The 1996 Jets finished 1-15, the worst record in franchise history. Just two years later, they were 27 minutes away from a trip to Super Bowl XXXIII before they choked away a 10-0 lead in the thin air in Denver.
As Jets fans prepare to watch the Chiefs and the Bucs play on Sunday in the 52nd consecutive Gang Green-free Big Game, it is worth a reminder it wasn’t that long ago when Tampa Bay was also a joke of a franchise.
The events that precipitated the rise over the last two seasons on the Gulf Coast were similar to what turbo-charged the Jets two decades earlier – the Bucs nailed their coach/quarterback combo. Head coach Bruce Arians, who was hired in 2019 after a pair of 5-11 campaigns, and legendary quarterback Tom Brady, a free agent pickup prior to this season, have transformed Tampa Bay in short order, just like New York did when they turned to Bill Parcells in 1997. Aging QB Vinny Testaverde was picked up a year later, and the Jets took off.
So, when ESPN posts an article claiming the Jets, or any team for that matter, are three years out from being a serious title threat, they are ignoring an NFL history that is rife with rags-to-riches tales. The NFC’s previous two Super Bowl representatives, the 49ers and the Rams, each reached their championship opportunity within two years of 4-12 campaigns.
There isn’t any curse hanging over the facility in Florham Park that has prevented the Jets from fulfilling fans’ dreams of one day watching their favorite team on the biggest stage – only a lengthy history of mismanagement. However, the franchise has correctly opted to turn to a new page under the direction of general manager Joe Douglas, who is in full control of football operations and reporting directly to owner Woody Johnson, who just returned from his stint as U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom.
As they say in the financial services industry, past performance is no guarantee of future results. That the Jets went a disastrous 2-14 this season does not make a relatively quick turnaround impossible. In fact, had they fared just slightly worse, and had the ability to choose Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the first pick in the upcoming NFL Draft instead of choosing second, you could argue that the job would have been easier.
Still, Douglas is in a position where he can pool his ample draft pick assets to attempt to pry superstar QB Deshaun Watson out of Houston. If not, considering the position’s expected swap meet around the league this offseason, there are other options, though I’d caution that running it back with incumbent QB Sam Darnold shouldn’t be anywhere near the top of the list.
BYU’s Zach Wilson and Ohio State’s Justin Fields will be available to Douglas in the draft should he choose to start from scratch, but even going that route wouldn’t necessitate a five-year timeline. No rookie QB has ever led his team to a Super Bowl, but a half-dozen have gone in Year 2 if you include Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz, who posted an 11-2 regular season record before tearing his ACL and having to watch Nick Foles finish the job.
As for head coaches, L.A.’s Sean McVay is the most recent example of those who made it to Super Sunday in his second year on the job. New Jets coach Robert Saleh isn’t McVay – for one, Saleh is a defensive specialist, not an offensive play-caller – but Douglas is betting that his CEO approach, focusing on ridding the organization of a losing culture, is just what the doctor ordered. If he can manage the games as well as he is expected to manage the locker room, the Jets will soar.
The quickest way back to relevancy would be if the Jets somehow landed Watson, and then Douglas used his estimated $80 million in salary cap space to bring in a true No. 1 wide receiver (Chicago’s Allen Robinson would be nice) and one or two offensive line reinforcements.
I know many fans believe that they will go their entire lifetimes without experiencing the joy of seeing the Jets perform on Super Bowl Sunday, and it is agony when other recently downtrodden franchises figure it out. But take heart: we’re going to get through a nightmare of a pandemic, so maybe one day the Jets will stop haunting us as well.
For a FAN’s perspective of the Nets, Devils and Jets, follow Steve on Twitter @SteveLichtenst1.
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