The play calling has been questionable.The penalties show a lack of discipline. The term “miscommunication” is becoming a regular word in
Todd Bowles vocabulary. The players are seen arguing amongst themselves on the
sidelines. Supposed leaders of the team are getting punished having
their playing time diminished because of being late to team meetings. The worse thing that can be said about an NFL coach is that
he has lost control of his team. Is this what is happening to Todd Bowles and
the New York Jets? Coming off a 10-6 season and missing the playoffs on the last game of the
season, some thought (like myself)
that this roster would come into the season hungry and dedicate themselves to the
team and season. Sure there was no “Jets West” or any other player organized
mini camps that I know of. But quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was coming off a
big season throwing 31 touchdown passes and passing for 3,905 yards. He
developed great chemistry with Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall. The fact that
the Jets didn’t have a tight end involved in the offense didn’t matter. This
season would be a playoff year no matter how tough the first six games were.
With Tom Brady out for the first four games of the season, Jet fans were hoping
to go 3-1 or just 2-2 in the first quarter of the season knowing the hated Pats
would go 2-2 if they were lucky. As always in Jet land, things have not worked
out and the New York Jets may be in the midst of a total meltdown that may
affect the 2017 season. Last year Todd Bowles was the talk of the Jets. His low
demeanor and the respect he had from his players was noticeable. This season
began to turn bad when the Ryan Fitzpatrick contract negotiations went much
longer than anyone anticipated. He missed the all important OTA’s. It continued
with the Mo Wilkerson negotiations but that was resolved as was the Fitzpatrick
contract. But it may have been too little too late. With Geno Smith getting
snaps with the first team he was displaced when Fitzpatrick came back. Ryan
Fitzpatrick was the leader of the team. He was popular in the locker room and
players loved his toughness on the field when he ran head first. The season
began to unravel the very first game against the Cincinnati Bengals. A game the
Jets should have won was gift wrapped to the Bengals with the help of a blocked
field goal and missed extra point despite the defensive line getting seven
sacks. The Bengal game was the first hint Jet fans got that Darrelle Revis was
not the same player he once was. A.J. Green had his way with Revis catching 12
passes for 180 yards including an embarrassing 54-yard touchdown pass. Things would
get worse for the Jets and Revis. A win against the Bills evened the Jets
record but with the win questions came about the way Todd Bowles was
coaching. The Jets went ahead by 12 points on a touchdown and Bowles
inexplicitly went for one point instead of two. Things continued to spiral worse and a pattern was
developing the way Todd Bowles was coaching. In a few of the games at the end
of the first half with the Jets losing, Bowles would let the clock run out
without calling timeout knowing the Jets would be kicking off to start the
second half. This lack of time management plus his lack of confidence in the
offense began to be noticed by the team. In one game the defense was on the
field and you could read some of the players lips asking each other.
“Why aren’t we calling time out”?
Fitzpatrick never got into a rhythm with Decker who got
injured and Marshall. The inconsistent offensive line has looked slow, fat and
out of sync. They continue to break down as the game goes on putting whoever is
playing quarterback in harms way. The combination of losing, questionable
coaching decisions and a lack of on the field discipline has led fans to
believe Todd Bowles either has lost or is losing the 2016 Jets. Viewing Brandon Marshall and Ryan Fitzpatrick arguing on the
sideline as well as the earlier mentioned team meeting incident involving
Sheldon Richardson and Mo Wilkerson has the making of a team in turmoil. This
is a team that patchwork and filling in positions with a few off-season free
agent signings will not cure. Todd Bowles has his work cut for him the rest of
the season if only to maintain respect and make sure he does not lose the team.
The real hard job may be that of GM Mike Maccagnan who will not only be in the
market for at least one quarterback but maybe two. He will have some easy and
tough decisions rebuilding this franchise for the umpteenth
time trying to give Jet fans some hope. Once the season is washed away and Woody
Johnson sees empty seats, more changes may be made. It ain’t easy
being green!
@GreenRewind

This weeks newsletter is sponsored by Amazon Prime Instant video and Marty Schupak's sports instructional videos. Always free on Amazon Prime!
No comments:
Post a Comment