The New York Jets are becoming the New York Jest little by little each week. The Jets continue to embarrass themselves both on and off the field this year. It is almost comical at this point. The newest fuel to the implosion that the Jets are was published in the New York Daily News today.
Unnamed members of the Jets have been talking smack about Tim Tebow to reporters. While others (read Matt Slausen) have not hid behind anonymity. Slausen when asked about the two back-up quarterbacks was quoted as saying, “We have Greg… and we have an athlete.”
This is a laughable situation in New York. Let’s wind this season back a little bit. In the preseason, the Jets scored one offensive touchdown total in the four games they played. Next, Antonio Cromartie anoints himself the second best wide receiver on the team (he plays defense). Then the Jets open Week 1 against the Bills and score 48 points. Woah, it was true what people say. The preseason means nothing, the Jets are going to be able to score. Welcome back to reality. The Jets have been a disappointment… they were shutout at home by a vastly superior 49ers team, and now they are coming off back-to-back embarrassing performances against the Dolphins and Seahawks. Disappointment is an interesting way to describe the Jets, because if you looked at their schedule preseason, after 10 weeks, I would have put them at 3-6, which is exactly where they are.
The Jets are not good. Take a deep look at the roster, they have some serious lacking in the talent department. The coach has a dream of ground and pound, yet he refuses to bench Mark Sanchez for a Quarterback actually capable of grounding and pounding the ball.
That leads to the root of the Jets problem. Pete Carroll was right when he said Mark Sanchez was not ready for the NFL when he left USC. He simply did not have enough experience to compete at the highest level in the NFL. Having said that, Mark Sanchez was right to leave USC, because the money was there. And Quarterback money is the root of the Jets’ problem.
The Jets wanted Peyton Manning and were not shy about it (I don’t blame them), but to make Mark feel better about himself, they gave him one of the most ridiculous extensions possible. The Jets have $20.5 million guaranteed reasons to keep Sanchez as the starter for this season and next season. It is this type of ridiculous money that keeps the Jets from making the proper football decision. That is right, starting Tim Tebow is the right thing to do and almost any franchise in the NFL would have made that decision by now.
Mark Sanchez is a nice guy. He says all the right things. He could easily be complaining that the Jets aren’t helping him, and he would be right to say that. The Jets major acquisition was Tim Tebow. How about signing a Wide Receiver? Or drafting a Wide Receiver that was on a team in college that actually passed the ball (Sorry Stephen Hill). But the fact is he has had a completion percentage of less than 50% in five of nine games this season. He leads the league in Red Zone interceptions (4), he has nine total interceptions and he has fumbled eight times, losing four of them. Yes, he dominated Buffalo, but look at the Jets second best win. The Jets beat the Colts 35-9, and you know what, Sanchez had absolutely nothing to do with that. He had 82 yards passing.
Tim Tebow is not Peyton Manning and many people say he shouldn’t be a Quarterback at all, let alone a starter in the NFL. But I have news for all of those people, he is a Quarterback in the NFL, a Quarterback drafted in the first round. And he led a team to a division win and he won a playoff game. How many “analysts” can say that? Yes, he had a pathetic 46% completion percentage, but Sanchez is not much better (54.7% for his career). Sanchez has been in the league for four seasons and he has never had a Quarterback rating greater than 78.2.
In practice, Mark Sanchez might throw a better pass than Tebow in terms of mechanics, but to quote Allen Iverson, “we’re in here talking about practice.” The Jets can’t play much worse than they have this season, especially these past two weeks. It is time for a change. New York Jets fans, if the fans in Denver can basically force a Quarterback change, why can’t you? Or should I continue to call Rex Ryan’s group the New York Jest.
[Stats for Mark Sanchez. Stats for Tim Tebow.]
[Photo Credits: Jets Fan – Elsa/ Getty Images via GangGreenNation.com | Sanchez – Elsa/ Getty Images via BusinessInsider.com]
I agree. The “Jest” are an embarrassment to the NFL. Rex Ryan refuses to make the right decision to give Tebow the chance to run the offense. Sanchez was barely a capable college QB and should have never been given the chance to be an NFL QB. Tebow is a proven winner that seems to find ways to win regardless of how it gets done.