The divide amongst Jets fans might not reach the levels of vitriol we’ve seen play out in this election year, but New York’s 30-27 choke job to visiting New England on Monday night did split the fan base down the middle. One side was left fuming at the result – a bungled opportunity to witness what they thought for sure would be the first Jets victory in nine attempts this season – while the other was euphoric over the team’s future prospects.
No one can dispute the outcome here: #TankforTrevor is still alive for Gang Green, who now only have 1-7 Jacksonville in their sights for the right to select Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence with the first overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft.
As a pro-tanker, I saw Monday night’s game as one that was played out perfectly, with 10 rookies gaining experience while the Jets avoided what my son Jack called “the most meaningless and detrimental win ever for a franchise.”
New York blowing a 27-17 lead in the last ten minutes, culminating in a walk-off field goal from the onetime Jets “Folk Hero,” Patriots kicker Nick Folk, was far preferable to me over a seventh blowout in nine games. Why? Well, for one, such an embarrassment in prime time might have been the last straw for owner Christopher Johnson when it came to head coach Adam Gase’s job security going into the Jets’ bye week.
Now, we can be reasonably certain that the tank will proceed under Gase’s lame command (how’d you like that first-quarter punt on a fourth-and three from New England’s 41-yard line?) against a slate that contains just two opponents (at the Chargers in Week 11 and at New England in the season finale) that currently sport a losing record.
The way I see it, after 52 seasons, what’s seven more games in this campaign of pain? From all accounts, Lawrence will be worth it, with some proclaiming him to be the best QB prospect since Andrew Luck, a once-in-a-decade talent. Lawrence has the size, arm, and mobility you need in today’s NFL.
Here's some news for the other camp: even if the Jets end up winning a few games, they still have to draft a quarterback, so why not make sure you get the best one for a change? Sam Darnold, who missed his third game this season with a sore shoulder, is not the answer to this team’s 20-plus years of quarterback incompetence. Heck, 35-year-old backup Joe Flacco threw as many touchdown passes (three) on Monday night as Darnold has tossed in six games all season.
As for those who are so sure that Lawrence wants nothing to do with such a woebegone franchise, well, sorry, but that’s how the draft works. Awful teams get the first pick. If you’re worried Lawrence will force a trade, it’s not as if Jets GM Joe Douglas is going to gift him to New England. Is Jacksonville, with their cheap owner constantly trading away his best players, really that much better an organization than the Jets? Or Washington, with an owner who makes news for all the wrong reasons?
And, for goodness sakes, Lawrence is not returning to Clemson for a senior season like how Peyton Manning upset the Jets back in 1997. Draft pick contracts are set by slot now. Miami QB Tua Tagovailoa, who did not have the option of leaving Alabama after his sophomore season, lost millions when a hip injury dropped him down the board to fifth overall in 2020. Does anyone really believe that Lawrence, who already has one college national championship under his belt, would be willing to defer and possibly risk his payday so some other lousy team gets him?
Of course, the Jets have to complete the task of tanking, or else the above will be moot. The Jaguars face even a more difficult upcoming schedule, and could conceivably run the table to finish 1-15, so one Jets win would mean that the first pick would come down to which team had the easier slate over the course of the full season.
The Jets’ January 3 rematch in New England could very well prove decisive. There were times on Monday night where you couldn’t tell if Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who infamously resigned in 2000 after spending one day at Gang Green’s helm to take the New England job, had his team messing with pro-tanking Jets fans’ heads again, with all his players’ non-contact stumbling to the ground in big spots. It was just a thought, and obviously the Jets made more serious blunders when it counted most, but If New England has nothing to play for in the finale, who knows what Belichick will do.
Maybe then, though, those that are still channeling former Jets coach Herm Edwards’ “You play to win the game!” slogan will come around to a different point of view and reunite the Jets fandom.
For a FAN’s perspective of the Nets, Devils and Jets, follow Steve Lichtenstein on Twitter: @SteveLichtenst1
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