FootballRegional Sports

What hope is there for Jets?

Photo: Frank Franklin II/AP

It was fun while it lasted.

The Mike White experience captured the mind of Jets fans for two weeks. It provided talking points for the local sports media. It camouflaged the ineptness of the Jets players and coaching staff.

But sooner or later, all good things had to come to an end. He is Mike White for Pete’s sake. This isn’t Joe Montana. This isn’t Tom Brady or Tony Romo reincarnated despite what the local media portrayed it to be. White would have been a starting quarterback a long time ago if he was great instead of being released from the Dallas Cowboys.  Shame on the local media for trying to make a quarterback controversy on White’s game of his life against the Cincinnati Bengals a few weeks ago.

All the good feelings on White ended  Sunday afternoon when he threw four interceptions in the Jets’ 45-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium. He finished 24-of-44 for 251 yards with a 27.7 quarterback rating. He did not throw a touchdown in this game.

Whether White gets another start or not is irrelevant. Here’s what the Jets fans should be asking themselves on a Monday: Is this franchise on the right track? Are Jets head coach Robert Saleh and Jets general manager Joe Douglas the answers in leading the Jets to prominence? When will progress come? Where is hope?

This also has to be on the mind of Jets owner Woody Johnson for the umpteenth time.

This franchise still stinks. It’s no better than it was ten years ago. It’s hard to get anyone excited about the state of the franchise. Not after another loss. Not after another losing season. Not after another non-playoff season. The Jets are 61-108 since the AFC Championship Game.

No one expected the Jets to be good when the season started. Jets fans did expect this franchise to make some progress as in being well-coached and not getting blown out under Saleh’s first season. That did not happen so far, and one has to wonder if they are going to see that this season with the way the team has played all season.

In the last four games, the Jets allowed 54, 31, 45 and 45 points. They surrendered 1,890 total yards in that stretch. This after they allowed 25, 26, 24, 27 points to their opponents, which was not any great.

This isn’t what we call progress.

Defense is supposed to be Saleh’s strength when the Jets hired him to be their head coach. He was supposed to give his team a physical identity. He talked about the Jets being all gas, no brake. He mentioned this team would smack other teams in the mouth and kick them in their tail. Instead, teams look forward to playing the Jets, and the Jets get punched like an overmatched kid being punched like a bully in school day in and day out.

Saleh is at a loss with words about how his team is getting beat the way it is. If the head coach does not have the answers, why should anyone have any faith in him moving forward?

It’s not like the first-year head coach inspires confidence in the first place. He has not yet made anyone forget Adam Gase for sure.

For anyone that says that Saleh does not have the players to win games, this goes back to Douglas. He has yet to field a team worth watching. His draft picks have yet to produce fruit. He does not have the players to create an identity. He built this team for two seasons with nothing to show for it.

Why should we trust Douglas any more than we should trust Saleh?

It doesn’t help they were both hired by Chris Johnson, who also hired Gase to be the Jets head coach. The Jets CEO seems overmatched at his job just like his general manager and his head coach.

If Woody Johnson eventually gets back to making decisions, this franchise is in trouble. He failed a long time ago. He only got Eric Mangini and Mike Tannebaum right in getting the franchise off the right track, but like most coaches and executives that come and go, they couldn’t last forever. And please don’t mention Rex Ryan because he won with Mangini’s players who wanted to prove they can win without Mangini. Once his players left, Ryan got exposed as a fraud, which is why he has become a blowhard on ESPN.

Go ahead and knock yourself out if White should get another chance to start to Miami Dolphins or if  Zack Wilson should get back to work after being on the injured reserve list with a PCL injury.

This should be the least of Jets fans’ worries when there are other problems that are worse than who will play under center on Sunday.

Related Articles