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| Same Old Jets should dump Favre, Mangini |
No matter the coach, no matter the quarterback, no matter the owner, no matter the December, it always comes to this for the Jets.
The only thing that changes are the names. The results are always the same. Always gut-wrenchingly the same.
Now it's time for a new coach and time for a new quarterback.
Same as it's always been. Same ... Old ... Jets. Again.
A home loss to the quarterback who was thrown in the garbage less than five months earlier. You knew it would come to this. You knew it would be Chad Pennington to drive home the dagger and, for good measure, give it a twist.
Dolphins 24, Jets 17.
No playoffs - again - for a franchise whose post- Super Bowl III curse is now 40 years old and shows no sign of relenting.
No Brett Favre miracle on the final day of the season to somehow pull the Jets out of the muck of the previous month.
Even if Favre had summoned one last magnificent performance, it would have gone for naught. By virtue of wins by the Patriots and Ravens, the Jets wouldn't have made the playoffs if Favre had thrown 10 touchdown passes.
Instead, he provided more proof that he is finished as an NFL quarterback. With one touchdown pass, three interceptions, a 45.1 rating and a damaged throwing shoulder, Favre had only two TDs and nine INTs in his last five games. After getting to 8-3 with impressive road wins over New England and Tennessee, Favre lost four of them, and was fortunate that he didn't lose all five.
After the collapse was completed yesterday, he explained exactly where his arm hurt: in the back of his shoulder, down his biceps and near his neck. Other than that, he's just fine.
He's done, people. Finished. Had the Jets had any foresight, they'd have concluded the same thing before trading for him in August instead of wishing upon a star and pulling the trigger on a deal that left Pennington free as a bird and bound for Miami.
This one's on everyone: owner Woody Johnson, general manager Mike Tannenbaum and coach Eric Mangini.
Fellas, you blew it.
And it isn't revisionist history to say I told you so. While the rest of the New York media and most of the fan base were fawning over the prospects of acquiring the aging Favre, I said at the time that it wouldn't work, that Pennington still was the best option.
Sure, I'll admit to wondering about that notion at 8-3, but the way Favre has fallen off a cliff the last five weeks, it's obvious the Jets lost their gamble. In hideous fashion.
That Pennington orchestrated the final indignity at the stadium where he was never appreciated enough by the fans and his employers only added to the disgrace.
Favre said he'll take the next few weeks to decide whether he wants to come back next season. But what's to decide? He is 39 years old, has a bum shoulder and ended just like the aging quarterbacks before him.
It is over. And if the Jets think for a minute that Favre is worth bringing back next season, they're in greater denial than anyone could have imagined.
He has enjoyed a mostly terrific 18-year career, accompanied by the boyish enthusiasm we all love to see from professional athletes. But for three of the last four seasons, he has been a descending player, and this year, he bottomed out. Given Favre's 22 touchdown passes, his NFL-worst 22 interceptions and his aching shoulder that could very well require surgery, it is time for the Jets to move on.
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Posted by Landseer on 2008-12-29 07:39:49 | Rating: | Views: 33
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