This was actually the first game this season I didn't watch live. I had been traveling earlier in the day, and was tired, so I didn't want to sit at a bar to watch the game, and Dallas-Pittsburgh was the game on TV. So I went home and watched that, while I "watched" the Jets-Niners game on the computer, using the Yahoo! Stat Tracker.
Even without the pictures, it wasn't pretty.
Tons of penalties. An inability to convert on third down. An inability to stop the Niner passing offense.
And thus another loss. If they miss the playoffs, this is the one you point to as the reason why (well, this or the OT loss to Oakland.)
The whole thing is maddening. The team plays two incredibly good games in a row, and then plays two incredibly bad games in a row. Why such inconsistency? It doesn't make any sense.
It also leaves us in an odd spot. Could the Jets win the next 3, finish 11-5, and make the playoffs? Sure they could. The next three are Buffalo, at Seattle, and Miami. Two home games, and none of those three teams are by any means unbeatable.
Could the Jets lose the next three, finish 8-8, miss the playoffs and end up with a crap draft pick? Sure they could. The team we saw in the last two weeks couldn't beat anyone, including the Lions and Bengals.
So which team will we see? The one that looked like a Super Bowl contender against New England and Tennessee? Or the one that looked like they were coached by Rich Kotite, completely inept against the Broncos and Niners?
I have no idea. At this point, I can talk myself into either scenario. The team gets the two-week wakeup call, rallies around the veterans, and finishes strong. No, they continue the tailspin and flicker out like a burnt down candle, just like Favre is doing. No, Favre conjures up one more magical run. No, Mangini implodes and they get beat by 21 in all three remaining games. No, the defense figures out how to defend the pass and stop mediocre QBs from picking them apart. No, JP Losman and Seneca Wallace end up looking like Jim Kelly and Dan Fouts.
Hold on, I'm sorry. My brain just punched itself in the brain.
Next up is the Bills, who looked absolutely awful against Miami, as they have for the entire second half of the season.
At home.
A game the Jets should win. That they have to win.
Which, if history tells us anything, means they absolutely will not win.
They could.
But they won't.
Unless they do.
I need a drink.
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Mangini is coaching for his job at this point so let's see what he does (I'm not expecting much). It's amazing how the story is the same every season for the Jets. As a fan you start the season saying you're not going to buy into the hype then time goes by and all of sudden you start thinking about the superbowl. Next think you know the Jets kick you in the nuts and leave you with a pained look on your face. Einstein said it best when he defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results...this team has truly made me insane over the years....Here's an alarming stat for you. Just about every qb the Jets have faced this year have put up their best statistical performance of the year against the Jets secondary. A list that includes the likes of: Jamarcus Russell, Tyler Thigpen, Trent Edwards, Matt Cassell, Shaun Hill and Ryan Fitzpatrick (Warner and Cutler had great games too but it wasn't their best performance of the season)...the secondary is a joke...has anyone seen Calvin Pace the past couple of weeks?
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