Jets Crash—Legend on Board

For more than two months I have been trying to wrap my fingers around why as a Jets fan I hated the acquisition of Brett Favre as much as I did. Friends, readers, family, and even the gelgamecs (for all you South Park fans) couldn’t believe that I wouldn’t want the Jets to put the best team possible on the field.

Those of you familiar with my work know that I think watching Favre play is incredibly entertaining. But you also know that I think he is a wee bit overrated.

Favre is a gridiron legend because of his guts and grit, and I will forever respect that. But to me, Favre’s greatness is limited to his incredible arm, his gutsy play, and his incredible leadership.

Unfortunately there are more pieces to the puzzle. Most of Favre’s records can be credited to how long he has been in the league, and the absolutely staggering number of passes he has thrown over his career.

    

Brett Favre, without a shadow of a doubt, is a winner. And he gives the Jets a much better shot to win on a weekly basis than Chad Pennington. But on Sunday, I watched Brett Favre play another bad game.  I watched the Jets' coaching staff abandon what was working on offense, and forget how to stop the run on defense. And finally, after week seven of the NFL season, I am able to put into words why I am so adamantly against Brett Favre being a Jet.

For the first time in a long time, Jets fans and Jets management are going into every game thinking that they can win convincingly. And it has effectively set this team back at least three years.

Now most people who read what I write already know that I’m insane, and probably are wondering how I think that by being better the Jets are actually getting worse. Well allow me to elaborate on my thesis and explain from a fan's perspective that the Jets are crashing.

If the Jets did not acquire Brett Favre in the offseason, their 2008 campaign would have panned out in the following manner:

•The Jets would have finished off no better than 6-10.

•The Jets would have seen a clear picture on what offensive and defensive pieces were missing.

•The Jets would have made drastic coaching adjustments by season's end, most likely including the firing of Eric Mangini and possibly defensive coordinator Bob Sutton.

•I would have been totally fine with all of this.

You see, boys and girls, the Jets are a sub-par football team. You couldn’t convince me in a million years that the Jets are a championship caliber team right now. There are still a number of personnel changes both on the field and on the sidelines that need to be made. Being in a stacked AFC does not help their case at all.

This season could have been a rebuilding season, and as a fan I would not have had an issue with that, especially since the Jets’ neighbors went through some rebuilding in the past few seasons and then won a Super Bowl.

But with Favre, the offense of this team (which was the much bigger weakness) becomes significantly more unpredictable. So now, this is how the Jets’ 2008 campaign will pan out:

•The Jets will go no better than 10-6 and maybe make the playoffs, where they will not make much noise.

•The Jets will have no idea as to whether or not Kellen Clemens is their franchise QB.

•The Jets, after achieving moderate success, will not make any adjustments.

•I am not fine with any of this.

Brett Favre brings the experience to the table. But the Jets don’t have the talent around him to bring home a ring. So I would almost consider this a rain delay. For the duration of Favre’s stay, the Jets will have a few winning seasons, but then it’s a step back again.

Brett Favre is delaying the inevitable.