NO N OFFENSE, TODD, BUT ...
WITH BOWLES’ FUTURE IN DOUBT, IT’S TIME JETS WENT FOR OFFENSIVE COACH / P. 60-61
PATIENCE stops being a virtue when you begin losing faith that you have the right head coach to guide your young franchise quarterback into this brave new world of nuclear offensive explosions.
As much as the Jets have tried to adhere to a model of continuity and stability, there are no jobs for life (outside of Cincinnati) and no medals for trying.
Todd Bowles is respected as a good football man, and largely as a defensive mind, but the highly likely prospect of four consecutive years out of the playoffs resonates in deafening tones to that long-suffering fan base that is desperate for Sam Darnold to lead the charge up Joe Namath Hill.
There was no rain and mud and no A. J. Duhe at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday, but in his 14 jersey, Darnold (4 INTs) resurrected unwelcome memories of a former No. 14 in the ill-fated 1982 AFC Championship game Mud Bowl at the Orange Bowl. That makes three consecutive weeks where the young pilot has encountered far too much turbulence, and alarm bells are ringing everywhere.
“I thought I played stupid football yesterday,” Darnold said on a Monday conference call. “I just gotta be better, and I know that, coaches know that, everyone knows it.”
While it is true general manager Mike Maccagnan, whose masterful maneuvering helped land Darnold, has failed to find a predator pass rusher or a goto wide receiver, if the Giants can ma ke t wo - t i me Super Bowl champ Tom Coughlin the fall guy for former GM Jerry Reese’s failed drafts, then the Jets can make Bowles their fall guy. Coughlin’s last three years: 7-9, 6-10, 6-10. Bowles’ last three years: 5-11, 5-11, 3-6.
Darnold’s predictable growing pains come at a most inopportune time for Bowles and offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates when Jets fans salivate over what Rams coach Sean McVay has meant to Jared Goff, what Chiefs coach Andy Reid has meant to Patrick Mahomes, what Bears coach Matt Nagy has meant to Mitchell Trubisky, what Eagles coach Doug Pederson has meant to Carson Wentz, what Kyle Shanahan meant to Matt Ryan and Jimmy Garoppolo, what Bill O’Brien has meant to Houston’s Deshaun Watson. There is no excuse for growing pains from a fourth-year head coach.
“Just gotta play smarter, play better,” Darnold said. “I definitely feel like I forced some things, but at the same time I feel like there were some throws where I was second-guessing myself and I could have pulled the trigger.”
It’s a copycat league, and the Jets haven’t hired a head coach with an offensive background since Rich Kotite (1995-96), who was followed by Bill Parcells, Bill Belichick (one day), Al Groh, Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini, Rex Ryan and Bowles.
There would be no better time than now in the eyes of many Jets fans for Maccagnan to start compiling his short list of S.O.S. — Save Our Sam — candidates if and when Bowles, who owns the hottest seat in the NFL now that Hue Jackson is no longer coaching the Browns, is fired at the end of the season.
Vikings offensive coordina- tor John DeFilippo is a rising star and a name to keep an eye on. Titans offensive coordinator Matt LaFleur hasn’t worked magic in his f irst season with Marcus Mariota, but he was McVay’s right-hand man in 2017. Forget about Josh McDaniels, Bill Belichick would never allow it and who can trust McDaniels after his jilting of the Colts?
In a quarterback-driven league suddenly flooded with Indianapolis 500 race cars, Bowles has Darnold driving The Little Engine That Could. Or Can’t.
“I just gotta stay true to my progressions, stay true to the confidence that I normally have,” Darnold said, “and just go out there and sling it.”
There may not be a playoff mandate for Bowles, but there is one to develop Darnold, and nobody passed a law that says you are not permitted to win while doing it.
Because of all the mediocrities that litter the AFC, the second wild card (let’s give the Chargers the first entry) is a long way from being decided. But getting swept by the 5-4 Dolphins is a killer. Losing to Brock Osweiler is a killer.
“We wi n t o ge t h e r and we lose together,” Bowles said.
They are better at losing t o ge t h e r. Hi s locker room has not fractured, but it was boiling over with frustration after the game. So the message from Bowles behind closed doors was not difficult to figure out.
“Any type of division in this organization is only gonna hinder us,” defensive end Leonard Williams said.
Bowles is searching frantically for answers. Three straight games without a takeaway? He’s the defensive guru. Fix it. The mindless penalties? Will they ever end? And now, the apple of the franchise’s eye is in the midst of a sour regression.
No one expected miracles this season. 2019 was and is Winning Time. But right now it looks ominously as if it will be another 50 years before the Jets win that elusive second Super Bowl.
“Winning takes care of a lot of problems and a lot of issues. It’s important for us to win the next ballgame,” Bowles said.
Should the Jets lose to the Josh Allen Bills or the Nathan Peterman Bills on Sunday at MetLife Stadium, he’s doomed. “It’s huge,” Bowles said. Mostly for him, At 3-7, with two games ahead against the Patriots, he will be Dead Coach Walking. If he i s n’ t already.