Why the Jets May Not Have Such an Awful Year After
The Jets were having one of the most embarrassing seasons I have ever seen as a football team. Countless blow out loses, mainly to the San Francisco 49ers (34-0) and the New England Patriots (49-19) on Thanksgiving night. Oh yeah, and a 30-9 loss to the Miami Dolphins and a 28-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Don’t forget many key injuries, mainly to their best defender Darrelle Revis and their top wide receiver Santonio Holmes. I will admit, when they were 3-6 I wanted them to bench some of the veterans, let the young guys play, and tank the season for a draft pick. However, they are 3-1 since then and have some winnable games coming up to finish their season. They play in Tennessee against the Titans on Monday night next week, then they have the San Diego Chargers at home the following Sunday night, and against the Bills in Buffalo to finish their season.
The fact that they are even close to a .500 record with all the injuries to key players surprises me. Not to mention, how terrible Mark Sanchez has been. They have showed a lot of heart these past 4 weeks and they have really impressed me.
They are getting back to the “ground and pound” offense. Joe McKnight has not been able to stay healthy but Bilal Powell has really picked up the slack to go along with Shonn Greene. I expect both of those guys to have big seasons next year. I also have been impressed with a few wide receivers on the Jets recently. Jeremy Kerley is going to have a huge season next year to go along with Santonio Holmes. Rookie Stephen Hill has proven he can get open but needs to stop dropping the ball so much. Chaz Shilens and Clyde Gates also have earned a roster spot in my book next year as well. I was expecting a major season from Dustin Keller but he had a lot of trouble staying healthy. He will bounce back.
The defense has really been coming around recently as well. The younger guys are starting to pan out and the veterans are playing like they use to and really leading the kids. If the Jets can have a big draft, and I think they will, then they can be right back in the playoff picture as well next year. Even with Mark Sanchez as their quarterback. Outside of Geno Smith, there is not a quarterback in this draft I like for the Jets. My guess is they give Sanchez one more year with Greg McElroy competing for his job in the preseason.
Of course, knowing the Jets, they can lose all 3 games and go back to their ways in the beginning of the season. Unfortunately, they are just too hard to predict, and we will just to have to wait and see what happens. Whatever happens, Rex Ryan deserves another year.