New York Jets

Division: AFC East

Record: 5-11 Division Record: 2-4 Finish in division: 4th

Statistics

Draft Picks

Free Agents

Other free agents include Mike Catapano, Wesley Johnson, and Marcus Williams

General

2015: A Season to Remember

2015 was the first season as head coach of the Jets Todd Bowles. Bowles is most famous for his work with the defenses in Miami and Arizona, for his ability to scowl for 3 hours straight on the sideline, and for his patchy pre-pubescent mid-season beard.

Bowles first season followed in line with the Ryan Fitzpatrick cycle. The Jets signed the veteran QB to backup Geno Smith who was, in what would become the highest voted post in /r/nfl history at the time, punched in the face by teammate IK Enemkpali. Smith broke his jaw, Fitzpatrick took over the starting job and the Jets never looked back. The Jets ended up coming face to gut with their past in week 17 and lost a "win and you're in" game against the Buffalo Bills and former head coach Rex Ryan. The season ended at 10-6 and Jets fans everywhere headed into offseason wondering if this was just scratching the surface of the Bowles regime could accomplish.

It was not

Fitzpatrick and the Zero Hour

Heading into the season, the big question surrounding the Jets was the status of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. The veteran interception-slinger was coming off one of the best statistical seasons in Jets history, but in a much more literal sense, he spent 17 weeks eye-fucking Brandon Marshall. Every day throughout the entire offseason, one side said the Jets weren't going to get better at QB so they should break and give in to Fitz's demands, the other side said that Fitz had no leverage because the Jets were the only team willing to offer him a contract, and the other other side said, "What the fucking fuck, how is this guy duping another team out of millions of dollars, I feel like I'm taking crazy pills."

Finally, in late July the news broke that the Jets had signed a one-year 12-million dollar contract to bring back Ryan Fitzpatrick who is pictured here on the day he signed his contract. Jets fans were torn apart as some were optimistic that the offense would grow with consistency for a second year and many more were afraid that the past would repeat itself.

Week 1, Bengals @ Jets

In an odd turn of events, the NFL decided to replay a Jets game we've all seen a thousand times in week 1. The Jets outplayed their opponent for a majority of the game, but somehow never managed to actually pull away on the scoreboard.

Some themes that would repeat themselves throughout the entire season were evident in week 1: Matt Forte burst onto the scene in his gang green debut with 150 all purpose yards, Quincy "The Savior" "Block-daddy" "Basically a tight-end" "Sexual Healing" Enunwa, and the Jets secondary not being less effective against the pass than my immune system is against the ulcers in my colon. Whoa, rein it in Beard, too personal. Excuse me. ANYWAY, Ryan Fitzpatrick had a couple touchdown passes in the season opener but the Bengals defense bottled him up and he only threw for 189 yards.

A Mike Nugent field goal sealed it in the last seconds of the fourth quarter and the Jets who finished their 2015 season at 10-6 were 0-1 and staring down the barrel of a schedule that wasn't going to show them any mercy.

Week 2, Jets @ Bills

As common place as a game where the Jets seemingly outplay their opponent and lose is, it's even more common for the Jets to pick a random game to remind of just how GOOD they could be if they weren't, to borrow from Clark Griswold, a bunch of "cheap, lying, no-good, rotten, four-flushing, low-life, snake-licking, dirt-eating, inbred, overstuffed, ignorant, blood-sucking, dog-kissing, brainless, dickless, hopeless, heartless, fat-ass, bug-eyed, stiff-legged, spotty-lipped, worm-headed sacks of monkey shit."

Buffalo was it.

The Jets visited their least-hated divisional rivals in a game where the offense showed the fuck up. The big 3 of Decker, Marshall, and Enunwa combined for over 300 yards and Matt Forte had 3 touchdowns. The Bills made a late game push, but on national tv, and in horrendously ugly uniforms, the Jets were able to decisively put down Buffalo.

Butttttttt, that's not the whole story. Because once again, even in a rare victory, the pass defense allowed themselves to be absolutely TORCHED by speedy receivers. This bullshit happened and This bullshit happened.

FAIR WARNING

If Lemony Snicket were here, this is the part of the review where he would beg you to stop reading and go on with your life. The Jets were 1-1 coming off a decisive victory on TNF and the whole offensive was gelling. Many Jets fan wanted to believe that this game was a sign of things to come, but alas nothing good can come from continuing to read, I promise you...

I'm giving you a fair warning...

Alright, fine, you masochistic buttholes and Patriots fans

We're Going Streaking

From Week 3-6 the Jets played four teams that made the playoffs in 2015 and it went about as poorly as you could possible expect.

In week 3, the Jets played the Chiefs and Ryan Fitzpatrick, coming off a career game in Buffalo, took the opportunity to remind everyone what he was all about. AND THREW 6 GOD DAMN PICKS. That's right people, he threw 6 fucking interceptions. This guy has got to have some fucking Jon Snow level plot armor to go out there possession after possession and give the ball away like it was a cheerleaders virginity on prom night AND NOT GET TAKEN OUT OF THE GAME. What the hell, Bowles. Did Geno piss in your cereal? Is IK your nephew or some shit? Put him in the fucking game, what's the worst that could happen, AN INTERCEPTION?! Gah. Rein it in, Beard, I'm serious. These people aren't here for your emotional tirade against the Charmin Ultra Soft decision making skills of your coaching staff, they came for the facts. Fine. Fine. The good news from this game is that Fitzpatrick gave the Chiefs so many short fields that they didn't need their receivers to burn any cornerbacks for long touchdowns. Woo.

In Week 4, the Jets welcomed the Seahawks into Metlife and decided to do the courteous thing and provide Russell Wilson with a little light passing exhibition so he could get back into season form. The QB who struggled early in the season lit the Jets up for 300 yards and 3 touchdowns including 113 yards to Jimmy Graham. The Jets scored a touchdown in garbage time to make the game look a little closer than it was, but the reality of a 1-3 record and only 13 points when it counted over the course of two weeks was starting to wear on fans.

SONG BREAK

The Jets secondary sucked like a vaccuum on the floor, if your qb sucks then we'll give you 3 or 4, touchdowns I mean and let you run up the score. They got some cornerbacks but they don't know what they're for. Letting all receivers by like a revolving door.

Every team was successful taking to the sky man, Callin go routes and watchin bitches fly man, people takin turns burnin revis island, hope the coaches gonna tell revis, bye, man

AND WE'RE BACK TO STREAKING

In week 5, the fans tuned in to a game in Pittsburgh but the team never showed up. Brandon Marshall put in a good effort with 114 yards and a touchdown on 8 catches, but don't let that distract you from the fact that Ben Roethisberger was 34/47 with 380 yards and 4 touchdowns. Sammie "Fucking who?" Coates continued the narrative of the Jets defensive backfield getting burned harder than a pokemon on the opposite end of a tactical applied will o wisp. Cotes had 6 catches for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns, including this piece of shit.

By week 6, it was clear that the Jets's (that's for /u/iltat_work) purpose this season was to help powerhouse teams gain some moment by literally being a punching bag for them to workout on. In week 6, the Jets faced the Arizona Cardinals who after an incredible 13-3 2015 season had started 3-3. At no point in this rambling, incoherent effort did the Jets do anything that even remotely resembled football. They only scored 3 points and may god have mercy on their souls. That's right folks, during the losing the streak, the Jets had two separate games where they only scored three freakin points. In weeks 5 and 6 COMBINED, Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for less than 300 and I said more than 300 swear words about him.

The game against the Cardinals was extremely important to the poopy-stained narrative of the 2016 Jets for two reasons. First, Ryan Fitzpatrick was benched for Geno Smith in the first quarter who went 4/6 with an interception. Second, for the first time, the Jets vaunted run defense showed a lack of enthusiasm and was exposed by David Johnson to the tune of 111 yards and 3 touchdowns. The Cardinals actually ended the day with 3 people who would've qualified as the Jets leading rusher.

The Battle for Draft Position

Sitting at 1-5, the expectations among Jets fan noticeably shifted from wondering when they were going to rattle off a bunch of wins like they had in 2015, to wondering if they had a shot to steal the number 1 pick from the Browns. Of course, in Jets traditional, that's when the assholes decided to start winning.

Week 7 featured a showdown between the Jets and the Ravens in Metlife. The Jets were on a four game losing streak and the Ravens were on a three game losing streak, and facing the possibility of the first four game losing streak in the Harbaugh era. Bowles announced Geno Smith as the started prior to the game and he led an impressive drive complete with a 69-yard catch and run touchdown by Quincy Enunwa. Of course, it was then that the football Gods remembered that the Jets were playing, and Smith immediately went down with a season, and potentially jets career, ending injury.

The Jets played an unbelievably sloppy game that included 3 turnovers, but the Ravens were determined to make sure they left New York with a loss. Despite Mike Wallace taking the top off the Jets defense like every receiver that's faster than Peyton Manning managed to do last season, Flacco's two ill-timed interceptions sealed the Jets 24-16 victory and put then 2 games ahead of the Browns, heading into the Jets matchup against the winless Cleveland team.

About four weeks into the season, once people started talking about the possibility of the Browns making a run at 0-16 glory, I loudly and confidently predicted that the Jets would be the first team to fuck up badly enough to lose to them.

The game started in pretty one-sided fashion. The Browns jumped out to a 20-7 lead in the first half and the Jets offense was getting nowhere. The story of the Browns season was failures to make half-time adjustments and spectacular collapses, and the Jets were lucky to help write some of that story. From the beginning of the second half to 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter, the Jets scored 24 unanswered points and managed to hold the lead until the end, barely eeking out a 31-28 victory, and virtually removing all hope at the top pick in the draft.

And thus they said that once thine hope of the most luxurious draft pick was dashed, streaking would resume

The first game against the Dolphins came after the victory over the Browns and a lot of Jets fans felt that after two consecutive wins, perhaps a game against the Dolphins that started the season looking like the worst team in football might be the makings of a big push.

Arrested Development.gif (I swear to God, I know I used this joke already, but Ron Howard could narrate the fucking season)

This was one of the most competitive back-and-forth games of the season, mostly because both teams were actively trying to lose, but still. Ryan Tannehill only managed to throw for 149 yards against the useless bag of dog snot the Jets call a secondary, but Jay Ajayi picked up the slack and gashed them for 111 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw yet another game away with late interceptions, so once it was out of hand, in came fourth round project quarterback and wholesome looking white dude, Bryce Petty. Petty came in during garbage time and went 2/2 completing two ridiculously simple screen passes. Luckily, every Jets fan knew that the coaching staff used him conservatively and not to draw any conclusions from the limited snaps.

Arrested Development.gif OKAY, I'm sorry. I'm not gonna make that joke anymore. I'm not. I swear.

Arrested Development.gif :( shut up Ron Howard

Anyway, the Jets left Miami with a devastating loss and a lot of lofty and unfounded expectations for a quarterback that no one expected to see the field at least until 2017. Their next opponent was a home game against a Rams team that was having a terrible season marred by a quarterback controversy of their own. Do not watch this game. Don't let someone in a hoody on the street tell you that everyone's doing it and try to peer pressure you into watching this game. It's not worth it. It will suck the joy and love of football right out of your life. Holy shit. I've seen the Patriots get more offense out of a single play than these two stick wielding gangs of morons managed in the entire game. It was like watching a pair of discarded tennis shoes win a fist fight against a lemon wedge inside a bounce house.

I WANTED SOME BOLD HERE TO BREAK UP THE TEXT

Go see LEGO Batman

Re-convene the Streakery

Every season there is a game, and I won't call it amazing, because what's amazing? But sometimes there's a game and well... it's the game for its time and place in the season. And this Patriots game was certainly that. Big Lebowski, get it? Anyway, my point is that every season there's a game against the Patriots that reminds them why they fucking loathe the Jets. This game abided. Aided by Quincy Enunwa's 109-yard performance, the Jets were able to hold onto the lead late into the fourth quarter, but a Malcolm Mitchell (who? Oh that guy from the Super Bowl, okay that makes sense.) 2-touchdown performance, including one with 2 minutes left in the fourth quarter, sealed the victory. It should be worth noting that it's super lame that the Jets didn't get to play the Patriots during Brady's suspension. Come on league, haven't we suffered enough at the hands of that beautiful Grecian God looking thundercunt? Those first four weeks should've been Jets, Buffalo, Miami, and then Jets again dammit. This aggression will not stand, man.

Week 13 had the Jets facing off against the Colts on ESPN. This game was living breathing proof that you cannot trust the Jets to be worthy of primetime games just because they had one winning season. Remember that narrative about the Jets getting burnt to pieces by fast wide receivers? Welcome to the TY Hilton show. Hilton beat the Jets corners for 146 yards on 9 catches and his friend Dwayne "Suck it, Fleener" Allen had 3 touchdown receptions. The Colts jumped out to a 24-3 lead before halftime, and then outscored the Jets 10-0 in the 3rd quarter. Ryan Fitzpatrick pisspoor 81 yard 1 interception performance in the first half gave Bryce Petty his second opportunity at live playing time. While Petty did throw 2 interceptions, to make it abundantly clear that he is fact a Jets QB, he threw the Jets only touchdown and managed to look at least as competent as Fitzpatrick... but then again, so does a hairbrush. The final score was 41-10, but the game was over early in the first quarter.

The Kings of Turd Mountain: Week 14 @ 49ers

I live in California and I swear to God if I had gone to this game, the Jets would have lost. The only Jets game I've ever been to, Geno Smith couldn't move the ball and they switched to Michael Vick at halftime down 31-0 or something. Gross.

ANYWAY, unfortunately for the 49ers, my bad luck was not in attendance. This game could have passed for the twin brother of the Browns game. It was 14-0 at the end of the first quarter and Carlos Hyde was tearing the Jets apart. He finished the game with 193 yards. After going into halftime down 17-3, the Jets scored 14 unanswered points in second half and pulled the win out 23-17 to prove that they are indeed the kings of turd mountain.

This game was Bryce Pettys first NFL start, and he gave Jets fans a lot to be excited about. As is often the case with backup QBs, he connected a lot with one of the receivers he takes second-string reps with. In this case, it was Robbie Anderson who caught 6 passes for 99 yards. Petty finished the game with 257 yards and 1 interception, and a smidgen of measured hope and excitement from this Jets fan in particular.

It's also worth noting that by this point in the season, Matt Forte was out with a nagging injury and for the first time in a career where Bilal Powell continued to excel doing anything and everything the Jets asked, he finally got to be the feature in a game. AND HE WAS AWEEEESOME. Powell had 29 carries for 145 yards and two touchdowns on the day. Powell makes a pow pow powerful car.

Finishing in the Division

The Jets last three regular season games were all in the AFC East and with both the hope of a positive season and the hope of the number 1 pick out the window, the only thing on the line was pride.

When the Jets met the Dolphins again in week 15, there were no more illusions. That team was white hot and the Jets wanted desperately to play spoiler and avoid the season sweep. Ryan Tannehill was thought to be football dead, so backup Matt Moore was facing off against Bryce Petty. All of the signs seemed to point towards the Jets having a decent chance at pulling off the upset.

This is possibly the most baffling game of the entire season to me from a coaching standpoint. Bryce Petty came out to start this game and looked great. He had all the poise and confidence that he displayed in the 49ers game, and he led the Jets to an early touchdown. The Dolphins answered twice in the second quarter, but regardless, it was 14-10 at halftime which was extremely manageable. ...and then after halftime, Bryce Petty looked like a completely different quarterback. The smart money is on the coaching staff failing to make any adjustments, but Petty was TERRIBLE coming out of the half and he was eventually replaced by Ryan Fitzpatrick. The static duo combined for 3 interceptions that gave the Dolphins all the opportunities they needed to light up the scoreboard. Matt more threw 4 touchdown passes on only 18 attempts. Jarvis Landry and Kenny Stills combined for 160 yards and two touchdowns on only 4 catches. THIS. SECONDARY. IS. BAD.

Next up on the tour of sadness, the Jets had to face the eventual Super Bowl champions. For every game where the Jets keep it way too close for comfort against New England, there's a game like this one where they never even should have gotten off the bus.

There is nothing good to say about this game. Petty and Fitzpatrick combined for 3 interceptions again. The Jets didn't score a point until they managed a field goal in the fourth quarter when it was already 41-0. It was quite simply a demoralizing, humiliating, one-sided, beatdown that acted as a metaphor for the whole fucking season.

So that's how the Jets ended up, in week 17, facing Buffalo again. Just like 2015, but this time there was no spoiler to be played. Nothing on the line between two teams that had been beaten down by the reality of the dark clouds that hang over their snake bitten franchises. Doomed to play a meaningless game against each other while Miami and New England both make the playoffs.

Of course this time, with no playoffs on the line, only a potential contract in the offseason, Fitz decided to actually play well. Fitz threw for a couple hundred yards and two touchdowns while the Bills offense floundered behind the ill-suited leadership of Cardale Jones and EJ Manuel. The Jets easily handled a Bills team that was playing for a defeated, dejected head coach, but it didn't make the disappointment of the season any less bitter. The only thing worth noting from this season-ending game was that Bilal Powell rushed for over 100 yards again, proving that he deserves consideration as a full-time starter.

To quote Mike Tirico, "That's the way the game should end, and that's the way the Jets season should end. Ugly, and a loss."

The only question left for Jets fans to ponder after 2016 is this: 2015 or 2016, which Todd Bowles is the real one?

Coaches Overview (Provided by /u/Axiddi)

A look at Todd Bowles’ season.

First things first, I find it difficult to really judge how Todd’s past season was. I personally think he’s a great coach, but there was this cesspool of shit that was player drama, injuries, the roster in general, and the oh so amazing quarterback play shrouding the team. Some of these factors were, to some extent, his fault. He had no apparent control over the locker room and players skipped meetings; one could question how much the players respect him. All across the roster players underperformed. When it’s that rampant, do you start to questions the coaching on the team? What about his secondary? Bowles was a safety in the pros and defense is his forte, and yet the Jets defense, and secondary in particular, were…quite bad. A closer look and it’s obvious the talent was just not there. Years of terrible drafting have left the roster bereft of the depth that you would expect to find on a professional roster. To spackle these holes, he tried to get as much talent on the field as he could by moving Sheldon Richardson to OLB. That ended up being a poor decision.

No coach who has a 5-11 season can look back and be happy with their season. Yet as I sit and think about it, where is the tipping point between no locker room control and a lack of maturity by the players? The inability to motivate and an indifference from the players? No talent and bad decisions? Many times talent will mask poor decisions, so the opposite should be true, no? Bowles’ season, and the Jets’ in general, is filled with these questions, and I suspect that If I could answer them I wouldn’t be sitting here writing this. To me, the team let the coach down just as much as he let them down and it would have been wrong to cut ties with him.

A quick introduction of the new additions to the coaching staff:

John Morton, Offensive Coordinator – A perennial WRs coach (though he was OC once at USC), Morton’s coaching career seems to have been surrounded by offensive minds: Gruden, Payton, Carroll, and Harbaugh. At each stop the wide receivers he coached flourished, most notably this past season with the Saints which saw 3 young receiver have great years. But how will he be as a coordinator? Well, all we have to go off is his one year at USC, so let’s take a look: his one year of coordinating at USC, Matt Barkley’s freshman year, was an offensive down year for the school. After averaging well over 400yds/g and 30pts/g in the surrounding years (08, 09, 10) the Trojans offense averaged 389yds/g and only 26pts/g under Morton. These changes aren’t drastic by any means, and one year is not exactly a sample size to draw conclusions on. Thus it’s important to not take these numbers as a trend and more as an interesting tid-bit. A point of optimism: Morton has worked with young talented receivers over the years making them quite productive, so it should be exciting to see how the young Jets receivers perform over the offseason and going forward.

Jeremy Bates, Quarterbacks – This is actually his second stint with the jets in the same position; he was here in 2005 under Herm Edwards. After that he went to Denver (working with Cutler), USC, Seattle (as Offensive coordinator), and to Chicago as The QBs coach again (working with Cutler). Now he’s the Jets QB coach working with…shudders

Joe Giacobbe, Assistant Strength and Conditioning – A certified strength and conditioning specialist.

Kevin Greene, Outside Linebackers – Held the same position with the Packers (Clay Matthews) from 09-13 before stepping away from football to spend more time with his family.

Mick Lombardi, Offensive Assistant/Assistant Quarterbacks - Spent the past 4 seasons with the 49ers, last year as the offensive quality control coach.

Stump Mitchell, Runningbacks – Former running backs coach with Seattle (Shawn Alexander), Washington (Clinton Portis), and most recently Arizona (David Johnson) brings his talents to New York.

Robert Nunn, Defensive Line – Comes from the same job with the Browns, and spent 5 years with the Giants before that in the same position.

Jason Vrable, Offensive Assistant – Was the Bills assistant QB coach last season.

Denard Wilson, Defensive backs coach – Young guy who comes from the same position at the Rams.

Roster Overview (Provided by /u/Axiddi)

Link to roster overview

Free Agency/Draft Concerns

Quarterback -

This is going to be the huge, massive, big, large, immense question mark looming over the Jets once again. Who is going to play quarterback? The only starting quarterback coming from last season is Bryce Petty and he certainly didn't prove that he's ready to take the helm, and Christian Hackenberg is even more raw. With Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick both free agents and likely gone, this is by far the biggest concern.

The obvious thought is that the Jets might target a quarterback with the number 6 overall pick, but the last time the Jets used a first round pick on offense is still fresh in their memory: Mark Sanchez. So, don't be surprised if the team continues to shy away from hitching the wagon to a young QB. The likeliest targets would be Jay Cutler and Tony Romo in free agency. The Jets offense is full of stars with windows that are closing fast and the Jets need a quarterback who can utilize their talents right now.

Cornerback -

If you thought that the Jets desperately need a cornerback after the awful performance the entire secondary put up during the regular season, it's even worse with the seemingly imminent release of Darrelle Revis. It wouldn't be surprising to see a free agent like Prince Amukamura sign with the Jets. A return to New York and an opportunity to start in Bowles defense might be a good fit after his season in Jacksonville.

Offensive Tackle -

Ryan Clady is a free agent and the Jets don't have the resources currently on the roster to scrape together two starting offensive tackles so this is a huge concern, especially with the possibility of starting a very raw quarterback. It's always a possibility that the Jets could bring back Clady, but I wouldn't mind seeing them take a chance on someone like Matt Kalil. I know he's been a poopy flavored lollypop lately, but the Jets don't exactly have a great track record on the offensive line and bringing in another tackle that's already on the wrong side of 30 seems like more of the same. Come on Mac attack, take a chance on love. Yolo.

Final Thoughts

The New York can loosely be defined as a football team, but as we all know, greatness isn't the only thing that can bring fans together. Sometimes you just need a bunch of friends to turn to and say, "Holy shit man, this team is truly god-awful" and that's what being a Jets fan is all about.

I don't know what the future holds for this team, but I believe that Todd Bowles can be a good coach and I believe that if they can find someone to throw the ball and a couple guys to watch his back, they might be able to get these guys to buy into a winning attitude. And who knows, maybe I won't die without seeing the Jets in a playoff game after all.

Shoutouts to People who helped

First, I'd like to thank my personal lord and savior Nick Mangold for putting up with this bullshit every year. You're the man.

Second, I'd like to thank /u/skepticismissurvival for putting up with an equal, if not greater amount of bullshit, to provide you all with 31 quality reviews and this one

Third, I'd like to thank /u/yangar for that thing he does with his tongue

Fourthest and the most, I'd like to thank /u/Axiddi for coming to me offering his assistance and basically adding legitimacy and incredible content to this post. You're the man, I can't thank you enough, and all of the stuff you contributed is truly excellent.

Link to hub

https://redd.it/5st222