This piece went on a little hiatus due to the holiday craziness and the fact that there isn’t much more to say about the Jets and Giants. While the latter hasn’t changed, I finally have some time and will cover both the NFL as a whole here and have a College piece out soon. We’ll keep the locals brief and then dig into the rest of the league.
Jets
What else can I say. The “season of dreams” for the Jets became a total nightmare early on, and hasn’t gotten better. The last two games have featured Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemien under center, and seen no offensive improvement. As someone who called for the QB change, it was never because I believed either was going to play like Tom Brady. I merely felt the Jets had to try something different to see if they could save the year. While both are bad, the offensive mess only further illustrates how inept this staff is.
The defense continues to do what it can, just ask the clown head coach and he’ll tell you, but the offense remains an anchor around their waist. From constant three and outs to “fail mary’s” the Jets defense has witnessed their colleagues turn in some stunningly bad play. The offensive issues have contributed to locker room dysfunction in the form of sideline fights in games. The latest rumors won’t help it either as the circus as officially come to town.
The Jets latest quarterback controversy may be the most humorous in team history. On Monday reports leaked out that the Jets would like to go back to Zach Wilson under center. The only problem with that, aside from Wilson’s ineptitude, is that number two reportedly refuses to play. If it’s not true (as some are claiming) it’s just another headache. However if this really is the case this will only do more damage to the locker room and make everyone look even worse.
To make matters worse Rob Saleh has been texting former WFAN host Joe Beningo his negative feelings about this season. Beningo then shared these texts on air…you really can’t make this stuff up. While Beningo can’t be punished for violating media trust since he is retired, it’s hard to imagine why he thought it was okay to share these texts. It’s even harder to imagine why Saleh thought it was a good idea to text him to begin with. It opened him up to the risk of this coming out and now that it has, he may lose what’s left of this locker room. On some level this makes sense, the only bigger mess than the Jets is WFAN, it’s a perfect marriage.
At 4-8 and the season turning into this big a mess it’s not worth discussing much more. This season went up in flames in the blink of an eye. While it’s unfortunate that it happened, Aaron Rodgers injury did us all the service of fully exposing the fools that are in charge of the Jets. Stop wasting time on who should play quarterback. Stop wasting time on Rodgers theatrical ego trip to practicing on an injured ACL. Stop trying to defend the coach and GM. Everyone involved in this nightmare doesn’t deserve to keep their job. From Saleh, to Hackett, to Douglas to Wilson, the swamps of Jersey of must be drained.
Giants
In a shocking twist, a New York football team managed to not only win a game, but two games in a row. The Jets did it earlier in the year and now the Giants have repeated the feat, with an unlikely hero at the helm. Instead of Daniel Jones and Tyrod Taylor the Giants have ridden Tommy “cutlets” DeVito to success. The New Jersey native and Don Bosco high school product helped Big Blue defeat the Commanders and Patriots. Not exactly murderers row, but a wins a win.
While the national media has made this story a bit nauseating, I don’t begrudge DeVito at all. This is a nice story about a local boy making good. He should be allowed to enjoy it alongside his family and friends as anyone else. The run may soon come to an end for him under center but he can always say he made it into and won two NFL games.
While I understand the Giants coaches and players can’t approach games in this way, these wins could prove costly. While Daboll needed a few W’s to calm the storm a bit, every one of them hurts this team’s draft position. The Giants need a franchise quarterback in the worst way, and this may be the class to pick it in. With several strong talents coming out of college it feels like they have to capitalize now. Long term success will keep everyone in their jobs, so a few more losses and finding the right guy (the hard part) under center would go a long way.
The Giants need to spend the remaining weeks evaluating this roster and keeping the locker room together. Daboll and Wink Martindale have poured enough cold water on their rumored “feud” that it seems things aren’t in total chaos after all. The head coach, along with GM Joe Schoen, will be entering a critical offseason. One that will determine this franchises future. They need to sit back and let the Local Hero keep the masses happy while they plan their course.
Around The League
We’re officially in the stretch run of the NFL season, and we should be in for an exciting finish. The playoff picture is crowded and the herd of contenders is being thinned. Let’s talk about some of the teams making noise right now.
Minshew Mania in the Playoffs?: There is always a surprise team or two in the playoff picture each year. One of the seasons biggest is the Colts, who entered the year thinking about a rebuild. Everyone felt their season was over when rookie signal caller Anthony Richardson got injured early on. But they have been saved by their strong defense and journeyman backup Gardner Minshew. Number ten had his best game of the year this past week against the Titans going 26/42 for 312 yards and two touchdowns, leading Indy to an OT win in Nashville. At 7-5 with a soft remaining schedule, the Colts look good to secure a playoff spot, and maybe coach of the year for first time boss Shane Steichen.
Lambeau Love Fest: Speaking of surprise playoff contenders, here come the Packers! Left for dead at 3-6, upset wins over the Chargers, Lions and Chiefs have breathed new life into the Packs playoff hopes. At the center of that rally is quarterback Jordan Love, who is enjoying a solid first year as the full time starter. With 22 touchdown passes, number ten looks promising leading this offense. His cannon for an arm can throw Green Bay’s talented young wideouts open, making them potent on offense for the first time in a long time. Sitting at 6-6 with some pushovers ahead of them, Green Bay has a real shot to make the dance.
Pride of the Huskies: Our theme of unlikely heroes continues with Bengals backup quarterback Jake Browning. The former Washington Huskies star celebrated his Alma mater making the college football playoff with a big game on Monday night. Number six went 32/37 for 354 yards and two touchdowns, leading Cincy to an OT win in Duval. All hope was lost when Joe Burrow went down but Browning has kept the Bengals playoff hopes alive for now. At 6-6 they have difficult set of opponents left to face, but don’t count them out just yet.
SF’s Statement W: The Niners have long been criticized for not getting it done in big games. They silenced those critics with a dominating win on the road against the Eagles. San Francisco scuffled into their bye week but have come out of it on fire. Their four straight wins have them thinking about the one seed in the NFC, sitting at 9-3 with tie breakers over Philly and Dallas. This was arguably the best regular season win of the Lynch and Shanahan era. Now they need carry it over to the playoffs.
Team to Beat?: The Dolphins remain one of the most exciting teams to watch, coming off their 45-15 win over the Commanders. Their offensive dynamism is special and at 9-3 they have an eye on the AFC’s top seed. To get it done they’ll need to win two big games late in the year against Dallas and Baltimore. They are 0-3 this year against big time opponents so those games will serve as a measuring stick as well. While it’s still hard to have complete faith in them, if Miami claims home field through the AFC playoffs they would be tough to beat.
A Texas Sized Clash: This week’s marquee game is the Sunday night matchup in Dallas. The 9-3 Cowboys will host the 10-2 Eagles with first place in the NFC East on the line. Philly is coming off an ugly loss to the Niners while the “boys” are riding a three game win streak that has seen Dak Prescott light it up. Both will certainly make the the dance but home field will be critical to them come playoff time. It feels like Dallas has all the momentum but this needs to be a “prove it” win for them, much like it was for the Niners last week. Can’t wait to watch this one!
Not What We Expected: After their epic playoff contest in 2021, the Bills and Chiefs felt like the leagues newest big rivalry. Since then the two teams have gone in different directions. KC has gone on to win another Super Bowl, while Buffalo has regressed to a fringe playoff team. As they meet this Sunday at Arrowhead the Chiefs are looking for answers on offense, while Buffalo is fighting for their playoff lives. It feels like Mahommes and Allen will need to have big games for their teams, the question is can their teammates get it together and help them do it.
The Unemployment Line: We had our first firing in the league this year during our hiatus. The Panthers went ahead and relieved head coach Frank Reich of his duties last week as this season has been a nightmare. At 1-11 it’s not all Reich’s fault, but he certainly deserved blame. I have long felt he is one of the most overrated coaches in the league, something that often shows in games despite his “great reputation.” His life was certainly made harder by the Panthers erratic owner David Tepper. The good news is for Frank, he’ll likely have plenty of company on the unemployment line. ESPN’s Adam Schefter expects there to be around ten firings this offseason.
I’ll be back with more on the college football playoff controversy soon. Share your thoughts on the NFL in the comments below and on Twitter with me @YNWA9623. Subscribe to the site by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner of your screen and entering your email address. Stay tuned for more content this week.
The Broadway Breakdown 
Leave a comment