SAM’S GANG NOT GETTING IT DONE
Jets haven’t given Darnold the weaponry to win
He is being dissected in every imaginable way, every throw, every pass, every decision to the nth degree. He is measured annd humble inside the crucible of pllaying quarterback in the NFL. HHe wows and disappoints.
But know this: Sam Darnold can be a true difference maker in this cut-throat line of work. He just needs more help. The Jets have failed their 23year-old signal caller so far, shopping on the clearance rack and hoping for miracles. It’s a poor way to foster growth during this critical stage of Darnold’s development.
While teams like the Bills, Cardinals, Ravens and Browns ( yes, the Browns) have prioritized supplying playmakers for their young quarterbacks, the Jets are plodding along, bringing in subpar pieces and operating with financial restrictions, while publicly claiming to aid the most important player for this wayward franchise.
It’s bordering on football malpractice, asking a developing quarterback to change in a phone booth to mask roster deficiencies that could have easily been avoided in the past year. Empty promises about taking care of Darnold are just that: white noise.
The Jets repeatedly passed on opportunities in the past year to supply Darnold with high-quality protection and playmakers. Gang Green’s brain trust should thank the football Gods that Mekhi Becton somehow fell to them in the draft. Otherwise, the picture might be messier.
Darnold is the ultimate company man, who will support every teammate, coach and executive regardless of reality. He’s a genuinely good person, who wants to see the good in everyone. So, his response in the run-up to Sunday’s game against the 49ers about the prevailing sentiment that he doesn’t have enough weapons was predictable.
“That’s not true at all,” said Darnold, who’s 11-16 as a starter. “We got really good playmakers.”
He obviously doesn’t. Look at who’ll be in the huddle this week with Jamison Crowder, Le’Veon Bell and Denzel Mims each shelved with hamstring injuries.
Darnold’s supporting cast this week: Breshad Perriman, Chris Hogan, Braxton Berrios, Frank Gore, Chris Herndon and Ryan
Griffin.
The Jets are asking Darnold to be a comic book hero rather than actually providing real assistance. They let a wide receiver with a growing rapport with Darnold leave in free agency over a few million bucks. Robby Anderson had six catches for 115 yards and a touchdown in his first game with his new team. The Jets settled on the cheaper option that had three catches for 17 yards last week.
The Jets went on the cheap to re-configure their offensive line, too. How did the general manager’s offseason pet project do in Week 1?
Consider the facts: Darnold was pressured on a league-high 42.1% of his drop-backs last season. He was pressured a league-high 44.7% among QBs who played on Sunday against the Bills behind the new offensive line.
The Jets CEO called Darnold a “sterling” quarterback this week. The head coach admitted that he needs to find a better way to get his pupil in a better flow early after the offensive disappointment in the season opener.
It’s more of the same talk that we’ve heard for a year and a half. We have to do this. We’re going to do that. We have a plan.
“If you’re not trying to win a Super Bowl every year,” the general manager said, “Yo u shouldn’t be in this business.”
Even those punch-drunk on green-and-white Kool-Aid would concede that their team didn’t make moves that show in any way that they were trying to win a Super Bowl this year.
Darnold, who has a career 59.9% completion rate and 80.8 passer rating, will never play the victim or ask for sympathy. He takes accountability every time even when it’s not actually his fault. He has special physical tools with the proper mindset. He’s growing as a leader. He’s fully aware that he needs to get better.
But Darnold shouldn’t have to bear the burden of this mess. It’s unfair. It’s wrong.
It’s backwards.
You can’t magically expect a young quarterback to erase your mistakes. The Jets waited the better part of a half century for a franchise signal caller.
They finally have one. Now, decision makers are unwittingly sabotaging it all with a
litany of poor choices.
“I’m a big fan of Sam’s,” said 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan, who has proven to be a brilliant offensive mind. “He’s a very good player. He’s going to have a very good career in this league. He makes a lot of plays. If you’re not on your stuff, if you let him get comfortable back there, he’ll pick you apart as good as any quarterback. He can throw it very well and he sees the field extremely well. We have to make sure not to let him get comfortable because when he does, he’ll show everyone why he’s that good.”
Imagine Darnold working with Shanahan or another innovator who’s actually coaching football to where it’s going.
Imagine him growing with quality players around him.
Imagine him being a part of an organization that understands that the NFL requires smart, fast actions.
Imagine him working with people who take accountability rather than repeatedly make excuses.
Sam Darnold deserves better than this. It’s easy to believe in the kid. The same can’t be said about the people around him.
Saquon Barkley and the Giants both could be defined in 2020 by how they respond in Chicago on Sunday. If Barkley fails to quiet AllPro clicker critic Tiki Barber with a dazzling all-around performance, the noise about Barkley’s flaws will grow louder and the Giants (0-1) will struggle to get their first win against the Bears (1-0).
If the Giants return home from Soldier Field with nothing more than a souvenir deep dish pizza, their schedule presents no obvious early opportunity for their first win.
Next up will be the NFC champion San Francisco 49ers at home and the L.A. Rams and Dallas Cowboys on the road, all boasting defensive fronts and offensive firepower that will give Joe Judge’s Giants all they can handle.
The expectations for Judge’s first Giants team are not tied to any specific record. Ownership simply wants to see a team that’s consistently competitive and improving, knowing if that happens, some wins will come.
Judge’s Giants indeed were energetic, aggressive and competitive in their Week 1
26-16 home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
There was plenty to like.
But their talent gap compared to opponents is often large enough that their margin for error is miniscule.
Add enormous public pressure put on their most talented player, and it could be a recipe for Barkley and the Giants breaking out and silencing the doubters.
“Bring it on,” left guard Will Hernandez said of anyone eager to challenge Barkley and the Giants’ offensive line.
Conversely, the Bears’ pass rush led by Khalil Mack, and their offense led by top receiver Allen Robinson, beat Pat Shurmur’s Giants 19-14 in this same building last season.
Barkley dropped a wide open early pass downfield on a great play call by Shurmur, and Jones had just 59 passing yards in the first half and 150 for the game.
As Barkley caught heat in the spotlight this week, however, his offensive linemen stepped up and got his back.
Hernandez said Friday that Barkley is “mentally tough,” “this is not the first time he’s gotten heat,” and that he’d use it as constructive motivation.
Center Nick Gates, speaking to the Daily News on Friday, said the linemen didn’t like seeing Barkley being blamed and criticized when the result wasn’t the back’s fault.
“It sucks,” Gates said. “We’re not running the ball, and him having six yards, that’s on us. What was it, 11 of his 15 carries he was hit at or behind the line of scrimmage? That’s not on him.
He’d make one guy miss but there was another one there. It’s not on Saquon. That’s mostly the O-line.”
Barber had blown up Barkley on Tuesday’s “Tiki and Tierney” on the CBS Sports Radio and TV Networks saying Barkley “might not be an every down back” because “he cannot pass protect.”
Barber also said Barkley “doesn’t want to hit anybody” and added: “He’s a big back who wants to play small.”
Barkley was predictably salty on Thursday answering to the criticism, calling Barber a “legend” that he respects but later adding: “It’s easy to be an All-Pro clicker and to be able to watch stuff on film and say ‘ oh, he should have done this, he should have done that,’ or ‘he can improve on that.’ That’s the easy way.”
It might be good for the Giants that Barkley has a fire lit under him, though, and it might be good for Barkley in the long run that he’s getting tough love now both internally and externally. Judge, in fact, prepared Barkley for this outside criticism in a way by coaching him hard himself.
Judge, you’ll recall, chewed out Barkley in an early training camp practice, demonstrating that he’ll coach his stars the same way he’ll coach his practice squad players: firmly, with an emphasis on teaching to make them better.
Barkley isn’t used to being questioned or criticized, especially so harshly in the public eye. But he knows he needs to improve several areas of his game, so in the long run it will be constructive if he embraces it.
It’s noteworthy, though, that Barkley was sensitive to even the topic of his pass protection on Thursday, as evidenced by how he closed his second answer on the topic.
“I just have to keep working at it, keep getting better and that’s going to be my same answer for the rest of the pass pro questions. Thank you, guys,” Barkley said, as if he were heading off further inquiry.
Gates, a converted tackle who played his first-ever game at center in Week 1, told the News that he “felt good” playing his new position against the Steelers. But the truth is Gates often looked uncomfortable, and he needs to play dramatically better on Sunday.
That goes for the entire offensive line, though. As Gates said, what Sunday boils down to is: “We’ve got to do better blocking for Saquon.”
“As Coach Judge told us, the big jump from Week 1 to Week 2 is where good teams show up,” linebacker Blake Martinez said.
It’s time to make a statement. It’s time for Barkley and Judge’s Giants to shut up the critics and bring their first win home.