Jets and Rams and Dolphins rant

[JWL]

I watched the Jets at Raiders game on 11/1/15. The Raiders can get credit for playing well but it looked to me like the Jets defense didn't care that much about the game. Just based on what I saw it did not look good. Maybe the Jets defense was trying very hard and the Raiders are just a tremendous team and I am a moron.

It does not matter who the head coach is or what the stakes are (regular season, playoff games) but the Jets always play at least one game each season in listless fashion.

I get this in baseball. Game 79 is a day game after the team lost in extra innings the prior night. I can understand the team taking the game off in that type of situation. The NBA is similar. We have purposefully seen the Spurs throw regular season games away in recent years.

I am not sure I understand it in football. There is a small number of games. How could a defense come out and play soft? It was broken tackles galore yesterday in Oakland. There was no fire from the Jets yesterday at all. The game would have been turned off late in the first quarter if I was not a Jets fan. It was awful to watch except for Raiders fans and Jets haters.

The Jets had two listless games in 1998 (vs Ravens and at Rams) on a team coached by Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick! Multiple players said the team was flat after having lost the 2010 AFC Championship Game at Pittsburgh. Flat in a playoff game? Are you kidding me?

The Patriots are coming off a Super Bowl victory and can probably afford to lose five times and still win their division. Sure, they may try for an undefeated season. Still, it seems if there is any team in the AFC East that might take a game off and half-ass it one week it would be the Patriots. The Bills, Dolphins and Jets have accomplished very little in the past half decade and two of them have not shown up at least once this season. These teams should be playing hard each week.

The Rams are another one. What was with the game vs the Redskins? Is Jeff Fisher the problem? Get up for a division game, get up for a tough opponent, but then country club it vs a bad opponent?

[Reaser]

I watched the Jets-Raiders game yesterday and didn't think it was awful to watch and I had no rooting interest - though it's football so I'm happy watching whoever.

I would think Fitzpatrick getting injured early played a part - "oh great, now Geno is in" - plus the Raiders got up on them quick. Watching it, the only time I felt like they were possibly still alive is when Fitzpatrick came back in and completed the pass to Kerley. Then two plays later Geno was back in and I thought "this is over" ...

What surprised me more was the end of the game, Bowles seemingly had no interest in playing 60 minutes or finishing out the game. The last five or so minutes it seemed like they played to help let the Raiders run out the clock and get out of there. Even though it was a two score game and we've all seen that it's possible to come back. Even then, Oakland did a terrible job of killing the game and the Jets got the ball back.

As for Fisher, yes. I believe it was Bryan, Wald and myself who had the Fisher discussion here not too long ago and that was it - not a surprise the Rams play good at home against a divisional opponent, not at all a surprise they lose on the road outside of the division the next week.

[Bryan]

As for Fisher, yes. I believe it was Bryan, Wald and myself who had the Fisher discussion here not too long ago and that was it - not a surprise the Rams play good at home against a divisional opponent, not at all a surprise they lose on the road outside of the division the next week.

In 21 years as a head coach, Jeff Fisher has produced 6 winning seasons. That level of mediocrity is astounding.

[mwald]

In 21 years as a head coach, Jeff Fisher has produced 6 winning seasons. That level of mediocrity is astounding.

Much of his longevity is the result of fortuitous timing. Fisher parlayed his role as interim coach to full time gig with the Oilers. As head coach when they moved to Tennessee, he essentially kept the ship afloat, barely, through that transition and was rewarded by his owner, who gave him a wider margin of error due to his relatively impressive performance under trying circumstances.

When that gig ran its course he landed the Rams job. It's always been my suspicion, no evidence to back it up, that Stan Kroenke told Fisher when hiring him four years ago that he was planning on moving the team to L.A. Fisher played at Southern Cal, knows the area, so that's a good fit for him. Fisher likely sold Kroenke on the idea that he was the perfect coach to navigate the team through that transition, having done so before.

With Kroenke more focused on the move and stadium politics than W-L record at this point, Fisher is almost guaranteed the Rams gig at least through the (potential but probable) move to L.A., at which point Kroenke may start caring more about the W-L record than he does now.

[Reaser]

In 21 years as a head coach, Jeff Fisher has produced 6 winning seasons. That level of mediocrity is astounding.

No kidding, I believe my comment before was something along the lines of; "He's the best 6 to 8 win 'they'll be good next year' coach."

It's always been my suspicion, no evidence to back it up, that Stan Kroenke told Fisher when hiring him four years ago that he was planning on moving the team to L.A.

This is reasonable speculation. I've thought similar.

[SixtiesFan]

As for Fisher, yes. I believe it was Bryan, Wald and myself who had the Fisher discussion here not too long ago and that was it - not a surprise the Rams play good at home against a divisional opponent, not at all a surprise they lose on the road outside of the division the next week.

In 21 years as a head coach, Jeff Fisher has produced 6 winning seasons. That level of mediocrity is astounding.

I've read Fisher "is one of the most respected men in pro football." Very funny, in my opinion.

Also ironic that Fisher made it to a Super Bowl and Chuck Knox and Marty Schottenheimer never did.

Fisher has 9 seasons with records between (counting once he was 7-8-1) 7-9 and 8-8. This year he might make it up to 9-7 for the first time.

[rhickok1109]

Yet Fisher seems to have a bit of clout within the NFL. He used to be co-chairman of the competition committee and as soon as he returned to head coaching in 2012 after missing a season, he was put on the committee again. Does he know where some bodies are buried?

[Reaser]

Yet Fisher seems to have a bit of clout within the NFL. He used to be co-chairman of the competition committee and as soon as he returned to head coaching in 2012 after missing a season, he was put on the committee again. Does he know where some bodies are buried?

I think it has to do with the fact that he's a 'company' man and pushes the agenda, tells the lies, sticks to the script, etc. When it comes to what the league wants to do. Similar to McKay - like when OT was changed and McKay was up there with his manipulated statistics and the media just bought it instead of asking any real questions.

[Reaser]

Tonight was a decent example. Fisher was on NFL Total Access and was asked, being on the comp. committee if he was confident he knew what a catch was and if any of the rulings this year surprised him and of course he said he knows exactly what a catch is and the competition committee has made it very clear and easy. Yeah, okay.

[sheajets]

As a dyed in the wool bleeding green Jets fan, that display is par the course since SB III. It's a same ol Jets moment. Happened under Parcells, Walton, Michaels...heck I'm sure it would've happened under Beli if he decided to stick around

Bottom line is we've been a below average franchise since 1969 with some brief spurts of above average play. Never great, but long stretches of mediocrity with dips into hilarious failure. I'd say 1997-2010 or so was probably the single greatest sustained stretch of non piss poor football in Jets history, and we don't even have a Super Bowl appearance to show for it (3 AFC title game losses)

The 2015 Jets are a borderline playoff team that has already stubbed their toe in two games they should've won (Eagles and Patriots) the Raiders simply steamrolled them. There will be more hiccups along the way (the Giants will embarrass them as usual). 8-8 looming.

I have faith in Bowles, but I had faith in Coslett too