IN TODD THE JETS TRUST!
Rout of Bills shows Bowles is right for Gang
No matter what happens to Todd Bowles in two months, this is undeniable: Anyone who believes that this man shouldn’t lead the Jets into the next phase of their rebuilding project is a damn fool. Forget his stoic exterior and sleep-inducing public remarks. Who cares about his boring press conferences? Never mind that he isn’t a showman or entertainer.
The guy can flat-out lead, inspire and coach.
The Jets (4-5) exhibited plenty of toughness and fight in a 34-21 primetime beatdown of the Bills Thursday to snap a three-game slide to keep them relevant. Sooner or later, the clueless contingent ready to move on from Bowles will wake up and realize what is happening here. The guy hasn’t exactly been armed with a who’s who of talent. He’s literally never made one excuse.
He kept his mouth shut and worked. Now, a team believed to have one of the league’s most barren rosters is following his lead. Work. Work every day. Work every game. Keep your mouth shut and work.
“He told us what type of year this was going to be,” right tackle Kelvin Beachum said. “He told us what we needed to do to be successful… That’s something that he’s talked about all year. That’s something that we’ve believed all year. He’s told us what we needed to do to be successful and win. I told you guys early on that guys in this locker room were going to find a way to get it done. We didn’t know how, we didn’t know when, we didn’t where, but these guys are determined, hungry and understand the task at hand. Coach Bowles has instilled that type of mindset into this team.”
The Jets exacted revenge on their division foe after a season-opening loss with a fun brand of football: Run the ball, stop the run and make life hell on the opposing quarterback. Four days after Matt Forte questioned offensive coordinator John Morton’s desire to throw it all over a rain-soaked MetLife Stadium in a loss to the Falcons, Gang Green carved up Buffalo for 194 yards on the ground. Bowles’ defense, meanwhile, took out a month’s worth of frustration by bringing constant pressure and boxing in Tyrod Taylor.
The Jets found that cold killer instinct that their head coach had been preaching for weeks. No fourth-quarter disappearing acts this time. Bowles’ team went into beast mode in the second half to put away the Bills (5-3).
Six weeks after Beast Mode was dancing on the sideline amid a beatdown in the Black Hole, the Jets were getting jiggy with it on the field two minutes into the fourth quarter of this rout. Jamal Adams, Mo Wilkerson, Leonard Williams, Marcus Maye and Kony Ealy were among those on the starting defense jumping up and down in unison.
The good news: They were having a lot of fun.
The bad news: They all need professional dance lessons.
Regardless, the Jets didn’t resemble the team that fell to Buffalo a couple months ago. Wilkerson (sack, quarterback hit, pass deflection) was active and alert. Lee (eight tackles, sack, two QB hits) was flying all over the field. Jordan Jenkins (two sacks, one forced fumble) created havoc from start to finish. Bowles and Kacy Rodgers’ unit had five of their season-high seven sacks in the first half after coming into the game with only 11. The Jets had 11 quarterback hits and three takeaways on a night when virtually everything went right for a team that needed a pick-me-up in the worst way.
“We just proved that we’re some fighters,” Jenkins said. “We can be dominant if we want to.”
Bowles’ team had coughed up fourth-quarter leads in each of the past two weeks, but they course corrected in this tipping-point game.
Everything that went wrong for the Jets defense in their first game against the Bills went right this time. Gang Green didn’t let the mobile Taylor burn them with his legs and erased electrifying running back LeSean McCoy (12 carries for 25 yards).
“We just tried to swarm everybody to the ball,” Bowles said of the plan to slow down McCoy. Mission accomplished. Morton’s offense came alive too. Less than a week after the play caller drew the ire of Forte, the Jets rushed for more yards on their first two drives (50) than they did all last week (43). Forte scored a pair of touchdowns. Bilal Powell showed off his elusiveness and toughness on a 51-yard run that epitomized his night. They all needed this.
Who knows what will happen next? Will the Jets remain relevant? Will they be in the playoff conversation over the second half of the season?
Will they shock the world? Nobody knows. What we do know is that the man in charge is the right man to be in charge. @MMehtaNYDN