Here Come The Warm Jets: Week 6

We are witnessing, in effect, the end of the Chad Pennington era.

Mangini, being the stubborn guy that he is, won’t make the change soon, as it’ll look like he’s bowing to media pressure. He’ll probably wait until after the bye week, or the last month of the season.

But I think we can say with confidence that this is the last year we’ll see #10 as the regular starting QB for the Jets.

Instead of constantly lamenting yet another lost season, I thought I’d revisit three of the best Jets QB seasons of my lifetime.

1986. Ken O’Brien. Completed 62% of his passes, 3,690 yards, 25 TDs, 20 INTs. This year included one of the best QB games ever, against Miami and Dan Marino. The Jets won that game 51-45. Kenny threw four TDs to Wesley Walker, and had 449 yards. I think it was around then that solidified my decision to be a Jets fan (thanks a lot for that, Kenny!) The Jets go 10-6, win a playoff game against KC, and then lose a memorable playoff game in OT to Cleveland.

1998. Vinny Testaverde. Completed 61.5% of his passes, 3,256 yards, 29 TDs, 7 INTs. I remember that summer being at my uncle’s house in California when I heard the Jets had signed Vinny. I was dazed, wandering around the back yard, mumbling “Vinny?” to myself. Oh, how I was wrong. After years of guys like Neil O’Donnell and past-his-prime Boomer Esiason and Browning Nagle and Ray Lucas and Glen Foley, it was a dream to have a real QB throwing real passes and giving us a real chance to win every week. The Jets go 12-4, destroy Jacksonville in the playoffs, and lead 10-0 at halftime in the AFC Championship game, only to lose 23-10 to Denver.

2002. Chad Pennington. Completed 69.2% of his passes, 3,120 yards, 22 TDs, 6 INTs. Chad was inserted as the starter on week 4, after the team started 1-2 and Vinny was looking way over the hill (and now he’s still throwing TDs, five years later. I bow before my Vinny overlord.) He lost his first couple of games, but showed promise. The Jets then went on a late-season surge, including huge blowout wins over New England (30-17) and Green Bay (42-17) to win the AFC East. They played the Colts in the playoffs, and had my single favorite game ever as a Jets fan, a 41-0 shellacking of Peyton Manning’s team. It was a perfect game, in which the Jets could do no wrong. They go on to lose to the Raiders in the next round.

Oh, Chad. There was so much promise for you after that year. We thought we had our QB of the next 10 years, leading us to playoff and eventual Super Bowl glory. Yet it was not to be, Chad, as you got yourself injured over (before the 2003 season) and over (during the 2004 season) and over (at the beginning of the 2005 season) again. And now it is abundantly clear that if there are to be meaningful victories in the Jets future, sadly it will not be with you at the helm.

So let us usher in a new quarterback. Let the Epoch of Kellen Clemens begin! Let all Jets fans dunk ourselves in cleansing waters, so that we may come out refreshed and renewed, with nothing but brightness and glory ahead.

Unless, of course, history repeats itself and we are shown promise yet are ultimately disappointed and left ragged and demoralized, still wandering the desert in search of the promised land with no Moses to guide us.