DON’T D BLAME ONLY GM & COACH

Many responsible for Jets' lousy season

WE HAVE reached the point in the Jets’ 4-10 season where the blame game becomes more important than the remaining games on the field.

The question for everyone affiliated with the Jets right now needs to be: How did this happen? Then, you can get to fixing it.

There is plenty of blame to go around. Coach Todd Bowles pointed the finger at himself after the 34-13 loss to the Dolphins on Saturday night, the latest in a string of humiliating losses this season.

“It’s all on me,” Bowles said. “I did a terrible job as far as getting these guys ready to play. I thought we were ready to play in the first half. In the second half, me being the head coach of this team and us not looking very good right now, it’s all a big reflection on me. I take full responsibility.”

There is no doubt Bowles has done a terrible job this season, but he is just one of many to blame. General manager Mike Maccagnan must take blame for the roster. The assistant coaches need to take blame for the poor job they have done. Owner Woody Johnson gets blamed for the whole enchilada.

The reaction to a season like this from fans and media is always to fire coaches and front office executives. But the Jets players’ culpability in this mess cannot be overlooked.

Players sometimes get less of the blame because they can’t be “fired.” Sure they can be cut and traded, and plenty of Jets will be this offseason, but the quicker fix is to fire the coach and hope a new coach can turn the players around.

Any examination of what went wrong with the 2016 Jets has to begin with the team’s star players. Have any of the veterans on this team performed better than expected? One? If they were subject to an annual review, would anyone get a check mark next to “Exceeds expectations?”

There are a few players who have played well — Leonard Williams, Quincy Enunwa, Robby Anderson and Brian Winters all have had good seasons. Bilal Powell has come on lately when given a chance. Overall, this roster has underachieved.

There are five main culprits when looking at the Jets who have had terrible seasons that undermined the team:

RYAN FITZPATRICK

Everything starts with the quarterback, including this list. You could expect some re- gression from his 2015 season based on his career, but to stumble this much? Fitzpatrick had a lot of pressure on him after teammates stood up for him and the entire offseason became about him. When he signed for $12 million, he bet on himself. He lost the bet with 15 interceptions against just 10 touchdowns. He is now on the bench, and will be gone next year.

The fall of Revis has been remarkable. There is a moment in nearly every game when you shake your head at what you see from him. He plays 7 yards off the line of scrimmage on every play out of fear of getting beat. The $17 million man has zero interceptions and four passes defensed. The Jets have to cut him in the offseason and eat the $6 million he is guaranteed next year.

The Jets signed Wilkerson to a five-year, $86 million deal this offseason. So far, the return has not been good. Wilkerson has just 2.5 sacks this season, none since October. Wilkerson had offseason surgery to repair a broken bone in his right leg, and the leg has bothered him all season. The Jets have to hope the injury is

DARRELLE REVIS MUHAMMAD WILKERSON

what is holding him back because he will be on the team in 2017.

SHELDON RICHARDSON

Wilkerson’s linemate has had a terrible season that got worse Saturday night when he filmed a profane video in the pregame locker room. Richardson has 1.5 sacks this year. The Jets will try to trade him this offseason, but takers might be hard to find.

BRANDON MARSHALL

After a dynamic 2015, Marshall has not put up big numbers this year. He has 57 catches for 760 yards and three touchdowns. I’m not ready to say Marshall is done. I think poor quarterback play and the injury to Eric Decker have hurt him, but he should not be absolved from blame for this season either. The Jets will have a difficult decision to make whether to bring Marshall back next year or move on.

The list could be longer, but we’ll leave it at those five. When you’re assigning blame for this Jets season, it is fine to blast the coaches and GM, but don’t forget the players’ role in this mess, too.