"Even in these worst of times, in what might be his final days as head coach of the New York Jets, Rex Ryan can still crack a joke. “I want to apologize to the fans,” the head coach told reporters after Sunday’s 31-0 loss in San Diego, “… those that are left.” Nobody laughed. Ryan didn’t even manage a smile. At 1-4, and with a quarterback controversy born out of a dearth of options, all Ryan has left is his subtle wit and a renowned ability to motivate football players. Say this for the Jets: They didn’t give up. Down 31 with eight minutes left, there was backup quarterback Michael Vick on fourth down at the Chargers’ 16, scrambling left, buying time, time and more time while receivers scrambled across the end zone. After an eternity, Vick found Greg Salas dragging towards the goalpost. Not only had the Jets crossed the 50-yard line for the first time all game, but they actually put points on the board. Progress? Nope. Vick had crossed the line of scrimmage. The tiniest sliver of silver lining, dashed. “The whole game was disappointing, including that,” Salas said later. “There’s not much more you can say about it. We just got dominated for 60 minutes.” Was it as bad as it looked? “Could be worse,” Vick said. It could always be worse, as Vick well knows. The team could’ve quit, for starters. But they didn’t. Receivers jostled for position in the end zone on busted plays, linemen finished blocks for their impotent quarterbacks, and an undermanned defense pushed back against an offensive tidal wave. “That’s a team that plays hard the whole game, no matter what,” said Chargers offensive tackle King Dunlap. “With Rex, that’s their mentality. Maybe it looked like they weren’t finishing, but they were.” If sixth-year coach Rex Ryan gets fired, it won’t be because he lost this team from an emotional standpoint. There’s friction, with linebacker Demario Davis saying Sunday, “I don’t see a lot of guys putting a lot of effort into film study.” But this is far from a mutiny. Ryan blamed himself, as he is wont to do, saying he got out-coached by Mike McCoy. There’s an element of truth to that. But what the slimmed-down Ryan ought to be feeling is hungry. To borrow a line from Rounders, this is a team with the table set up, the fork, the knife, the A1 sauce… and no steak. Where’s the talent? With the exception of 2013 first-round pick Sheldon Richardson, John Idzik has failed to keep the roster competitive over two offseasons as GM. Know this: Of Idzik’s 12 draft picks from May’s draft, eight are still on the roster, combining for 350 snaps over the season’s first month. By contrast, Dallas (another 8-8 team in 2013) selected nine rookies who have played a combined 478 snaps. For New York, none of those meager contributions have come from wide receivers, despite drafting three. Free agent pickup Eric Decker has been a part-timer with a bad hamstring. Meanwhile, the passing game, easily Ryan’s biggest problem, has languished with Geno Smith throwing to the likes of David Nelson and Jeremy Kerley. On defense, having a lockdown cornerback to scheme around has long been Ryan’s signature, going back to his first NFL coordinator job in 2005 with the Ravens and two-time All-Pro Chris McAllister. That tradition continued in New York with Darrelle Revis, allowing Ryan to fashion elaborate blitzes and leave his corner on an island, but Revis tore his ACL in 2012, and without waiting to see if he could recapture his old form the Jets dealt him for the pick that became Richardson. I’d argue the Jets won that deal, yet failed to capitalize on the subsequent salary cup surplus. Despite having more than $20 million available, the Jets didn’t land a top-tier free agent cornerback (and Revis was available) and let last year’s best cover man, Antonio Cromartie, walk. With 2013 first-rounder Dee Milliner battling ankle and leg injuries, Ryan had been stuck with converted safety Antonio Allen as his top cover man (Milliner returned on Sunday, pushing Allen back to safety). The other starting spot has belonged to fifth-year reserve Darrin Walls, who has never played 300 defensive snaps in a season but is already at 253 this year. In August, Idzik responded to criticism of the apparent lack of talent at corner, telling fans, “We did some things at the position. Let it play out.” Five games into the season it has played out, predictably. And the Chargers, like everybody else, have taken notice. “What they were doing on defense wasn’t that crazy,” said Chargers offensive tackle D.J. Fluker. “They blitz a lot, and when you do that, you can get exposed.” Especially when your cornerbacks are Allen and Walls. Take the bite out of a defensive scheme, and you get what happened Sunday in San Diego—the Jets dropping to 1-4 and uncharacteristically giving up 162 yards on the ground, plus 288 passing yards and three touchdowns to Philip Rivers, who was orchestrating San Diego’s blitz pickup as if he were directing traffic in Centre City. “It was a complete ass-whuppin’,” Ryan said. “And it was me that was getting my ass kicked.” Ryan can try to isolate the blame on himself, but these problems aren’t going away with better practices and game plans. Jets fans will remember the Buttfumble of 2012 for decades as a low point in the Rex Ryan Era, but that was just an embarrassing stumble in an otherwise mediocre season. This is something different. This is a nadir. This is the beginning of the end." http://mmqb.si.com/2014/10/06/new-york-jets-mess-rex-ryan-john-idzik/
If Idzik goes, Rex will go, Rex will find another job, eventually. (Remember how many teams were desperate for a HC last offseason?)
I was just going to put the link to this up... This writer summed it up QUITE nicely... The rub is...Idzik already knew the roster was depleted...yet...this ass clown goes into the season with $21 million in his back pocket...and for what? Who the hell is he going to sign back? If I'm Wilk I want nothing to do with this train wreck...or any other existing Jet for that matter...that's worth signing anyway. So the argument "we have to sign our existing people" is moot if it's a cluster fuck and no one wants to stay... Ryan doesn't get to "shop for his groceries"...Idzik has failed in that respect...period. Ryan does have his own issues...but you can't lay the lack of talent on the team at his feet.
I don't think so. I think the problem is much much deeper than head coach. I read a post on here that was spot on. Rex bleeds green for this team. He's not a me guy and a guy looking for a paycheck. He bleeds green and loves this franchise. He's been dealt a piece of shit hand and it's sad to see him fall because of it.
Here's the problem with this...Ryan is one of those guys...when the Jets fire him he will get hired, by someone in the AFC likely, and he will spend the next fuckin' decade beating the shit out of the Jets just because... And you can take that to the damn bank.
I hope if Rex is fired, it happens soon. Let him leave here with a winning record (43-41 RS, 4-2 Postseason right now apparently).
Exactly. Ryan leaves a lot to be desired, but this fall is not on his shoulders. This all falls on Idzik and what he did with this roster. You can't expect any coach in this league to win with our starting squad.
I agree with you...sadly...I don't think bleeding green will save him this time....and as I said above. He WILL make it his personal mission to make the Jets pay every time he plays them in the future.
I want Rex to stay but he deserves better than this, Idzik is trying to sabotage him, and for that, Idzik needs to be removed. Failed signings: -Vick -Chris Johnson -David Garrard -Patterson -etc The drafting has been bad, has not added anything positive other than Richardson.
I am a big Rex fan but this Fat Fuck time is up. Time to blow it up and start anew. And Woody Quaker oats man looking ass needs to go too. Where is that v stiviano skank when you need her?
DINGDINGDING. This is one of the points I've been trying to make for months to all the people self-congratulating each other on their brilliance defending Idzik having all this rollover money. Plus do we really know anything better is going to be available in FA the next two years than was available at WR/CB this year?!
i feel like the main reason people hate idzik is because he didn't sign a CB, but little do they know that DRC has stunk on the giants and people are already sick of his contract. i can't wait until we have the cap space next year with roll over to actually build this roster up
I agree with you but there's no possible way Rex stays if we fire the gm again,I said we should have kept Mr T and I bet the team would be in better shape if we did.Mr T is the one who laid out the cap plan for Idzik when he first got here ,we would have been in good cap shape either way,Mr T would have fixed it he wasn't an idiot he just handed out some shady contracts to players who at the time looked like they deserved them
And what has this "Fat Fuck" done to deserve to be fired? You honestly believe another coach would be winning right now with this roster? Just sit down and take a look at our starting secondary, receivers, and QB and tell me another coach would have a winning record right now. It's not about one single player. It's about the position. What was done at CB to solidify the position? What move was made to help bring talent in at corner?
Exactly...in this business you have to play/pay for THIS year. Not saying anyone needs to go buck wild but to have that much money laying around with a short changed roster is what I would call irresponsible and inexcusable.
Usually, GM has to fail with his second HC before being fired. Usually, a HC needs to fail with his second starting QB before being fired. If only one of them is being fired, you'd have to think it's Rex. I'm not saying I agree with that decision, just stating the norm.
I just think it's time to start over with a new HC and QB. I want an offensive guy brought in here in the worst way. That's the way the league is going. It's very much an offensive sport. Yes you can win with D as the Hawks showed us last year but that team was still very efficient on offense. Draft a QB, keep Geno on the roster, sign a vet (Vick, whoever) and go from there.
Easy to blame coaching when your quarterback is an absolute piece of shit. You're comparing Russell Wilson to Geno Smith.
Rex isn't gonna get a head coaching job again with performances like these,he will get a DC job in a heart beat but HC?Who's gonna hire him if we end up 4-12? Maybe the Jaguars maybe
I'm not comparing Wilson to Smith. One's good the other is bad. I know that. But I want a coach who can develop a young QB in the best way possible. Rex has had 2 already. I know it's not all his fault but it's obvious that he's lost offensively and has been for a long time now. The offense has for the most part always been poor under him. Very hard to win in the NFL when you simply can't score points.