The Jets Have Bigger Problems Than Quarterback

The Jets are looking more like something from the movie “Airplane!” right now. They’re in a downward spiral, and nobody seems man enough to take the wheel. Not long after Offensive Coordinator Brian Shottenheimer was forced out New York replaced him with Tony Sparano, who probably has third degree burns from the hot seat in Miami that he had been sitting in for a few years. While all of this is happening, Jets players are anonymously taking shots at quarterback Mark Sanchez, and Rex Ryan – Mark’s biggest supporter – seems to be quieter than usual at the wrong time.
Wake up Rex, something’s afoot!
Someone better wake up and get this team together, and I don’t mean the third-string rookie quarterback. The “us against the world” mentality was all well and good when the Jets were winning playoff games last year, but that tough guy act may have played itself out. Once things started to go wrong for New York, nobody made an effort to step up and right the ship. You didn’t hear about Mark Sanchez giving “rah-rah” speeches in the locker room, or the defense that was supposed to be among the elite rallying around Bart Scott or anyone else.
I’m really starting to doubt there are any leaders at all on this team and, even though Sanchez’s lack of progress or leadership is a part of the issue, there is something much larger that is wrong with this team, something deeply corrupt with the team’s attitude that is affecting them like a cancer.
Players (without showing their face, of course) are calling for the Jets to make a move to acquire Peyton Manning this offseason. When I sat back and thought about this, it actually made me laugh a little. To me, this is the equivalent of the team saying: “Screw it, get someone else to come and fix this.” I wouldn’t doubt that Peyton Manning might have what it takes to get this team going in the right direction, but if you were Peyton would you really want to step foot anywhere near this team that threw its QB under the bus after a disappointing year? Even if Christmas comes early for the Jets and they land Manning, they have to find a solution to this unity problem. Someone – or a few people – need to take charge and try to land this plane because right now they are on their own and on a direct path to crash and burn.