Enjoy the 2-2 Jets, because these wins now can help build a better future, too
Jets head coach Todd Bowles walks off the field after a victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, Oct. 1, 2017. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Now that the Giants are in excellent position to secure the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft in search of Eli Manning’s successor . . . where does that leave the Jets, other than firmly in contention in the AFC East?
It leaves them as one of the best stories in the NFL after four weeks, and it does not – repeat after me: not – necessarily mean they are risking their future in the process.
First, about that early draft pick thing: Can you list quarterbacks not named Manning who were selected in the top 10 overall and went on to win a Super Bowl in the past 16 seasons?
Trick question. There aren’t any.
So going 1-15 is not a prerequisite for finding a competent young passer.
Meanwhile, there are other people being developed and/or evaluated as the team plots its path into the near future.
Today’s discussion centers on two of the most important: coach Todd Bowles and general manager Mike Maccagnan.
If the season ended today, Bowles would have stiff competition for NFL Coach of the Year, starting in his own division with the Bills’ Sean McDermott, whose team also was perceived to be tanking in 2017 and now is 3-1.
But the past couple of weeks have been a revelation, centered around a young defense that not only makes plays but has so much excess energy that before big plays it often can be seen bouncing up and down in unison, exhorting fans.
Bowles’ unit was gashed for many large gains in Buffalo and Oakland in Weeks 1 and 2. Since then it has been all but impenetrable. Sure, it only was the Dolphins and Jaguars, but you play who the NFL tells you to play. Next up: the 0-4 Browns.
As encouraging as the Xs and Os have been, there’s also the locker room vibe, where an offseason fumigation of cranky veterans seemingly has left behind a happy, harmonious group. So far. If it holds, Bowles will deserve credit for that, too.
Were there some strange strategic decisions and bad breaks in Sunday’s 23-20 overtime bungee jump of a victory over the Jags? There were. But in the end the better team - and the better-coached team - won.
“Three weeks ago, we wouldn’t have recovered from this,” Bowles said of two fourth-quarter turnovers. “Right now, they’re growing every week. They didn’t flinch. They stood up and made some plays at the end. They knew the game wasn’t over, which is a credit to those guys.”
(An aside regarding the coaching situation: Whenever the team figures out who will succeed Josh McCown at quarterback, Mr. Positivity should be invited to join the staff for 2018 and beyond.)
Speaking of the offseason roster bloodletting, Maccagnan at this rate could be the first guy named NFL Executive of the Year based solely on the players he got rid of rather than the ones he acquired.
The extent to which the veterans the Jets purged are either unsigned or unproductive on other teams has been remarkable, and telling about what went wrong in 2016.
Sure, it’s early. Very early. No one would be shocked if the Jets’ limitations catch up to them and they finish, say, 4-12 – other than the Jets themselves.
But for today: Bowles, Maccagnan, the players and emotionally conflicted Jets fans deserve this in the short term. And it just might end up helping the cause in the longer term, too.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
