No juice in Big Apple
Jets, Giants both 0-4 as frustration grows among fans
No wins, eight losses and lots of frustrated fans.
The Big Apple is pretty rotten when it comes to its professional football teams, and it’s tough to imagine things getting better any time soon.
Both the Jets and Giants are 0-4 for the first time since 1976 — the only other time they ’ve gotten off to similar dismal starts. They’ve never both opened a season 0-5, but they have a shot at that dubious distinction. The New York teams are both underdogs in Week 5: the Jets at home against Arizona and the Giants at NFC East rival Dallas.
Former NFL offensive lineman Damien Woody, who played for the Jets from 2008-10, lives in New Jersey and works for ESPN as a football analyst. He might as well have been speaking for every tri-state area fan during a rant on ESPN’S “Get Up” last Friday — and that was before the Giants lost to the Rams on Sunday.
“They are disgusting to watch on television!” an exasperated Woody said. “I am literally forced to watch disgusting football every week!”
Just four games into the NFL season, the Jets and Giants have firmly established themselves as the league’s worst teams. The Giants rank 31st in this week’s AP Pro32 poll, with the Jets dead last.
“I think it’s a joke,” said Rob Janicke, a 47-year-old Jets fan from Staten Island. “I know location doesn’t mean what it once did years ago, but having two utterly embarrassing teams in the NYC area is unacceptable. The ownership groups of both teams have been pretty clueless for a long time now. Bad drafts, poor hires and not allowing real football people to run the show. I know there’s a long way to go — assuming they play the full season — this year, but both the Jets and Giants may be in a race for the first overall pick in next year’s draft.
“That’s not what you want for two teams in the biggest market in the world.”
Many Jets fans want to see head coach Adam Gase gone, convinced he’s not the right person to lead currently injured quarterback Sam Darnold to the next step in his progression. Others point to ownership. Some to general manager Joe Douglas for not doing enough to put together a competitive roster.
Giants head coach Joe Judge seems to be getting a pass in his first season as he tries to navigate things in his first NFL job as the top guy and during a pandemic. But general manager Dave Gettleman, who took over with little in the cupboard late in 2017, has been under fire.