Week 171. Many players and coaches contributed to the Jets collapse, but none are as culpable as Brett Favre, whose two touchdowns and nine interceptions over the last five games stalled the offense, even when the running game was effective.
The name on the jersey said "Favre" but the quarterback played like Nagle, Brister and Clemens.
2. Favre's "I'm not making excuses, but my shoulder really hurts" lines (which followed his lamenting the poor weather during the Denver game) are unbecoming. This is the NFL, not a shul in Palm Beach. Tom Brady's ankle was probably killing him in last year's Super Bowl, but he never used it as a reason for his mediocre performance.
3. On defense, Bob Sutton's playcalling was terrible for much of his three seasons as defensive coordinator, a job he simply is not qualified for. After good starts, Kris Jenkins and Calvin Pace faded badly down the stretch, while Kerry Rhodes took a huge step back after receiving a mega-bucks contract.
4. Eric Mangini is superior to some of the awful head coaches who have led the Jets. He works hard in studying and preparing.
That said, Mangini is neither among the elite football minds like Bill Belichick, nor a man who intimidates his players like Bill Parcells.
Whether to keep Mangini is the offseason's first key decision. The Jets should not simply fire Mangini out of frustration for how the 2008 season ended. If under Mangini they can bring in Romeo Crennel to replace Sutton as defensive coordinator, they should consider doing so.
Regardless of whether they keep or fire Mangini, right now, among division teams, New England and Miami look to have much brighter futures than the Jets.
5. Two coaches who Mangini is better than are Dick Jauron and Herm Edwards. Jauron today did one of the worst ever imitations of an NFL head coach. As for Herm, where are all the "experts" who bashed the Jets for letting go of that master motivator?
6. As the Jets' 2008 season concludes, I hope my readers know that I did my best to blog interesting post-game thoughts. I didn't always succeed. My neck has been hurting, I have a little carpal tunnel syndrome, my sinuses have been acting up again, and every time it gets humid my foot starts killing me. I have no excuses, but there are definitely posts I'd like to have back.
posted on 12/28/2008
