NY Jets: Stop the insanity

The NY Jets need to stop the insanity and understand that they can’t continue doing what they’re doing in hopes of being successful this season.

I’m sure you have often heard the common phrase that “insanity is doing the same thing over and over.” Well, it may be time to categorize Todd Bowles as insane. Sometimes being insane can work in your favor. Most of the time it doesn’t. What we have all witnessed over the past 6 years of Jets’ football is that this team, when it names a starting quarterback, has a very hard time changing course, unless something goes catastrophically wrong. It seems like we’re waiting for that to happen with the Jets.

This season now has 6-10 written all over it. That’s what happens when you go insane. Things go south (think AFC South) real fast. How many times can we see Ryan Fitzpatrick make throw after throw into double and triple coverage, watch him scramble with no realization that if he gets hurt we’re stuck with Geno Smith, and try too hard to be a hero at the end of the game, resulting in the weekly late game pick to ice a game that the Jets may have had a chance to come back in?

Let’s get one thing straight: Fitzpatrick is the best QB option this team has. That’s right now. Based on the QBs on the roster, I wouldn’t have any qualms in saying that Bryce Petty will be the best out of the Jets’ trifecta in 3 years time. That’s because Fitzpatrick and Geno will probably both be out of the league by then.

That may not sound like a ringing endorsement of Petty, and that’s because it is not. When I saw Petty live in person at the Jets-Giants preseason game, he looked poised and as if he had some understanding of the offense. However, he is probably is not ready to be a number one quarterback. No one can be sure though.

I hate to say it, but do we think Tom Brady was ready to be a number one QB when he was thrown into the fire some 15 years ago? Absolutely not. The Jets organization has had three distinct QB-coach/GM marriages in the past 6 years: Rex and Mark Sanchez, John Idzik and Geno Smith, and now we can add Todd Bowles and Ryan Fitzpatrick to that.

Bowles on Fitzpatrick: "I’m still committed to Ryan. I just don’t think he played very well just like a lot of other people on both sides"

— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) November 22, 2015

This is your prototypical I-Am-A-Jets-Coach-And-I-Am-Unwilling-To-Budge-On-Any-Personnel-Moves-I-Make answer. This was Rex Ryan making the weekly remark (I’m paraphrasing here) of “We’re gonna go with Mark this week” or “Mark is our starter” or “I have confidence in Mark.” Granted, Bowles’ hands have been somewhat tied in this year’s version of a quarterback conundrum by Geno’s preseason incident, but he still has options.

Heck, the Texans opted for a guy off the streets in T.J. Yates – who has played for them before – instead of sticking with an inept Ryan Mallett at the backup QB position. The great thing about a season that is only 16 games is that how a team/player plays each week does hold a lot of weight. This should hold true for the Jets’ QB situation. A 4-1 start gets you just that – a 4-1 start. You’re not in the playoffs. Now at 5-5 the Jets have to reassess their goals and what works best for them over the final 6 games.

3 of the final 6 games are against AFC East opponents, who obviously know this team well. They now know Fitzpatrick well. Petty is an unknown to the Jets and the rest of the league. That could be good or bad for either side. In all likelihood, the Jets would have to finish at least 4-2 in order to make the playoffs. If you look at the schedule of some of the teams close to the Jets in the playoff picture, the Kansas City Chiefs should grab the final AFC playoff spot. The Jets would have to leap several teams at this point. We’re talking 2009 leaping.

Next: A quarterback change might be brewing

In this season we’ve seen the Jets unable to find a second option at RB, unable to realize that Antonio Cromartie isn’t capable of covering a quality WR, unable to find receivers outside of Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker who can readily catch a pass, and unable to have Chan Gailey change up the offensive game-plan on a weekly basis.

Teams have caught on to the Jets, and the Jets have caught on to themselves. As my friends would say, “It’s the same thing, but a different day.” The Jets are insane and the cure for insanity at this point may be Petty. The only thing he has going for him is that he’s not the same thing that we have seen week after week in disappointment.