FANTASY FURNACE

Is it time for the Jets to make a change?

Three years ago, the Jets were a team of ‘promise’, and expectations were the highest it had been in years. They began the season with a highly touted coach, Rex Ryan, son of  legendary coach Buddy Ryan, and college stud QB Mark Sanchez, first round-5th pick in the 2009 draft out of USC. They also had two talented running backs in veteran Thomas Jones and speedster Leon Washington. Plus they had already been accumulating enough first round linemen to start a baseball team. All the ingredients were in place to help the franchise that hadn’t won a super bowl in the preceding 40 years.

The combo of Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan were all smiles when the 2009 season began. Photo: Getty Images

So what has happened over these past three years? Mark Sanchez has not turned out to be the phenom that the Jets had hoped for. Who’s to blame- the coach or the quarterback? Probably an equal amount of both. Safe to say that Sanchez in 2011 has achieved ‘average’ status. With one more regular season game left, among all NFL quarterbacks, he is tied for 15th in passing yards, he’s 8th in TD’s, 7th in INT’s, and is 1st in most fumbles lost with 8. Pretty unspectacular for a fifth overall pick…

The last two games, vs the Eagles and the Giants, exposes Sanchez and Ryan for being totally ineffective. These were games that the Jets HAD to win. Especially last week vs the Giants. Sanchez threw 85 times in these last 2 games completing 45 for a total of 408 yards, 4 INT’s and 3 TD’s. In the Giants game, Ryan, along with coach Schottinheimer had him throw 59 times! Why? The N.E. Patriots have had the worst pass defense in the league all year but Sanchez threw just 26 times in week 5 and 39 times in week 9. He almost threw as many passes in those 2 games as he did in one vs the Giants?!? It could have been a good game plan by Brian Schottenheimer if only Ryan had an elite quarterback under center. Sanchez’ QB rating in that game was 54.2, his lowest of the year…

Mark Sanchez had his worse day of the year vs the N.Y. Giants last week. Photo: Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images

When the Jets lead 7-0 in the first quarter of the game, they should have gone for the Giants’ jugular. Instead, the team (and more specifically, the COACH) with the biggest mouth in all of football, ended up scoring just 7 more points in the remaining 3 quarters while giving up 29 to the Giants. We have a problem with a coach that cannot get a team up for their most important game of the year. Ryan’s response to this earlier today was,  “I deserve the criticism.”

Sanchez’ inability to execute as well as his lack of growth over the past three seasons, makes us think that it’s probably time for this franchise to start looking elsewhere for another quarterback. And they should think about doing it now while Sanchez has SOME value instead of later when he might have none…

Jets fans, at 8-7, are looking forward to having a better season next year. Photo: Tyson Trish

As for Rex Ryan, three years ago, his team finished the regular season with a 9-7 record. Three years later the BEST he can finish is 9-7 with 8-8 being a possibility. Can the Jets still make the playoffs? Yes, but lots of other teams have to help them out. So what has he accomplished since he became coach? He’s taken the Jets to the playoffs but why are they regressing in his third year at the helm? Has he been unable to coach effectively and motivate his players enough because his foot is always in his mouth? Coaches get all the credit in the world when their team wins games and is successful so why not hold him accountable when his team chokes and can’t get to that next level? He’ll get a pass if the Jets beat Miami this week and there are losses by Cincinnati, Tennessee, and either Denver or Oakland. Should the Dolphins beat the Jets this week, it might be time for Woody Johnson to re-evaluate his big bag of wind on the sidelines…

Is it finally time to replace Rex Ryan? Photo: turnonthejets.com