Keidel: Jets Fans Falling Into Trap Of Judging Team By Preseason
By Jason Keidel
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Giants fans are wincing at the prospect of their wretched preseason offense playing authentic games in two weeks.
They forget they have a future Hall of Fame quarterback, a once-a-generation talent at wide receiver, a glittering rookie at the other wideout and a returning hero who may have a sublime comeback season.
Doesn't matter. All they see is what's in front of them. Forget those two Super Bowls. Forget the Lombardi Trophies bulging from the shelves.
So if Big Blue fans are jaded despite five Super Bowl appearances since 1986, with four wins, imagine the petrified looks on Gang Green devotees.
Ryan Fitzpatrick is the latest object of the fans' ire. He looked so awful against the Giants, fans are having images of a winless, soulless voyage through the first six games, an ornery slate that has the masses sweating like Patrick Ewing in the fourth quarter.
MORE: Fitzpatrick Not Concerned By Jets Offense's Sluggish Summer
Most clubs back into a franchise quarterback at least once every quarter-century. Not Gang Green. So you squirm at any faltering signal-caller, even before brown leaves and long sleeves become the football motif.
Fitzpatrick is a loser. He's never won a playoff game. He's never even reached the playoffs. He's on his sixth team for a reason. His game is already lost somewhere inside his sprawling beard.
Relax.
For the "Give Geno a shot" crowd, drop it.
There's an ambient affection for Geno Smith from Jets fans, largely unjustified. It's part projection and part displaced angst. Jets fans haven't had a great quarterback since Joe Namath, as surreal as that sounds.
"But Geno never had the surrounding arsenal that Fitzpatrick had."
He does now, and still won't start. Smith had months to flaunt his wares while Fitzpatrick toiled in contract limbo. The Jets response? They signed Fitzpatrick before the preseason. That's how much confidence they have in the former second-round draft pick.
Perhaps Jets Nation should ascribe to the Boomer Esiason bromide: Don't be beguiled by a single snap, quarter or half of play in August. And who knows better than a former star NFL quarterback, who also played for your beloved Jets?
NFL history is festooned with squads that marched to a Super Bowl after a winless or otherwise forlorn preseason. The summer is about shaving rust from your stars and studs and rounding out the roster, paring 90 players down to 53.
Passing yardage leaders in the preseason?
- Dak Prescott
- Jimmy Garoppolo
- Bryce Petty
- Jameis Winston
- E.J. Manuel
Hardly a Canton roll call.
And if you're trembling because Fitzpatrick missed wide open receivers, sailing balls toward the team bench, you should give as much heft to his flawless, back-shoulder throw to Eric Decker for a touchdown.
MORE: Palladino: If Nothing Else, Fitzpatrick And Manning Came Out Of Preseason Matchup Intact
Does it matter that he threw 31 touchdowns last year? No, you recall the season-busting interception he threw in Buffalo -- which, by the way, Decker asserts was equally his fault for not running the proper route.
If you're looking for proof that being august in August is hardly a Super Bowl precursor, let's look at last year's preseason.
Remember when the Philadelphia Eagles -- buoyed by the genius of Chip Kelly's Kraken offense -- stomped the summer competition? The Eagles not only went 3-1 in the preseason, they scored 133 points, way more than any other team, with a league-leading point differential of plus-56.
The Eagles bombed the rest of the way, jettisoned their star running back, DeMarco Murray, and canned the genius coach.
As incongruous as it sounds, the Jets are pretty loaded. They have a robust defense, an all-purpose running back (Matt Forte) who, if healthy, is the perfect safety valve for someone with Fitzpatrick's limitations. Decker and Brandon Marshall should be just as potent this year as they were last season.
Do the Jets have perhaps the most turbulent opening six weeks in the league? Looks that way. But if they can't go 3-3, then they haven't lived up to their improved expectations or earned the very trust they've asked of you.
And you can be sure it won't be all Ryan Fitzpatrick's fault.
Follow Jason on Twitter at @JasonKeidel
