Series in 2000, a five-game Subway Series against the Bobby Valentine Mets, the Yankees have made the post-season 11 of 12 seasons since, winning three pennants (2001, 2003, 2009) and one World Series (2009). Granted, that’s not of Steinbrenner standards, but that’s still pretty good compared to the rival Boston Red Sox (2 pennants and 2 World Series titles, 2004 and 2007). The Tigers (2006, 2012) and Texas Rangers (2010, 2011) will each appear in two World Series, the California Angels have appeared once (winning in 2002), as did the Chicago White Sox (winning in 2005) and Tampa Bay Rays (2008).
There’s a little more “dominance” in the National League, as the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants have appeared in three World Series during this century. The Cards lost in 2004, and won in 2006 and 2011. The Giants lost in 2002 but won in 2010, and are now favored to win a second title this fall. The Philadelphia Phillies have appeared in two World Series, winning in 2008, losing in 2009. The Arizona Diamondbacks (wining in 2001), Florida Marlins (winning in 2003), Houston Astros (2005) and Colorado Rockies (2007) all appeared in one World Series.
More importantly, Yankee fans, your team, despite winning 95 regular season games, displayed a boom or bust lineup all season long. An aging team to begin with, Yankee hitters typically either hit home runs or failed to sustain anything with runners in scoring position. The chronic inability to play small ball eventually catches up with you when the weather gets chillier and the pitchers are more from the cream of the crop as opposed to journeymen holding up the back ends of starting rotations. Face it... You can’t win titles living off 12-9 games against the Minnesota Twins. The AL East is becoming more balanced and competitive, and the Yankees need to figure out ways to keep up with the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays without stocking the batting order with overpriced players whose home run totals match their ages.
By the way, I don’t know how you all feel, but I’m actually excited to see a World Series between the Tigers and Giants, two charter members of their respective leagues with a total of 33 pennants between them (22 for San Francisco, 11 for Detroit). When you think about it, it’s amazing these teams have never met before in the Fall Classic.
The Ravens loss of Ray Lewis hurts, but is a 17-year veteran’s loss more impactful than when he was in his prime? Lewis may be among the best middle linebackers in today’s NFL, but he’s not the game-changer he was in 2000 when the Ravens defense carried everyone on its back to a Super Bowl title. In fact, the public tributes to Lewis following news of his season-ending injury were perhaps over-the-top. Yes, I admit to being an old-school, middle-aged fuddy-duddy, but I also have a broader perspective on Lewis’ place among middle linebackers in NFL history. Is Lewis among my top-ten? No doubt about it. Do I rank him as the best of all-time? No, I don’t. In fact, it’s a close call in my mind whether Lewis makes my top five.
Hands-down, without a doubt, the best middle linebacker in NFL history is Dick Butkus, and I dare anyone to tell Mr. Butkus differently. Number two is the late Ray Nitschke, and number three is Jack Lambert. All three, including Nitschke’s ghost, sufficiently scare me, and Butkus is six weeks short of his 70th birthday. Ray Lewis is a pussycat by comparison.
But there are other middle linebackers Ray Lewis may not be superior to, such as Willie Lanier, Sam Huff, and Chuck Bednarik. Harry Carson was no slouch whether the New York Giants played a 4-3 defense or a 3-4. Neither were Nick Buoniconti, Tommy Nobis, Mike Singletary, Bill Bergey, Maxie Baughan, Lee Roy Jordan, or Joe Schmidt.
My advice to all those who need to make all-time lists while players are still active: leave the active players alone and let them play their sport. There will be plenty of time to debate their place in history after they retire and we can compare them to other retired greats.
The same argument applies to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who recently threw a touchdown pass for the 48th consecutive game, breaking a record that stood since 1960, 47 games by Johnny Unitas. Even in today’s pass-happy NFL, throwing a touchdown pass for 48 consecutive games, the equivalent of 3 regular seasons, is an impressive feat, but again, over-the-top accolades by NBC’s Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth bordered on the ridiculous. Comparing the context of the feats (length of season, number of passes thrown, etc.) is one thing. Comparing the career paths of Brees and Unitas is another, and Collinsworth went overboard.
There’s simply no comparison. Brees was a second round pick by the San Diego Chargers (32nd overall) in the 2001 draft, started 58 regular season games (won-loss record 30-28) and one playoff loss in 2004, was cut after major shoulder injury at the end of the 2005 season, signed as a free agent by Saints in 2006, and has started 101 regular season games to date (won-loss record 64-37) as well as eight post-season games (won-loss record 5-3), winning a Super Bowl to cap off the 2009 season.
Johnny Unitas was a ninth round pick by Steelers (102nd overall) in 1955 draft, cut in training camp, played semi-pro ball in 1955, signed by then-Baltimore Colts in 1956, played 17 years as their quarterback (won-loss record 117-64-4), led them to NFL titles in 1958 and 1959, a Super Bowl title in 1970 and postseason appearances in 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1971, was a four-time NFL MVP (1957, 1959, 1964, 1967), three-time Player of the Year (1959, 1964, 1967) and Man of the Year (1970), and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Nearly forty years after his retirement, Unitas ranks 17th in career passes thrown, 22nd in career passes completed, 14th in career passing yardage, and ninth in career passing touchdowns — not bad for a guy whose career per game averages were 24.6 pass attempts, 13.4 completions (54.6%), 190.7 yards, resulting in a touchdown pass approximately every 18 pass attempts.
In 26 fewer career starts, Brees has 566 more pass attempts, 949 more completions, 2,600 more yards, nine more touchdowns — because he plays in an era and offensive scheme allowing him to throw 36 passes per game (42.5 during the past three seasons) at a 65.7% completion rate, resulting in a touchdown pass for every 19.23 pass attempts. Maybe Brees and Unitas are statistically comparable, but Unitas’ statistics are more remarkable because of the less pass-happy offensive game plans of his era. Besides, Brees was never tossed onto any scrapheap until he had a full chance in San Diego and suffered a career-threatening injury. He was very much a known quantity. Coming to the Saints, off their 3-13 Katrina-ravaged season, was a great opportunity for mutual comebacks.
Unitas, on the other hand, was the NFL’s best-kept secret in 1955. He couldn’t make the Steelers roster after rookie camp, and they finished 5-7 in 1954 and 4-8 in 1955. The Colts took a chance on him after their own 5-6-1 season. The resurgence of Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints is a great story, but it’s far from the unheralded rags-to-riches story of Johnny Unitas. In fact, if it wasn’t for Johnny Unitas and his memorable performance in the 1958 NFL title game, we may never have the NFL of today, much less Drew Brees’ compilation of statistics.
On a smaller scale, Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News recently wrote that this current New York Giants regime, with Eli Manning at quarterback, is the best time to be a die-hard Giants fan. Well, maybe yes and maybe no... I’m sure some Giants fans who remember the 1980s when Bill Parcells coached Phil Simms, or the 1950s and 1960s when the Giants played in six NFL title games under head coaches Jim Lee Howell (and assistant coaches Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi) as well as Allie Sherman, and were quarterbacked by Charlie Connerly and Y.A. Tittle, might differ in opinion. Not to take anything away from Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning, but two Super Bowl titles (2007 and 2011) in eight years is wonderful but not as dominant as some remember approximately 25 years ago and even 50 years ago. Just saying... Today doesn’t make yesteryear chopped liver.
As most readers know, I love sports history and trivia. I love facts and statistics, especially when sports connects recent events with those from long ago. First case in point, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost at home last Sunday, 35-28 to the New Orleans Saints, it turns out that the Bucs (wearing those proud creamsicle uniforms, by the way) because the first team since 1998 to score at least 28 points, pile up more than 500 yards of total offense, commit zero turnovers, and lose. Okay... So why not tell folks about the rest of the story?
We take you back to Thanksgiving Day 1998, November 26th, Minnesota Vikings at the Dallas Cowboys. National television. John Madden and the post-game Turducken, and an offensive explosion as the Vikings won 46-36. The Cowboys offense was impressive, rolling up 513 yards, 32 first downs, and couldn’t keep up with a record-setting quick-strike Vikings offense that rolled up 471 yards and 21 first downs of their own. The star of the game? Then-rookie wide receiver Randy Moss (boy, have we all gotten old!), who caught a mere three passes for 163 yards and touchdowns on all three receptions — one for 51 yards, and two each at 56 yards, all from Randall Cunningham, who completed 17 of 35 passes for 359 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. Highly relevant to later in this column, notice that Cunningham completed less than 50 percent of his passes that day, a day where the Vikings rang up 46 points and scored six touchdowns, five covering fifty yards of longer.
Second case in point, consider that Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck rushed for two touchdowns in last Sunday’s 17-13 home win over the Cleveland Browns. Quarterbacks rushing for touchdowns isn’t that remarkable; even rushing for two touchdowns in a single game isn’t remarkable. Michael Vick did it. Cam Newton did too. We might find that Brett Favre, Randall Cunningham, Jim McMahon and a few other quarterbacks scored a couple of rushing touchdowns during a game too.
Ah, but this was a feat by an Indianapolis Colts quarterback, and apparently something not accomplished during the Peyton manning era. Okay... So the Associated Press reports that Luck accomplished something no other Colts quarterback has done since 1988. Yeah, and?!
That’s it... 1988. End of story. Are you kidding me?! You toss out that the Colts quarterback does something that hasn’t been done in 24 years, and leave the story like that? How is this helpful to your average sports fan and newspaper reader?
Well, as a public service, I give you the rest of the story... December 4, 1988. Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. Colts at Dolphins. Final score: Colts, 31, Dolphins 28. The Colts quarterback who scored two rushing touchdowns? Ricky Turner, number 12 in your programs (ironically Andrew Luck’s uniform number). Interestingly, Turner wasn’t even the Colts starting quarterback. Nope... One might’ve called him Tim Tebow before there ever was a Tim Tebow (FYI: Tim Tebow was born in 1987), because the Colts starting quarterback in 1988 was Chris Chandler. Turner was briefly the Colts goal-line quarterback, rushing 4 times for 4 yards in that game against Miami. On two of those runs, one in the second quarter and one in the third, Turner scored from the one-yard line. How Turner fit into the grand scheme of things for the Colts is a mystery. He never threw a pass during the Miami game, and only threw a total of four passes in the four games he appeared in, completing three for 92 yards (37 on one completion), with zero touchdowns or interceptions. Ironically, Chandler rushed 46 times for 139 yards and 3 TDs during 13 starts for the 1988 season, compiling a 9-4 record.
So that brings us to Tim Tebow, or more specifically, the circus known as the New York Jets and their quarterback situation. I’m going to try and keep things as simple as possible for this discussion. I’ve been on the record for the past three years, saying that Tebow is not physically “constructed” to be an NFL quarterback; he’s much better suited to be a fullback, H-back or tight end. If I’ve been saying this about Tebow’s physique since 2009, why would I change my view in 2012 when he’s now at least 15 LBS heavier and bulkier? Again, he’s better suited for an offensive position other than quarterback and if the Jets expect to use him effectively this season, they need to start putting him in he backfield with Shonn Greene and either Bilal Powell or Joe McKnight, behind the correct starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez.
For all fans and members of the media begging for Tebow at quarterback, as if the Walter Mitty miracles of the 2011 Denver Broncos will absolutely happen again this year for the Jets, STOP IT! You’re trying to inspire a controversy that should never exist. The Jets need a passing attack if they expect to put serious points on the scoreboard and be more than a .500 team this year, and Tebow is not the one to drive that passing attack. Believe it or not, securely strapped into my wheelchair, I can throw a 20-yard spiral while seated. Does that mean I should be the Jets starting quarterback? No, and neither should Tebow. The Jets rolled the dice on the fifth pick of the 2009 draft and chose Sanchez. He’s now in his fourth season and it’s either the time to honor the commitment to Sanchez and let him really be a quarterback, or scrap the entire roster and start all over, because Tebow cannot lead this offense operating in a legitimate NFL scheme.
Think about it... Tebow played collegiately for the University of Florida. Since the 1960s, the Gainesville Gatos have been quarterbacked by the likes of Steve Spurrier, John Reeves, Kerwin Bell, Shane Matthews Danny Wuerffel, and Rex Grossman. Despite three Heisman trophy winners and three national titles, none of these guys turned out to be NFL material, so for those who look at Tebow as something special, he’s not as a quarterback and doesn’t even have the collegiate pedigree except for winning, and as anyone truly familiar with life in the NFL knows, one could lose more games during their rookie season in the NFL than all the combined losses in four years of college. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that coming from a national powerhouse college program could be a disadvantage for some NFL quarterbacks. Ask Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. He’s having a very difficult time accepting how hard it is to win in the NFL playing for a rebuilding team, and it’s painfully clear that he’s no longer playing at Auburn where he not only won the Heisman, but the national title as well.
For my money, despite his surliness and satirical personality, I’ll take Chicago Bears quarterback Jake Cutler over Tebow and the rest of the Southeast Conference trophy boys. Cutler also played in the SEC during college, but at Vanderbilt, and those Commodores were not as successful as the Motown group. Cutler played on losing teams to the tune of 11-35 during his four-year career as a starter, but he led the entire conference in passing during the 2005 season and owns several school and conference passing records. Sometimes you need to understand and appreciate losing in order to understand and appreciate winning, which Cutler does with the Bears.
Hey... You don’t suppose that for all the losing we did at Temple during the early 1980s, I might’ve been hall-of-fame material after all and not known it, do you? Stop snickering... I can wonder about these things in my advancing age!
Okay, let’s take a brief critical look at the Jets quarterbacking situation and offensive game plan. Both are dysfunctional and the blame lies squarely on the heads of head coach Rex Ryan and offensive coordinator Tony Sparano. As we all know, Rex Ryan is the personification of hyperbole, shooting off his mouth when he’d be better served keeping it closed. For instance, before last Sunday’s 29-26 overtime loss at New England, good ol’ Rex basically said the Patriots knew the Jets were coming into their backyard to beat them. REALLY?! Wow, what a relief... If Rex hadn’t said something to the local media, I could’ve sworn the Jets were hell-bent on visiting Foxborough with full intent on losing in a rout, so it’s a good thing Rex enlightens us with bluster of the obvious.
Remember Herm Edwards when he coached the Jets? Almost ten years ago, to the date, good ol’ Herm blurted out his rallying cry of You play to win the game! Amazing! Isn’t that deeply profound?! For all these years I thought you played to get your uniform dirty. What was I thinking?! Ten years of getting my ass kicked all over fields across the nation, and it never occurred to me that winning was supposed to be my objective. Maybe if I had my priority straight, Temple University would’ve been a powerhouse 30 years ago, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would’ve been monsters despite those silly creamsicle uniforms? I know coaches are smarter than they look, but sometimes they say stuff that makes you scratch your head.
Rex Ryan’s biggest problem is not that he’s a defensive-minded coach, or that he loves “Ground and Pound”, or that he gets the willies every time Sanchez drops back to pass... It’s that he still fails to comprehend the big picture of how a football team is supposed to function and how a game strategy is supposed to be carried out. Does it matter that Tebow only plays ten percent of the offensive snaps, or that Tebow and Sanchez are rarely on the field together, or that the Jets run too much on first down and pass too much on third down? No! It matters that Ryan and Sparano don’t have enough feel for the game to know when a first or second-down pass is the right call at the right time, or when a run play on third and long is just what’s needed. Critics within the media wonder if Ryan coached scared during the final two minutes on Sunday. Ryan took offense to it and scoffed that anyone thinking he coached scared never played the game.
Rex, news flash: You never suited up to play in an NFL training camp. I have, which gives me the apparent right to question you. You may not be coaching scared, but you’re not necessarily coaching to win, either. Why? Because you don’t coach by feel, intuition or any level of analytical thinking. You still think you’re watching game film of your dad’s 1985 Bears defense, and that defensive group is still back in 1985 Chicago, not 2012 Florham Park. Second, you don’t think about the game for a full 60 minutes, and it shows in the team’s performance. It’s very rare when the Jets play a solid and complete 60-minute game, especially on defense. When the Jets needed to stop the Patriots on their two-minute drill, they failed and a game that should’ve been won ended up going into overtime to be lost. Unlike others, I can live with these breakdowns. Team rosters are thin in terms of talent and depth, and it’s no longer easy to dominate an opponent from start to finish. I remember many games during my playing days where we weren’t even competitive after the national anthem, so I can appreciate how difficult it is for reality to match your fantasy of going 19-0, winning every game 52-0 and collecting Super Bowl trophies and rings for Bill Belichick to kiss year after year.
But what concerns me the most, Rex, is that you’re only willing to second-guess your play calls and personnel decisions in the event you lost a game. Every time the Jets win, you’re all boast and bluster, and no matter how unimpressive the final statistics might look, you’re willing to take the win and tell everyone who will listen how great the team was. That’s all fine and dandy, but your team has had its share of unimpressive wins, and quite frankly, you should be more willing to second-guess even decisions that worked. Maybe that’s the scientist in me, because I second-guess everything, whether it works or not, and if if something works, I’m more interested in figuring out how I could sabotage it, giving me a new opportunity to learn and create a successful situation. You see, if you listened to me last fall and bought and read a copy of Philosophy of “Packer” pedagogy, you’d understand what I’m talking about and take more interest in deconstructing and reconstructing your playbook every game, win or lose. Yes, we know the Jets are 35-26 so far, including postseason, during your tenure, so it’s clear you’re doing a pretty good job, but for a man who talks incessantly about Super Bowls, perhaps 35-26 might indicate that you’re not getting the best out of yourself and your coaching staff because you don’t see professional football as holistically as you should.
Folks laugh at Ryan’s mantra of “Ground and Pound” -- the NFL is a quarterback-oriented league with passing, passing and more passing — and yet, every team, with the exception of the Ravens, Bengals, Lions, Browns, Falcons (the NFL’s lone unbeaten team) and Raiders, has rushed for at least 145 yards once this season, and the Redskins, Patriots, 49ers, Chiefs Bills, Texans, Giants, Jets, Bears, Dolphins, Panthers and Cowboys have topped 200 yards rushing at least once... and the Redskins, Patriots, 49ers, Chiefs and Bills have topped 200 yards rushing twice (the 49ers even topped 300 yards once). What does this tell you? The NFL is a game of offensive balance, and teams are more committed to running the ball, thus controlling the line of scrimmage, field position and time of possession than the average fan or members of the media realize.
But no one illustrates Rex Ryan’s deficiencies as a head coach more than Mark Sanchez. Is he a classic quarterback? Not really. Is he mature enough at this stage of his career? Not really. Does he have the physical and intellectual tools necessary to be a solid, championship-caliber quarterback? Yes, he does. The key thing to keep in mind is that Sanchez is still very young and has so much more to learn and so much more growing ahead of himself.
Fans and media members have been calling for his head and begging for Tebow. STOP IT! We already know Tebow can’t physically play the position as well as Sanchez and he definitely ranks worse statistically than Sanchez, so we really need to give it a rest and let Sanchez play. If his stats suffer at times, so be it. He wouldn’t be the first quarterback to succeed with less-than-stellar statistics.
Frankly, I’m tired of people killing Sanchez over his statistics. In the Jets 35-9 week 6 win against the Colts, Sanchez completed 11 of 18 passes for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns, good enough for a 109 QB rating (FYI, the Jets are 9-2 when Sanchez’s QB rating is at least 100.0). On the other hand, in Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, he completed 28 of 41 passes for 328 yards, throwing one touchdown and one interception, and was sacked 4 times. His QB rating was 90.3; the Jets lost. Overall, he’s completing 53.2 percent of his passes with a QB rating of 74.6. Do you folks really want to bench him for Tebow?
Well, if we’re going to bench Sanchez on the basis of his stats and the Jets 3-4 record, let’s take a look at a few other NFL quarterback performances during the first half of the 2012 season:
Andrew Luck of the Colts completed less than 53 percent of his passes in three of his first six games, threw 3 interceptions in a week 1 loss to the Bears and 2 interceptions in a week 6 loss to the Jets. He’s been sacked 16 times already.
Tom Brady of the Patriots completed 26 of 42 passes for only 259 yards against the Jets in week 7. He’s already been sacked 14 times.
Michael Vick of the Eagles has already thrown 8 interceptions, committed 9 fumbles and been sacked 17 times.
Andrew Dalton of the Bengals has already thrown 10 interceptions and been sacked 17 times.
Matt Ryan of the Falcons threw 3 interceptions in a sloppy week 6 win over the Raiders.
Alex Smith of the 49ers completed 19 of 30 passes for 200 yards with 3 interceptions and 6 sacks in a week 6 loss to the Giants.
Eli Manning of the Giants threw 3 interceptions in a week 2 win over the Buccaneers and 2 more in a week 7 win over the Redskins.
Joe Flacco of the Ravens has completed less than 53 percent of his passes in three games and has been sacked 18 times.
Tony Romo of the Cowboys tossed 5 interceptions in a week 4 loss against the Bears.
Ryan Fitzpatrick tossed 4 interceptions in a week 4 loss to the Patriots, among a season total of 9.
Question #1: Should any of these quarterbacks be benched, based on their recent statistics?
Question #2: Why should Sanchez be benched for comparable statistics?
If you can honestly answer those two questions, then you understand what I’ve understood since March: Tim Tebow has no business playing quarterback for the New York Jets, it was a colossal mistake for the Jets to trade for him, the coaching staff either has no cohesive idea of what to do with him, or they refuse to make a definitive decision on his role. Worst of all, it’s become more and more apparent that Tim Tebow forced himself on the New York Jets, taking advantage of team ownership and management for reasons less than pure or legitimately football-related. But the damage has been done, so if the Jets don’t want to be the laughingstock of all time, Rex needs to figure out a way to line Tebow behind Sanchez in the backfield, keep things that way, let Sanchez play quarterback, mature and develop under offensive coaches who have a real vision of how an offense should work, and stay the hell out of the way.
Oh... And could we stop all this idiotic trash talk with every opponent leading up to games?! For a coach who poured his soul to the media after last season, claiming he finally “gets it” and realized he perpetually put a bulls-eye on the backs of players who couldn’t always cash the checks his mouth wrote, he keeps doing the same damned thing week after week, and his defensive players follow suit. Shut up, buckle up the chip straps, and give fans three straight weeks of 60 minutes, championship-quality defense... THEN you can shoot your mouths off to your hearts content.
Keep in mind, the regular season is only 7 weeks old and 17 of the league’s 32 teams have records of .500 or within one game above or below.
Despite a 16-week regular season, there’s still a lot of football season left and very few team’s seasons are in a state of major crisis, necessitating a quarterback change, and this includes the New York Jets.
Kudos to the NFL for switching to pink penalty flags this weekend in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, courtesy of a suggestion by 11-year-old Dante Cano from Marlboro, New Jersey.
And, finally, from the “it’s about damned time” department, the Jets finally get around to retiring the number 90 this Sunday, worn by Dennis Byrd, whose career ended in 1992 after he was paralyzed by a inadvertent collision with a teammate during a game against the Chiefs. Byrd, able to walk again, albeit with difficulty, and living in his native Oklahoma, is one of the Jets most inspirational players in team history, and it’s incredibly long-overdue that his jersey be formally retired. As much as I’ve loved and been loyal to my Jets since 1967, this franchise has a lousy track record of honoring former players in a timely fashion. Perhaps the 2012 version of Dennis Byrd Day will be a sign that owner Woody Johnson truly cares about this team’s legacy beyond revenue and profits.
I have something difficult to tell you, although by the end of this column you will understand why I feel compelled to tell you some harsh reality at the very start of things.
The world isn’t as you imagine or expect it to be.
There’s no Santa Claus.
There’s no Easter Bunny.
There’s no Messiah.
There’s no Utopia waiting for us across the Great Beyond.
There isn’t even a Great Beyond.
I, the ultimate party-pooper, must tell you some harsh reality so you can accept less esoteric truths:
- The New York Yankees aren’t destined to win the World Series every year.
- Sometimes your team’s opponent IS the better team and deserved to win.
- Breaking a long-standing sports record doesn’t make you greater than the previous record-holder.
- If a sports feat hasn’t happened in many years, fans may actually want to know more relevant facts than when it last occurred.
- People don’t really respect others who spread controversial stories for the sake of it.
- Even the greatest of sports stars break down after age 35.
- Your favorite team may never win a championship during your lifetime.
- The home fans don’t always love their own team or players.
- A strong running game is still necessary in order to win consistently in the NFL.
- There is no such thing as the ideal prototypical NFL quarterback.
- It will never be “Tebow Time” with the New York Jets.
- Sports fans get too carried away about things.
Over the past couple of weeks, baseball and football fans have suffered shocks to their collective systems as Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter broke an ankle during the ALCS and Baltimore Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis tore a triceps muscle. In both cases, the injuries were season-ending and their teams had a difficulty adjusting to losing their leader. The Yankees, already down two games to none against the Detroit Tigers, ultimately bowed out in a four-game sweep, meekly surrendering to a weaker opponent en route to the World Series. The Ravens limped into Houston, only to be blasted by the Texans, 43-13. For the Yankees, they now enter a long winter of discontent, regrets, and wound licking before starting 2013 anew in Spring Training. For the now 5-2 Ravens, they have one week to recover from a rude butt-kicking and get ready for their remaining nine regular season games and a playoff race.
While it’s sad, stunning and demoralizing to lose in such dominating fashion, everyone needs to remember that games are always won or lost, and sometimes we must play games without special leaders. Why? Just like winning and losing are a part of sports, so, unfortunately, are injuries, and the older we get, the more vulnerable we all are to injuries and breaking down. Contrary to whatever mantra Joan Rivers lives by, aging is not meant to be graceful, and even the best players’ bodies break down at age 37-38. Derek Jeter was the Yankees shortstop and captain for 17 years; a major injury at the worst possible time was bound to happen. Same thing with Ray Lewis. You can’t expect someone to play middle linebacker in a high-collision sport for 17 years without all those collisions catching up.
The Yankees were already having a bad series against the Tigers, so it’s possible Jeter staying healthy might not have prevented the inevitable. The Yankees weren’t hitting their weight and were helpless against Detroit pitchers. Surprise, surprise... As the Yankees played worse, the home fans booed them. However, this booing was going on before Jeter busted his ankle, so it’s hard to tell which really did in the Yankees: Jeter’s injury or angry words coming from the half-empty bleachers at the new stadium on 161st Street.
Here’s a novel thought: maybe Detroit was meant to win the series and American League pennant?! The Tigers certainly had more dominant pitching and were peaking coming into October, as opposed to staggering, like the Yankees. Contrary to popular theory, the World Series is no longer the Yankees birthright. Since winning their fourth of five World Series in 2000, a five-game Subway Series against the Bobby Valentine Mets, the Yankees have made the post-season 11 of 12 seasons since, winning three pennants (2001, 2003, 2009) and one World Series (2009). Granted, that’s not of Steinbrenner standards, but that’s still pretty good compared to the rival Boston Red Sox (2 pennants and 2 World Series titles, 2004 and 2007). The Tigers (2006, 2012) and Texas Rangers (2010, 2011) will each appear in two World Series, the California Angels have appeared once (winning in 2002), as did the Chicago White Sox (winning in 2005) and Tampa Bay Rays (2008).
There’s a little more “dominance” in the National League, as the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants have appeared in three World Series during this century. The Cards lost in 2004, and won in 2006 and 2011. The Giants lost in 2002 but won in 2010, and are now favored to win a second title this fall. The Philadelphia Phillies have appeared in two World Series, winning in 2008, losing in 2009. The Arizona Diamondbacks (wining in 2001), Florida Marlins (winning in 2003), Houston Astros (2005) and Colorado Rockies (2007) all appeared in one World Series.
More importantly, Yankee fans, your team, despite winning 95 regular season games, displayed a boom or bust lineup all season long. An aging team to begin with, Yankee hitters typically either hit home runs or failed to sustain anything with runners in scoring position. The chronic inability to play small ball eventually catches up with you when the weather gets chillier and the pitchers are more from the cream of the crop as opposed to journeymen holding up the back ends of starting rotations. Face it... You can’t win titles living off 12-9 games against the Minnesota Twins. The AL East is becoming more balanced and competitive, and the Yankees need to figure out ways to keep up with the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays without stocking the batting order with overpriced players whose home run totals match their ages.
By the way, I don’t know how you all feel, but I’m actually excited to see a World Series between the Tigers and Giants, two charter members of their respective leagues with a total of 33 pennants between them (22 for San Francisco, 11 for Detroit). When you think about it, it’s amazing these teams have never met before in the Fall Classic.
The Ravens loss of Ray Lewis hurts, but is a 17-year veteran’s loss more impactful than when he was in his prime? Lewis may be among the best middle linebackers in today’s NFL, but he’s not the game-changer he was in 2000 when the Ravens defense carried everyone on its back to a Super Bowl title. In fact, the public tributes to Lewis following news of his season-ending injury were perhaps over-the-top. Yes, I admit to being an old-school, middle-aged fuddy-duddy, but I also have a broader perspective on Lewis’ place among middle linebackers in NFL history. Is Lewis among my top-ten? No doubt about it. Do I rank him as the best of all-time? No, I don’t. In fact, it’s a close call in my mind whether Lewis makes my top five.
Hands-down, without a doubt, the best middle linebacker in NFL history is Dick Butkus, and I dare anyone to tell Mr. Butkus differently. Number two is the late Ray Nitschke, and number three is Jack Lambert. All three, including Nitschke’s ghost, sufficiently scare me, and Butkus is six weeks short of his 70th birthday. Ray Lewis is a pussycat by comparison.
But there are other middle linebackers Ray Lewis may not be superior to, such as Willie Lanier, Sam Huff, and Chuck Bednarik. Harry Carson was no slouch whether the New York Giants played a 4-3 defense or a 3-4. Neither were Nick Buoniconti, Tommy Nobis, Mike Singletary, Bill Bergey, Maxie Baughan, Lee Roy Jordan, or Joe Schmidt.
My advice to all those who need to make all-time lists while players are still active: leave the active players alone and let them play their sport. There will be plenty of time to debate their place in history after they retire and we can compare them to other retired greats.
The same argument applies to New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, who recently threw a touchdown pass for the 48th consecutive game, breaking a record that stood since 1960, 47 games by Johnny Unitas. Even in today’s pass-happy NFL, throwing a touchdown pass for 48 consecutive games, the equivalent of 3 regular seasons, is an impressive feat, but again, over-the-top accolades by NBC’s Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth bordered on the ridiculous. Comparing the context of the feats (length of season, number of passes thrown, etc.) is one thing. Comparing the career paths of Brees and Unitas is another, and Collinsworth went overboard.
There’s simply no comparison. Brees was a second round pick by the San Diego Chargers (32nd overall) in the 2001 draft, started 58 regular season games (won-loss record 30-28) and one playoff loss in 2004, was cut after major shoulder injury at the end of the 2005 season, signed as a free agent by Saints in 2006, and has started 101 regular season games to date (won-loss record 64-37) as well as eight post-season games (won-loss record 5-3), winning a Super Bowl to cap off the 2009 season.
Johnny Unitas was a ninth round pick by Steelers (102nd overall) in 1955 draft, cut in training camp, played semi-pro ball in 1955, signed by then-Baltimore Colts in 1956, played 17 years as their quarterback (won-loss record 117-64-4), led them to NFL titles in 1958 and 1959, a Super Bowl title in 1970 and postseason appearances in 1964, 1965, 1968 and 1971, was a four-time NFL MVP (1957, 1959, 1964, 1967), three-time Player of the Year (1959, 1964, 1967) and Man of the Year (1970), and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1979. Nearly forty years after his retirement, Unitas ranks 17th in career passes thrown, 22nd in career passes completed, 14th in career passing yardage, and ninth in career passing touchdowns — not bad for a guy whose career per game averages were 24.6 pass attempts, 13.4 completions (54.6%), 190.7 yards, resulting in a touchdown pass approximately every 18 pass attempts.
In 26 fewer career starts, Brees has 566 more pass attempts, 949 more completions, 2,600 more yards, nine more touchdowns — because he plays in an era and offensive scheme allowing him to throw 36 passes per game (42.5 during the past three seasons) at a 65.7% completion rate, resulting in a touchdown pass for every 19.23 pass attempts. Maybe Brees and Unitas are statistically comparable, but Unitas’ statistics are more remarkable because of the less pass-happy offensive game plans of his era. Besides, Brees was never tossed onto any scrapheap until he had a full chance in San Diego and suffered a career-threatening injury. He was very much a known quantity. Coming to the Saints, off their 3-13 Katrina-ravaged season, was a great opportunity for mutual comebacks.
Unitas, on the other hand, was the NFL’s best-kept secret in 1955. He couldn’t make the Steelers roster after rookie camp, and they finished 5-7 in 1954 and 4-8 in 1955. The Colts took a chance on him after their own 5-6-1 season. The resurgence of Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints is a great story, but it’s far from the unheralded rags-to-riches story of Johnny Unitas. In fact, if it wasn’t for Johnny Unitas and his memorable performance in the 1958 NFL title game, we may never have the NFL of today, much less Drew Brees’ compilation of statistics.
On a smaller scale, Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News recently wrote that this current New York Giants regime, with Eli Manning at quarterback, is the best time to be a die-hard Giants fan. Well, maybe yes and maybe no... I’m sure some Giants fans who remember the 1980s when Bill Parcells coached Phil Simms, or the 1950s and 1960s when the Giants played in six NFL title games under head coaches Jim Lee Howell (and assistant coaches Tom Landry and Vince Lombardi) as well as Allie Sherman, and were quarterbacked by Charlie Connerly and Y.A. Tittle, might differ in opinion. Not to take anything away from Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning, but two Super Bowl titles (2007 and 2011) in eight years is wonderful but not as dominant as some remember approximately 25 years ago and even 50 years ago. Just saying... Today doesn’t make yesteryear chopped liver.
As most readers know, I love sports history and trivia. I love facts and statistics, especially when sports connects recent events with those from long ago. First case in point, when the Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost at home last Sunday, 35-28 to the New Orleans Saints, it turns out that the Bucs (wearing those proud creamsicle uniforms, by the way) because the first team since 1998 to score at least 28 points, pile up more than 500 yards of total offense, commit zero turnovers, and lose. Okay... So why not tell folks about the rest of the story?
We take you back to Thanksgiving Day 1998, November 26th, Minnesota Vikings at the Dallas Cowboys. National television. John Madden and the post-game Turducken, and an offensive explosion as the Vikings won 46-36. The Cowboys offense was impressive, rolling up 513 yards, 32 first downs, and couldn’t keep up with a record-setting quick-strike Vikings offense that rolled up 471 yards and 21 first downs of their own. The star of the game? Then-rookie wide receiver Randy Moss (boy, have we all gotten old!), who caught a mere three passes for 163 yards and touchdowns on all three receptions — one for 51 yards, and two each at 56 yards, all from Randall Cunningham, who completed 17 of 35 passes for 359 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. Highly relevant to later in this column, notice that Cunningham completed less than 50 percent of his passes that day, a day where the Vikings rang up 46 points and scored six touchdowns, five covering fifty yards of longer.
Second case in point, consider that Indianapolis Colts rookie quarterback Andrew Luck rushed for two touchdowns in last Sunday’s 17-13 home win over the Cleveland Browns. Quarterbacks rushing for touchdowns isn’t that remarkable; even rushing for two touchdowns in a single game isn’t remarkable. Michael Vick did it. Cam Newton did too. We might find that Brett Favre, Randall Cunningham, Jim McMahon and a few other quarterbacks scored a couple of rushing touchdowns during a game too.
Ah, but this was a feat by an Indianapolis Colts quarterback, and apparently something not accomplished during the Peyton manning era. Okay... So the Associated Press reports that Luck accomplished something no other Colts quarterback has done since 1988. Yeah, and?!
That’s it... 1988. End of story. Are you kidding me?! You toss out that the Colts quarterback does something that hasn’t been done in 24 years, and leave the story like that? How is this helpful to your average sports fan and newspaper reader?
Well, as a public service, I give you the rest of the story... December 4, 1988. Joe Robbie Stadium in Miami. Colts at Dolphins. Final score: Colts, 31, Dolphins 28. The Colts quarterback who scored two rushing touchdowns? Ricky Turner, number 12 in your programs (ironically Andrew Luck’s uniform number). Interestingly, Turner wasn’t even the Colts starting quarterback. Nope... One might’ve called him Tim Tebow before there ever was a Tim Tebow (FYI: Tim Tebow was born in 1987), because the Colts starting quarterback in 1988 was Chris Chandler. Turner was briefly the Colts goal-line quarterback, rushing 4 times for 4 yards in that game against Miami. On two of those runs, one in the second quarter and one in the third, Turner scored from the one-yard line. How Turner fit into the grand scheme of things for the Colts is a mystery. He never threw a pass during the Miami game, and only threw a total of four passes in the four games he appeared in, completing three for 92 yards (37 on one completion), with zero touchdowns or interceptions. Ironically, Chandler rushed 46 times for 139 yards and 3 TDs during 13 starts for the 1988 season, compiling a 9-4 record.
So that brings us to Tim Tebow, or more specifically, the circus known as the New York Jets and their quarterback situation. I’m going to try and keep things as simple as possible for this discussion. I’ve been on the record for the past three years, saying that Tebow is not physically “constructed” to be an NFL quarterback; he’s much better suited to be a fullback, H-back or tight end. If I’ve been saying this about Tebow’s physique since 2009, why would I change my view in 2012 when he’s now at least 15 LBS heavier and bulkier? Again, he’s better suited for an offensive position other than quarterback and if the Jets expect to use him effectively this season, they need to start putting him in he backfield with Shonn Greene and either Bilal Powell or Joe McKnight, behind the correct starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez.
For all fans and members of the media begging for Tebow at quarterback, as if the Walter Mitty miracles of the 2011 Denver Broncos will absolutely happen again this year for the Jets, STOP IT! You’re trying to inspire a controversy that should never exist. The Jets need a passing attack if they expect to put serious points on the scoreboard and be more than a .500 team this year, and Tebow is not the one to drive that passing attack. Believe it or not, securely strapped into my wheelchair, I can throw a 20-yard spiral while seated. Does that mean I should be the Jets starting quarterback? No, and neither should Tebow. The Jets rolled the dice on the fifth pick of the 2009 draft and chose Sanchez. He’s now in his fourth season and it’s either the time to honor the commitment to Sanchez and let him really be a quarterback, or scrap the entire roster and start all over, because Tebow cannot lead this offense operating in a legitimate NFL scheme.
Think about it... Tebow played collegiately for the University of Florida. Since the 1960s, the Gainesville Gatos have been quarterbacked by the likes of Steve Spurrier, John Reeves, Kerwin Bell, Shane Matthews Danny Wuerffel, and Rex Grossman. Despite three Heisman trophy winners and three national titles, none of these guys turned out to be NFL material, so for those who look at Tebow as something special, he’s not as a quarterback and doesn’t even have the collegiate pedigree except for winning, and as anyone truly familiar with life in the NFL knows, one could lose more games during their rookie season in the NFL than all the combined losses in four years of college. In fact, I’ll go as far as saying that coming from a national powerhouse college program could be a disadvantage for some NFL quarterbacks. Ask Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. He’s having a very difficult time accepting how hard it is to win in the NFL playing for a rebuilding team, and it’s painfully clear that he’s no longer playing at Auburn where he not only won the Heisman, but the national title as well.
For my money, despite his surliness and satirical personality, I’ll take Chicago Bears quarterback Jake Cutler over Tebow and the rest of the Southeast Conference trophy boys. Cutler also played in the SEC during college, but at Vanderbilt, and those Commodores were not as successful as the Motown group. Cutler played on losing teams to the tune of 11-35 during his four-year career as a starter, but he led the entire conference in passing during the 2005 season and owns several school and conference passing records. Sometimes you need to understand and appreciate losing in order to understand and appreciate winning, which Cutler does with the Bears.
Hey... You don’t suppose that for all the losing we did at Temple during the early 1980s, I might’ve been hall-of-fame material after all and not known it, do you? Stop snickering... I can wonder about these things in my advancing age!
Okay, let’s take a brief critical look at the Jets quarterbacking situation and offensive game plan. Both are dysfunctional and the blame lies squarely on the heads of head coach Rex Ryan and offensive coordinator Tony Sparano. As we all know, Rex Ryan is the personification of hyperbole, shooting off his mouth when he’d be better served keeping it closed. For instance, before last Sunday’s 29-26 overtime loss at New England, good ol’ Rex basically said the Patriots knew the Jets were coming into their backyard to beat them. REALLY?! Wow, what a relief... If Rex hadn’t said something to the local media, I could’ve sworn the Jets were hell-bent on visiting Foxborough with full intent on losing in a rout, so it’s a good thing Rex enlightens us with bluster of the obvious.
Remember Herm Edwards when he coached the Jets? Almost ten years ago, to the date, good ol’ Herm blurted out his rallying cry of You play to win the game! Amazing! Isn’t that deeply profound?! For all these years I thought you played to get your uniform dirty. What was I thinking?! Ten years of getting my ass kicked all over fields across the nation, and it never occurred to me that winning was supposed to be my objective. Maybe if I had my priority straight, Temple University would’ve been a powerhouse 30 years ago, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would’ve been monsters despite those silly creamsicle uniforms? I know coaches are smarter than they look, but sometimes they say stuff that makes you scratch your head.
Rex Ryan’s biggest problem is not that he’s a defensive-minded coach, or that he loves “Ground and Pound”, or that he gets the willies every time Sanchez drops back to pass... It’s that he still fails to comprehend the big picture of how a football team is supposed to function and how a game strategy is supposed to be carried out. Does it matter that Tebow only plays ten percent of the offensive snaps, or that Tebow and Sanchez are rarely on the field together, or that the Jets run too much on first down and pass too much on third down? No! It matters that Ryan and Sparano don’t have enough feel for the game to know when a first or second-down pass is the right call at the right time, or when a run play on third and long is just what’s needed. Critics within the media wonder if Ryan coached scared during the final two minutes on Sunday. Ryan took offense to it and scoffed that anyone thinking he coached scared never played the game.
Rex, news flash: You never suited up to play in an NFL training camp. I have, which gives me the apparent right to question you. You may not be coaching scared, but you’re not necessarily coaching to win, either. Why? Because you don’t coach by feel, intuition or any level of analytical thinking. You still think you’re watching game film of your dad’s 1985 Bears defense, and that defensive group is still back in 1985 Chicago, not 2012 Florham Park. Second, you don’t think about the game for a full 60 minutes, and it shows in the team’s performance. It’s very rare when the Jets play a solid and complete 60-minute game, especially on defense. When the Jets needed to stop the Patriots on their two-minute drill, they failed and a game that should’ve been won ended up going into overtime to be lost. Unlike others, I can live with these breakdowns. Team rosters are thin in terms of talent and depth, and it’s no longer easy to dominate an opponent from start to finish. I remember many games during my playing days where we weren’t even competitive after the national anthem, so I can appreciate how difficult it is for reality to match your fantasy of going 19-0, winning every game 52-0 and collecting Super Bowl trophies and rings for Bill Belichick to kiss year after year.
But what concerns me the most, Rex, is that you’re only willing to second-guess your play calls and personnel decisions in the event you lost a game. Every time the Jets win, you’re all boast and bluster, and no matter how unimpressive the final statistics might look, you’re willing to take the win and tell everyone who will listen how great the team was. That’s all fine and dandy, but your team has had its share of unimpressive wins, and quite frankly, you should be more willing to second-guess even decisions that worked. Maybe that’s the scientist in me, because I second-guess everything, whether it works or not, and if if something works, I’m more interested in figuring out how I could sabotage it, giving me a new opportunity to learn and create a successful situation. You see, if you listened to me last fall and bought and read a copy of Philosophy of “Packer” pedagogy, you’d understand what I’m talking about and take more interest in deconstructing and reconstructing your playbook every game, win or lose. Yes, we know the Jets are 35-26 so far, including postseason, during your tenure, so it’s clear you’re doing a pretty good job, but for a man who talks incessantly about Super Bowls, perhaps 35-26 might indicate that you’re not getting the best out of yourself and your coaching staff because you don’t see professional football as holistically as you should.
Folks laugh at Ryan’s mantra of “Ground and Pound” -- the NFL is a quarterback-oriented league with passing, passing and more passing — and yet, every team, with the exception of the Ravens, Bengals, Lions, Browns, Falcons (the NFL’s lone unbeaten team) and Raiders, has rushed for at least 145 yards once this season, and the Redskins, Patriots, 49ers, Chiefs Bills, Texans, Giants, Jets, Bears, Dolphins, Panthers and Cowboys have topped 200 yards rushing at least once... and the Redskins, Patriots, 49ers, Chiefs and Bills have topped 200 yards rushing twice (the 49ers even topped 300 yards once). What does this tell you? The NFL is a game of offensive balance, and teams are more committed to running the ball, thus controlling the line of scrimmage, field position and time of possession than the average fan or members of the media realize.
But no one illustrates Rex Ryan’s deficiencies as a head coach more than Mark Sanchez. Is he a classic quarterback? Not really. Is he mature enough at this stage of his career? Not really. Does he have the physical and intellectual tools necessary to be a solid, championship-caliber quarterback? Yes, he does. The key thing to keep in mind is that Sanchez is still very young and has so much more to learn and so much more growing ahead of himself.
Fans and media members have been calling for his head and begging for Tebow. STOP IT! We already know Tebow can’t physically play the position as well as Sanchez and he definitely ranks worse statistically than Sanchez, so we really need to give it a rest and let Sanchez play. If his stats suffer at times, so be it. He wouldn’t be the first quarterback to succeed with less-than-stellar statistics.
Frankly, I’m tired of people killing Sanchez over his statistics. In the Jets 35-9 week 6 win against the Colts, Sanchez completed 11 of 18 passes for 82 yards and 2 touchdowns, good enough for a 109 QB rating (FYI, the Jets are 9-2 when Sanchez’s QB rating is at least 100.0). On the other hand, in Sunday’s loss to the Patriots, he completed 28 of 41 passes for 328 yards, throwing one touchdown and one interception, and was sacked 4 times. His QB rating was 90.3; the Jets lost. Overall, he’s completing 53.2 percent of his passes with a QB rating of 74.6. Do you folks really want to bench him for Tebow?
Well, if we’re going to bench Sanchez on the basis of his stats and the Jets 3-4 record, let’s take a look at a few other NFL quarterback performances during the first half of the 2012 season:
Andrew Luck of the Colts completed less than 53 percent of his passes in three of his first six games, threw 3 interceptions in a week 1 loss to the Bears and 2 interceptions in a week 6 loss to the Jets. He’s been sacked 16 times already.
Tom Brady of the Patriots completed 26 of 42 passes for only 259 yards against the Jets in week 7. He’s already been sacked 14 times.
Michael Vick of the Eagles has already thrown 8 interceptions, committed 9 fumbles and been sacked 17 times.
Andrew Dalton of the Bengals has already thrown 10 interceptions and been sacked 17 times.
Matt Ryan of the Falcons threw 3 interceptions in a sloppy week 6 win over the Raiders.
Alex Smith of the 49ers completed 19 of 30 passes for 200 yards with 3 interceptions and 6 sacks in a week 6 loss to the Giants.
Eli Manning of the Giants threw 3 interceptions in a week 2 win over the Buccaneers and 2 more in a week 7 win over the Redskins.
Joe Flacco of the Ravens has completed less than 53 percent of his passes in three games and has been sacked 18 times.
Tony Romo of the Cowboys tossed 5 interceptions in a week 4 loss against the Bears.
Ryan Fitzpatrick tossed 4 interceptions in a week 4 loss to the Patriots, among a season total of 9.
Question #1: Should any of these quarterbacks be benched, based on their recent statistics?
Question #2: Why should Sanchez be benched for comparable statistics?
If you can honestly answer those two questions, then you understand what I’ve understood since March: Tim Tebow has no business playing quarterback for the New York Jets, it was a colossal mistake for the Jets to trade for him, the coaching staff either has no cohesive idea of what to do with him, or they refuse to make a definitive decision on his role. Worst of all, it’s become more and more apparent that Tim Tebow forced himself on the New York Jets, taking advantage of team ownership and management for reasons less than pure or legitimately football-related. But the damage has been done, so if the Jets don’t want to be the laughingstock of all time, Rex needs to figure out a way to line Tebow behind Sanchez in the backfield, keep things that way, let Sanchez play quarterback, mature and develop under offensive coaches who have a real vision of how an offense should work, and stay the hell out of the way.
Oh... And could we stop all this idiotic trash talk with every opponent leading up to games?! For a coach who poured his soul to the media after last season, claiming he finally “gets it” and realized he perpetually put a bulls-eye on the backs of players who couldn’t always cash the checks his mouth wrote, he keeps doing the same damned thing week after week, and his defensive players follow suit. Shut up, buckle up the chip straps, and give fans three straight weeks of 60 minutes, championship-quality defense... THEN you can shoot your mouths off to your hearts content.
Keep in mind, the regular season is only 7 weeks old and 17 of the league’s 32 teams have records of .500 or within one game above or below.
Despite a 16-week regular season, there’s still a lot of football season left and very few team’s seasons are in a state of major crisis, necessitating a quarterback change, and this includes the New York Jets.
Kudos to the NFL for switching to pink penalty flags this weekend in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, courtesy of a suggestion by 11-year-old Dante Cano from Marlboro, New Jersey.
And, finally, from the “it’s about damned time” department, the Jets finally get around to retiring the number 90 this Sunday, worn by Dennis Byrd, whose career ended in 1992 after he was paralyzed by a inadvertent collision with a teammate during a game against the Chiefs. Byrd, able to walk again, albeit with difficulty, and living in his native Oklahoma, is one of the Jets most inspirational players in team history, and it’s incredibly long-overdue that his jersey be formally retired. As much as I’ve loved and been loyal to my Jets since 1967, this franchise has a lousy track record of honoring former players in a timely fashion. Perhaps the 2012 version of Dennis Byrd Day will be a sign that owner Woody Johnson truly cares about this team’s legacy beyond revenue and profits.
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