Another week, another pair of losses. I’ll spare everyone the cheery introduction, there isn’t much point in trying to put lipstick on this mess. The simple fact of the matter is, the most anticipated New York football season in some time has been ruined in just four weeks. We’re already at the point where one of the teams is getting plaudits for just showing up. It is the least they could do after all. We’ve got two absolute doozy’s to breakdown, so let’s get started.

Jets

We begin with Gang Green and the absolute travesty that was Sunday Night Football. We’ll deal with the 600 pound elephant in the room in a bit. We’ll even ignore the Jets and their performance for now. Lets start with the NFL and NBC. As expected the league subjected us to an all night Taylor Swift extravaganza. I’m not a Swift hater, but this whole event was absolute overkill. From constantly cutting to her in a booth full of celebs to discussing her relationship with Travis Kelce on a few occasions.

This painful ordeal was made worse by the pure fact that this game was on NBC. ESPN rightfully gets criticism in this modern broadcast landscape, but in my opinion NBC’s mess has flown under the radar for some time now. While I love Mike Tirico, I find Cris Collinsworth (his famous slide aside) to be pretty hard to listen to. His guttural noises, constant talking, and bi-annual Patrick Mahommes love fest are nauseating. Fortunately for him he’s far from the worst part of this mess. The broadcast is immediately annoying the minute Carrie Underwoods intro begins. That headache is compounded by the worst studio crew in the business.

Noted liars Chris Simms and Mike Florio ramble on incoherently about nothing at all. While the king of mediocrity Jason Garrett impersonates Ricky Bobby and tries to figure out what to do with his hands. Nick Saban’s least favorite host Maria Taylor fails to traffic cop this mess. Who could blame her though? I only named half the crew. On site is talentless nepo baby Jack Collinsworth, who works a desk with cringe worthy Tony Dungy, and the pompous Rodney Harrison. Harrison painted his masterpiece Sunday night by trying to get Chris Jones to bash Zach Wilson. Stay classy there Rod. Referee analyst (the worst position in sports TV) and professional schill Terry McAulay chimes in throughout the night to pour gasoline on this fire. To quote Mike Francesa “nobody has been waiting all day for Sunday Night.”

Now to the actual football. Lets give the Jets some props, they far exceeded expectations with their performance. After a sluggish 17-0 start they rallied to tie this game at 20, something no one saw coming. Zach Wilson flipped the script, and actually showed improvement. While it wasn’t perfect, he had two touchdown passes to punctuate a solid stat line, it’s possible to see the Jets winning with him playing like this. While his fumble was costly, I felt for him when he took the blame for the loss.

To me this loss should be blamed on three things, most of which are not on the QB. First is some simple mistakes the Jets made. While Wilson missed on some throws, his teammates mistakes were just as costly. Tight end Tyler Conklin whiffed on a block that would have sent Breece Hall to the house. This mistake was made worse by the Jets taking a penalty on the ensuing play while in KC territory, which led to the drive stalling out. CJ Mosley’s dropped interception in the second quarter proved costly as it led to more Chiefs points. Little things like this cannot be missed with the Jets having almost no margin for error.

Speaking of Mosley and the defense, the second cause of this loss was the Jet defense. While they did stop the bleeding after falling behind 17-0, the self proclaimed “85 Bears” were horrendous in route to giving up those 17 points. They were soft up front and seemingly tackled no one early on. While getting on this unit is tough, they usually hold up their end of the bargain. But, so far all they have done is shut down a reckless Josh Allen and the now benched Mac Jones in a monsoon. Not exactly Buddy Ryan’s “monsters of the midway” are they?

The third party at fault here is the coaching staff, who made some puzzling choices throughout the game. Two very conservative field goals, one of which was missed, were confounding choices by Saleh while playing an opponent like KC. The conservative approach carried over to the play calling in the second half. After the best drive of Zach Wilson’s career (not hyperbole), they proceeded to turn him back into “check down Charlie.” But it shouldn’t come as a surprise when employing Nate Hackett.

As for the officiating. Before I take a blow torch to them, two things have to be made clear. The first is that they were awful in both directions Sunday night. Jawann Taylor’s “hold in the end zone” never actually occurred in the end zone, and stood as called upon review, gifting the Jets a safety. The horse collar call on KC that setup a Jet TD, probably should have been wiped out by a Breece Hall face mask penalty on the same tackle. The second is that the officials did not cost the Jets the game. They simply denied them a chance to try and win the game late.

The penalty on Sauce Gardner, in that spot of the game, was a joke to call. Gardner and the rest of the DB’s on both sides got away with worse all night long, in less pivotal spots. The flag was thrown so late, it felt absurd to see it on the field. This brutal call was compounded by an even worse non-call on Mahommes 3rd and 22 scamper. Defensive end Jermaine Johnson was blatantly held off the edge, allowing number 15 to escape.

I can’t understand the justification of “they already called two holds on the drive.” They did, because there was holding on the play. Officiating across all sports has never been worse, but the NFL has a major issue now, with the refs actively impacting the game. KC knows all about this, the zebras practically handed them the Lombardi Trophy last year.

Next up for the Jets is a trip to Denver. The Broncos, despite coming off their first win of the year, are an utter disaster. Their once stout defense is struggling, and Russell Wilson has become a shell of himself. Zach Wilson has a chance to repeat his success from last week, as Nathanial Hackett looks to prove Sean Payton wrong (a tired storyline). Simply put, the Jets have no excuse to lose this game, they’re the better team in all departments. Get this one anyway you can and prepare for a visit from the Eagles before the bye. The season can at least remain on life support at 2-3.

Giants

Where to begin with this disaster? Losses are losses but at least the Jets have been competitive. The Giants haven’t even bothered to show up outside of two quarters against Arizona. They have been outscored 77-9 in the first half this season, that it is not a misprint. They haven’t tackled a soul all year. Nothing about this season, especially Monday’s 24-3 loss to Seattle has been acceptable. Regression was certainly a possibility, but this level of embarrassment was on no one’s radar.

The offensive line turned in an absolutely shameful effort, regardless of Andrew Thomas absence, as they allowed 11 sacks. They cannot run block, they cannot pass block. At least they know how to block their own teammates, as Evan Neal blocked Darren Waller. While the line could play better, what the hell is the coaching staff doing?! Set up for max protect, keep a back or tight end in to help. You cannot feed your QB to the wolves like this.

Speaking of the quarterback, let’s not absolve Daniel Jones this week. He looks understandably gun shy, but the mistakes he avoided a year ago are back in a bad way. His early fumble, the 24th lost fumble of his career, set up Seattle’s opening TD. This was followed up by a ghastly 97-yard pick six by stud rookie Devon Witherspoon that essentially ended the game. The mistake wasn’t just that he forced the ball, it’s that he missed the read with Darren Waller wide open. Those are 14 points against that can be directly blamed on the Giants signal caller. You simply cannot win like that in this league.

Four weeks in and Darren Waller, Jalin Hyatt, and Wan’Dale Robinson have been non-factors. For one reason or another Jones has been unable to get them the ball, and the rest of the time they have been game planned out of the offense due to a lack some touches. After such a brilliant start to his tenure last year, Brian Daboll and his staff have a lot to answer for.

Perhaps, what’s most distressing, is how poorly this team has competed so far. Last years team was greater than the sum of its parts because the group bought in. They embraced the fight and ground games out. So far they show no willingness to do that this year, a worrying sign that Daboll may lose this locker room. The infighting and finger pointing is starting, and with trips to Miami and Buffalo coming up, it’s hard to see how things get better.

With the crap we’re subjected to on a regular basis in this town, I think it’s time we get the old wrecking ball out, and knock this giant AC unit down. Hit it Bruce!

With the local portion of the recap in the books, it’s time for another round of league headlines after four weeks.

Massacred Patriots: No I don’t mean the Mel Gibson movie. The Pats went into Dallas and got absolutely routed. Mac Jones was brutal and will be benched for Bailey Zappe this week. Jones may be done for, and the Pats season may be along with him.

Windy City Disaster: The Bears are an absolute mess. After weeks of turmoil they finally had a decent showing…for three quarters as they blew a 28-7 lead to Denver. Get your pink slips ready folks, I think the front office, coaching staff and QB are doomed.

Rookie Standouts: After an off-season full of doubt, give CJ Stroud and Anthony Richardson a ton of credit. Both are showing real promise through four games, a welcome sight for their talented young head coaches. Both are 2-2, putting them in an unlikely four way tie with the Jags and Titans in the South.

Still Sunny In Philadelphia: Here’s a frightening thought, the Eagles are 4-0 and haven’t hit their stride yet. Their resurgent passing attack was led by AJ Brown, whose dominant performance against the Commanders led to a random PED test. The Niners are rightfully making NFC headlines, but the Eagles are coming on strong.

Let me know what you thought of both teams games from this weekend in the comments and on Twitter @YNWA9623. Subscribe to the blog by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner of your screen, and entering your email address. I’ll be back with more soon everyone!