There was some high comedy on Thursday when beat writers attacked beat writers, a national writer attacked a beat writer and that same national writer penned a story that was fueled by an anonymous Jet. Fortunately the whole thing seems to tie together nicely in the end.

About eight hours earlier Dan Leberfeld of Jets Confidential (@jetswhispers) posted a link to a story where he wonders why Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News and others were interviewing Greg McElroy when it was already reported that he was “out” of the quarterback competition. The story also included a picture of Mehta alone interviewing McElroy in the Jets locker room. The very obvious insinuation was that those talking to McElroy were looking for information from a disgruntled employee.

Meanwhile, at roughly the same time, Mike Freeman of CBS Sports (@realfreemancbs) released a small blurb within a story which said, “This from a Jets player, who asked not to be identified: “Everyone on the team likes Mark personally but there’s a general feeling among some of the players that maybe it’s time to give someone else a chance.” The player went on to say that he estimates that 80-90 percent of the team feels the same way he does.”

Roughly an hour after Leberfeld’s story showing a picture of Mehta and McElroy, Freeman had an interesting tweet. The tweet reads “I love when a guy who uses anonymous sources ALL THE TIME mocks when someone else does. Jesus.”. Manish Mehta uses anonymous sources all the time and was talking to McElroy so Mehta may have been experiencing some sour grapes that Freeman got the story first.

Let’s think about this logically. First Leberfeld calls out Mehta and others for pumping McElroy for information. Then a story breaks where an “anonymous Jet” thinks the Jets should give another quarterback a chance. Remember this is the same Greg McElroy who blasted his teammates after the 2011 season. It is pretty cut and dry in my mind that McElroy is the source and along with his outburst after 2011 it is best to see if there is a better 3rd string quarterback out there or risk having an anonymous source all year.

Dec 23, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Greg McElroy (14) is sacked by San Diego Chargers defensive end Kendall Reyes (91) during the second half at MetLIfe Stadium. The Chargers defeated the Jets 27-17. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

This was the unfortunate view that Greg McElroy had for the majority of yesterday’s football game. He viewed it from the ground, getting sacked 11 times and hit more times. He never got a chance to get in rhythm all afternoon, and it couldn’t have been easy for him in his first NFL start. But Greg didn’t make any excuses, taking a lot of the onus upon himself:

I have to do a better job of getting the ball out. I have to do a better job of getting on the same page with the wide receivers and being able to anticipate some more throws. I just have to continue to try to improve. We learned a lot today. Obviously, this is an incredibly disappointing loss. Everyone’s very disappointed. The locker room, everyone’s pretty down. But we understand where we need to improve. We understand what we need to do. I can promise you we’re going to be working our butts off trying to get better throughout this last week.

Even when asked about his first NFL start, he felt disappointment for the team, not himself:

I’m disappointed. This is a great opportunity for the team. This is a great opportunity for everybody. This is not about any individuals. This is about going out there and proving that this team is going to continue to stay together, continue to try to work and we stayed together. That’s the great thing about being a part of this Jets team. I’m very proud to be a part of this team. You learn a lot. Playing in the NFL is difficult and there’s a lot of fantastic players on the other side of the football that made things very difficult for us at times today. We just have to do a better job. We had some great drives. We just have to do a better job of continuing to be consistent and continuing to make those plays when they are there to be made. There were just too many times today that we just didn’t make those plays.

He puts everything back into perspective, doesn’t he? McElroy has the makeup to be an NFL quarterback, that’s for sure. He’ll get better.

On Offense, the Chargers were 28th in yards, 23rd in points, 22nd in passing and 27th in rushing compared to the Jets stats of being 30th overall; 28th in points scored, 30th in passing and 10th in rushing due in large part to the running game finally clicking around game 11 and Bilal Powell being the kind of back that extends plays with his body and pushes heaps of men to travel with him for an extra yard or three.

On Defense, the Chargers were 16th in points allowed; 20th in passing yards allowed, 13th in total defense and 7th against the run to the Jets stats of 20th in points allowed, 8th in overall yards allowed, 2nd against the pass and 29th against the rush.

Looking at those, what it should have told you was that the game had the possibility of being a real barn burner. Well, at least we weren’t surprised by something today. What we were surprised by was that the fact that the Jets lost this one. The Chargers Defense brutalized the Jets Offense and completely wrecked the first time starting QB. 11 sacks. This isn’t even factoring in the hits and pressures Greg McElroy faced on that field in MetLife Stadium today. He seems to not have much in the way of pocket presence or arm strength but he does hold onto the ball well when going down to snack on some turf and can obviously take some hard hits. He will get the nod to start next week in Buffalo and rightfully so. At the same time, you have to wonder what exactly today’s game meant. The offensive line was invisible, the defense couldn’t even claim to be gassed. They were simply outplayed and out-coached. Despite some obvious blunders by the Chargers and possible new Jets Offensive Coordinator in 2013 Norv Turner (what went on with that punt/kick confusion, anyway?), Philip Rivers didn’t have a horrible game. How often can people say that?

Braylon Edwards was a rare bright spot on offense. Current Offensive Coordinator Tony Sparano looked to be opening up his obviously well hidden big bag of tricks at the beginning of the game, calling Wildcat plays with Kerley throwing a bomb 42 yards down the field to Clyde Gates (yes, I really typed this) and even a direct snap to Greene. By the way, Greene was on track to break ,000 yards rushing this season for the second year in a row, needing just 49 to do so. He finished 9 under. That should tell everyone all they need to know about the offense in this game against the Chargers that saw 3 QBs dressed but only 1 used and a slot receiver have more total passing yards earned in one play than the backup quarterback threw for all season.

Who makes it through this mess of a season?

On defense, Bart Scott proved he still can be a force on the field. Eric Smith probably signed his walking papers and after that game Calvin Pace should be filing in line behind him. The Jets as a whole just weren’t built well. They weren’t buiult to succeed and having 6 wins on the year is probably a blessing because today’s game was not a fluke. This is where they are, this is who they are. And hopefully this game was a gigantic wake up call to stop placing blame on certain players and look at the overall team. Start at the top in the big front offices and go from there.

✈ Sydney
Find me on Twitter at @SydneyKira1; email: confessionsofajetsfan@gmail.com