Some of the threads I am reading by some of the Jets fans are begining to freak me out. We are ready to compare Mangini to Cotite, we are declaring our defense inept in the front four, our linebackers will suffer deeply in the 3-4, Vilma will fail, D'Brick is overrated because he jumped offsides, we should have mortgaged the farm for Bush, Leinart, on and on and on. Let's take a breath, resurface and get real. Presason tells a story, but not the whole story, not by a long shot. Are we going to giver this team and the coaching staff a chance, or after every poor game we will be ready to hang someone? Do we have some holes.....yes. Do we need to improve....yes. Are we going to be a playoff contender...no, not yet. Are we going to be competitive....yes. But the fact remains the Jets will make mistakes as they develop together as a unit. We are not deep at all positions, but we have some very good players. WE MUST BE PATIENT. We have no C-Martin, whose fault is that, Mangini? Did we not see that coming for the last two years? Was Herm and the brass smart enought to make adjustments, play Jordan more, renegotiate both contracts.....no, hell no, let's play Curtis till he drops and get rid of Jordan. Mangini and the Jets need to be given a chance, not a lot of whining. It's bad enough to get it from the press, but from Jet fans is really crappy. Our offense will struggle, we know that....but it will be better than last year. Our D will also be better. As for Kotite....be serious. Mangini has done more so far than Kotite did in his whole tenure. Go Jets. Show us all wrong.
Just about everybody knows this is a rebuilding year destined for 6-10 or thereabouts. The problem is that people's natural tendency is to go to extremes, so when the Jets won last weekend visions of playoffs were dancing in a lot of people's heads. It's just a rebuilding year. If everybody focusses on that then the potential for disappointment becomes a lot less and the pleasant surprises all the more pleasant. The people who think we're going 2-14 are going to be very disappointed, in a pleasant kind of way.
I didn't get to see the game, so I'll be watching this afternoon on NFL Network. 7-0 at the end of the first half (should have been 3-3, if Miller doesn't act like an idiot and Nugent hits the FG). Not great, but they aren't the 1976 Bucs. Jets could have easily been 6-10 last year (should have beaten the Fins in Miami, and N.O. at home). I think we're capable of atleast matching last year's record. Which, given all the changeover in personnel and schemes, wouldn't be a bad start for the new regime.
