In just four weeks Eric Mangini’s Jets went from a Super Bowl contender to a lousy team that most likely won’t even make the playoffs. Following their rout of then undefeated Tennessee, the New York Jets were thrashed by the Denver Broncos, outplayed by the 49ers (4-9 at that time), barely beat the Buffalo Bills and finally yesterday lost to the Seattle Seahawks (3-11). The Gang Green had one of the easiest schedules in the NFL, they spent over $100M on free agents in the offseason, they have seven Pro Bowlers on their roster – what else does a team need to be a contender in this league? Head coach with a brain!
It’s been written by probably every pundit that this Jets team simply reflects its head coach – it has no passion, no heart, win or lose, cold faced Eric Mangini just chews his gum on the sidelines and then gives the same answers during the post game press conference. He tries to emulate to emulate Bill Belichick and make the Jets look like the Patriots, but he’s no Belichick, he never will be. He’s just a former ballboy who’s way over his head and never should have been NFL head coach in the first place. Woody Johnson’s fascination with the Patriots and their success is the only reason why Eric Mangini became head coach of this troubled franchise.
Yesterday’s game was just continuation of the trend that we’ve been witnessing all season. The first blunder came on the opening drive when facing a 4th and 1 on the Seahawks’ 2-yard line, Mangini elected to kick a field goal instead of trying to get a first down. The Jets had run the ball six times on that possession – all for 4 yards or more. If that wasn’t bad, Mangini made an even dumber move when he chose to punt following a delay of game penalty on a successful 45-yard field goal attempt. Jay Feely’s kick was good by more than 5 yards, but suddenly conservative Mangini decided to pin Seattle deep in their territory. Then, with 2:21 left in the fourth quarter, Eric Mangini made his dumbest move yet. The Gang Green had a 4th down and 2 on their own 20-yard line and elected to go for it despite having all their three timeouts. The attempt failed and Seattle instantly found themselves in field goal range. On the ensuing three plays they failed to gain a single yard, but Mangini’s atrocious decision allowed the Seahawks to score an easy field goal, make it a 2-score game with less than two minutes to go, and effectively end the game.
The Jets still can make the playoffs if the beat Miami next Sunday and New England loses to the Buffalo Bills. In all honesty, and it’s painful for me to say so, I would not want this team to be in the playoffs. They simply do not deserve it. Plus, making the playoffs would also mean at least another year of Eric Mangini’s ineptitude. It’s time for this man to go and to go for good. It’s highly doubtful that any NFL team will hire him again after these failures. As for the Jets, there are quite a few coaches out there with good resumes (Bill Cowher comes to mind) that Woody Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum should go after and finally give this franchise someone who can lead it for years to come. Al Groh, Herman Edwards, Eric Mangini… enough already! We, Jets fans, have suffered enough!