OPEN MIKE PODCAST: Mets are Taking Big Risk with Van Wagenen

So it's been a couple of days since the Mets hired former sports agent Brodie Van Wagenen as their next General Manager. To say it's a controversial hire would be an understatement.

Check out the Open Mike Podcast as I delve into the story.

Mets Formally Introduce Van Wagenen as General Manager

According to Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon, his father, Fred was the most “excited he has been about a hire in a long time,” when the Mets hitched their wagons to former sports agent Brodie Van Wagenen as the club’s new General Manager.

Mets fans can only hope that quote from Wilpon doesn’t become a blooper sound bite for years to come after the Mets made the biggest gamble in franchise history.

In a press conference that looked and felt as awkward as it sounded, the Mets made it official with Wilpon standing next to Van Wagenen a man he claimed was the “front runner” for the head of baseball operations.

There was no discussion about Van Wagenen’s qualifications, or what baseball experience he might have other than being a sports agent for 18 years, where he represented a number of the Mets current players.

Wilpon described his new hire as someone who is deeply analytical with a scouting background, but didn’t go into specifics. Nobody asked either.

Instead what the New York media heard on Tuesday was a lot of talk about collaboration. 

“Brodie was the front runner because of what he talked about regarding collaboration with our staff and where we can go moving forward. It was out of the box, but I said we would go out of the box,” Wilpon explained when asked why he decided to go with Van Wagenen over experienced baseball executives like Chaim Bloom or Doug Melvin.

When asked if Van Wagenen would have to recuse himself from any negotiation with players he once represented like Jacob deGrom or Noah Syndergaard, Wilpon said he spoke to Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLBPA President Tony Clark about the hire, and there would be “provisions” in Van Wagenen’s contract to deal with conflicts of interest.

Again, Wilpon stopped short of elaborating.

The feeling is that Van Wagenen will lean heavily on the Wilpons.

There is a question whether front office mainstays, John Ricco, J.P. Ricciardi and Omar Minaya will remain in the organization as Wilpon hinted that Van Wagenen will have final say on who stays and goes. Chances are one or two of them will remain to guide Van Wagenen through the transition from sports agent to GM.

Regarding Manager Mickey Callaway, Van Wagenen gave him an endorsement on Tuesday. After a hideous June and July, Callaway found a way to get 77 wins out of a team that battled injuries all season. It would make sense for the Mets to keep Callaway in the fold for at least one more season until Van Wagenen familiarizes himself with the baseball aspect of his new job.

The biggest hurdle that Van Wagenen will face as Mets General Manager will be his relationship with the players. He made note that he spoke with his Mets’ clients who support his switch from agent to general manager.

“(My clients) are enthusiastic that I can bring a fresh perspective to the team,” Van Wagenen said, adding that he would like to keep his one-time client Jacob deGrom under contract for the long term as a Met. An interesting answer considering four months ago he gave the Mets an ultimatum to either sign deGrom to a long-term deal or trade him.

“We will win now. We will win in the future. We will develop a winning culture and winning mindset,” Van Wagenen said in closing.

He will have to. He is no longer in the world of obtaining the best deal possible for his clients. He is now in the world where he has to put the best team on the field to win games on a nightly basis. As Wilpon said at the beginning of Tuesday’s press conference, “It’s going to be fun.” It certainly will.  

Browns Fire Hue Jackson, Which NFL Head Coach is Next?

The Cleveland Browns have finally ended the Hue Jackson reign of terror in Cleveland. After posting a 3-36-1 record in 2.5 years in Cleveland the Browns had more then enough and fired the beleaguered coach after the Browns 33-18 meltdown to the Steelers on Sunday. The firing of Jackson was inevitable, if not late in coming. Many thought that Jackson should have been canned after the club's 0-16 performance last year. Nevertheless, Jackson is out.

The question is, who is next on the NFL coach's hot seat?

Todd Bowles, New York Jets: Record: 23-34 in four seasons. 
It is fair to say that Bowles is coaching for his job as the Jets enter the second half of the season at 3-5, the same exact record they had each of the last two seasons at this time of the year. In each of the last two seasons the Jets finished 5-11. A look at the remaining schedule it is hard to fathom the Jets finishing better than 6-10. Bowles has become notorious for his coaching gaffs, namely the team's lack of discipline, which was on full display Sunday when New York was called for seven pre-snap penalties, including one to start the game. On top of that he has been ultraconservative, i.e. his consistent decision to punt in crucial situations with his team down multiple scores, and his inability to get involved in the offensive game plan has been nothing short of troubling.  The Jets amassed only 207 yards of offense against the Bears, the third worst output of the Bowles regime. The other two horrible efforts came last year against Denver and this season against Jacksonville. Bowles will likely finish the season, but the clock is ticking.

Pat Shurmur, New York Giants: Record: 1-7 in his first year. 

In today's NFL is not unusual for a first year coach to get fired. Cam Cameron went 1-15 his first year as head coach in Miami in 2007 and was promptly fired. Mike Mularky was also one-and-done after going 2-14 in his first season in Jacksonville back in 2012. It stands to reason that Shurmur could join that list. The Giants are 1-7, and are totally out of control. There is a clear schism in the locker room with guys unhappy being there, and several players have already been kicked out. Not to mention, the  Giants pass offense has been a complete and total disaster. From the offensive line's inability to block to Eli Manning's struggles and Odell Beckham's pouting, it's been a lot for Shurmur to handle. Perhaps the candle the broke the camels back was last week's Monday night game in Atlanta where Shurmur had Manning dive into the end zone on a quarterback sneak ... twice ... and failed ... twice. While it would be surprising to see the Mara's fire a coach after one year, if things continue to spiral out of control, who is to say it won't happen?

Jon Gruden, Oakland Raiders: 1-6 in return to the NFL.
I am sure Raider fans would love to see Chucky go back to ESPN at this point, but that isn't happening. Mark Davis gave Gruden a blank check for $100 million over the next ten years to re-shape the team in his image. He is doing just that by tearing apart a team that was 12-4 two years ago. Gruden will be back in 2019, but if the team continues to struggle, he won't see all 10-years of that deal.

Jason Garrett, Dallas Cowboys: 69-57 in nine seasons. 
Captain Clap is once again on the hot seat. It has become an annual tradition to see Garrett on the hot seat only to have his boy Jerry Jones remove him from the seat by early January. The Cowboys are once again underachievers at 3-4, and no surprise the heat is on Garrett to turn it around, especially this year. The NFC East is mediocre and is ripe for the taking, but an inconsistent Dak Prescott, a banged up offensive line, and an overrated defense is going to keep this train moving toward 8-8 or 7-9. Perhaps then, and only then will Jones finally tire of the mediocrity in Big D.

Doug Marrone, Jacksonville Jaguars: 14-12 in two-plus seasons.
Not often a coach gets the ax a year removed from taking a team to the Conference Title game, but if things continue to go down hill for Jacksonville, Marrone is going to enter the conversation. Four Jaguars players were arrested this weekend in London for their involvement in a bar fight the day before the team was to play the Eagles. In addition there were reports last week of friction in the locker room because of the poor play of the offense, particularly that of quarterback Blake Bortles. There is a reason why Marrone wore out his welcome in Buffalo a couple years back, and it appears the same is happening in J-ville. If it keeps up, Tom Coughlin might have to look to his long list of disciples to find the next Jags head coach.

Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers: 7-17 in two seasons. 
Serisouly nobody has come with more undeserving fanfare than Kyle Shanahan. Since the day he was hired by the 49ers, he has been dubbed as a genius who will take the Niners back to the promise land. In two seasons it hasn't worked out. A lot of the losing is attributed to the fact that the team can't function without Jimmy Garroppolo under center. When Garoppolo is under center, the Niners are 6-2. Without him they are 1-15. Ouch. Shanahan is probably going to get a mulligan for this season because of the freak injury to Garoppolo earlier this year, but make no mistake this guy is no genius as a head coach.

Dirk Koetter, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 17-22 in three season. 
If there is any coach that is defiantly getting canned after Hue Jackson it is Dirk Koetter. The Buccaneers have greatly underachieved since Koetter became the head coach. In a day and age of hiring offensive-minded coaches, Koetter has seen Jamies Winston's career come completely apart. A lot of that is Winston's own doing, but Koetter hasn't helped change the on-field performance of his quarterback, who is an interception waiting to happen.  Winston's career as a starter in Tampa is probably over with the team going back to Ryan Fitzpatrick. The Bucs will need a new head coach and a new quarterback come 2019.

Giants Have No Choice but to Bench Eli Manning

If Eli Manning won't waive his no-trade clause, something he has a right to do, the Giants have no choice but to bench him and begin the journey to find the next franchise quarterback.

This is not an easy admission.

Manning has been the face of the Giants since he took over for an ineffective Kurt Warner at the middle of the 2004 season. He dealt with teammates who hated him, Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey this means you. He dealt with a head coach who seemingly was always on the hot seat in Tom Coughlin. He won two Super Bowls against the greatest modern dynasty in the NFL in the New England Patriots, and has become one of football's all time top passers.

Yet the last few seasons for Manning and the Giants have put a huge blemish on what is otherwise a Hall of Fame career. Three years ago Eli Manning was as close to a lock as there is for Canton. Now, I'm not so sure. That is how bad the last couple of seasons have been.

It's not all Manning's fault. The Giants offensive line is horrible. Odell Beckham Jr. is a nutcase who the Giants never should have given a contract extension to in August. Ben McAdoo was a horrible coach. Pat Shurmur is a clueless coach. There is a plenty of blame to go around.

Yet, Manning is not getting any younger. At 37, he has shown signs that he can no longer zip the football down field the way he used to, and the mistakes are becoming too common. It is time for a change.

Look at the numbers and you can see that Manning has slowly made his way to the back-nine of his career. The last time he threw for more than 30 touchdowns in a season it was 2015. That was four seasons ago. He is piloting an offense that was supposed to put up points in bunches and he can't guide this unit without a turnover, a bad penalty, or one of his receivers letting the team down with a big drop.

At 1-7 the Giants season is going nowhere as they enter a bye week. New York will not play again until November 12 at San Francisco on a Monday night. That might be the right time to give rookie quarterback Kyle Lauletta the start. And if the Giants start Lauletta in Week 10 at San Francisco, they should leave him in the starting lineup for the remainder of the season. There is no reason to play Eli Manning anymore. His career in blue is over.

Giants fans have been clamoring for months that the team made a mistake in not drafting Sam Darnold (I disagree). But, the fact is they want to see if someone with a stronger arm and fresher legs can lead this team in the final weeks of the season.

Should the Giants start Lauletta, who was an impressive four-year starter at Richmond before being drafted by Big Blue in the fourth round of last April's draft, fans should expect plenty of growing pains and more losing. It's not like Lauletta is playing behind the 1970s version of the Steelers offensive line. This Giants offensive line is one of the worst collections of talent in football. The only team that comes close to a worse offensive line is the Giants' MetLife Stadium co-tenant the Jets. Lauletta will get battered, beaten and pulverized behind this offensive line.

But, hey the Giants need to know what the kid can do. With the Giants in the market for a quarterback in 2019, they need to know whether Lauletta could be that hidden late-round gem, or if he is just another guy that is a stop gap until the next Giants starter under center.

The time is now to begin the process. Just do it.

Giant problems for Big Blue after loss to Skins

REDSKINS 20 - GIANTS 13 

The New York Giants rode in football purgatory continues after Sunday's 20-13 loss to the Redskins where Big Blue was uncompetitive and inept for the fifth straight week as their record fell to 1-7.

Even after the team traded away cornerback Eli Apple and defensive tackle Damion "Snacks" Harrison, the toxic nature of the Giants continues to loom.

The script Sunday was the same script Giants fans have seen play out for weeks. Heck, it's the same script they have seen play out since last year. For 60 minutes this game felt like one big tease. The Giants defense played well enough against the Redskins to keep the offense in it, but New York couldn't help but shoot itself in the foot over and over again.

The offensive line could't create running lanes for Saquon Barkely, and they couldn't pass protect as Eli Manning was sack seven times, and, Manning for his part was down right awful when he did have time.

There was the horrible interception that Manning tried to throw to Odell Beckham Jr. in tight coverage at Washington's 12-yard line that was picked off by DJ Swearinger.

Then there was the missed field goal by Aldrich Rojas that would have cut the Redskins lead down to 7-6, instead keeping the score right at 7-3 as the teams entered the break.

Later the collection of football follies by the Giants hit an all time high of ridiculousness. Down 10-3 and facing a third and 18, Manning tried to heave the football down the field, only to have it picked off by Swearinger again.

After the Redskins fumbled football away to the Giants on their ensuing possession, the Giants couldn't cash in on the break when tight end Evan Engram let a Manning pass slip through his hands on fourth and seven. All Engram had to do was catch it. Even that is asking too much.

The Redskins took advantage, marching right down the field for a field goal, extending their lead to 10-points at 13-3.

Late in the fourth quarter with the Giants trailing 13-6 and needing a stop on defense, they couldn't do it, as old man Adrian Peterson gashed them on a 64-yard run down the sideline that brought back days of his Peterson's prime in Minnesota. Touchdown Skins. Game over.

At 1-7 the Giants enter their bye week knowing they have more changes to make. The trade deadline is just a couple days away and there are rumors swirling that more players on the move. Odell Beckham? Landon Collins? They could be on the move, even though Beckham would be impossible to move considering he just signed a five-year $95 million contract. Still, the Giants need to clean house. It's time to blow this disaster up and start over sooner rather than later.

Days Before Halloween, Jets are the Walking Dead vs. Bears

BEARS 24 - JETS 10 

A Jets football team hamstrung by injuries was virtually lifeless on a cold, rainy Chicago afternoon as the Bears did more then enough in a 24-10 victory that sent Gang Green’s season into no man’s land at 3-5.

Offensively the Jets did absolutely nothing (to put it bluntly) against a Bears defense that was missing the stud outside linebacker, Khalil Mack, who was nursing an ankle injury.

The Jets managed only 207 yards off offense with 12 first downs, and were an anemic 3-of-14 on third downs. Sam Darnold wasn’t good, but the Jets rookie found himself playing with a supporting cast that wouldn’t be good enough for a CFL roster let alone the NFL.

Two weeks ago, Darnold had Quincy Enunwa, Robby Anderson and Terrelle Pryor to throw to. Now he is was stuck with Deontay Burnett, Charone Peake and preseason’s fumble-extraordinaire Trenton Cannon. The only veteran in the lineup was Jermaine Kearse, but he never got into a rhythm with Darnold who found himself either throwing into tight coverage or overthrowing guys. It was rough.

Of the Jets first eight possessions, only once did they move into Bears territory, and that was on a drive that stalled at Chicago’s 43-yard line before New York settled for a 53-yard field goal to cut the Bears lead to 7-3.

The only time the Jets looked remotely competent offensively was early in the fourth quarter when Darnold hit Burnett on a 29-yard completion to the Chicago 18-yard line, and finished the drive with a 16-yard score to tight end Chris Herndon to make it 17-10, giving Gang Green some flickering hope.

That hope was quickly dashed when Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky managed a brilliant 8-play 79-yard drive that ended in a Jordan Howard touchdown to put the game away.

Defensively, the Jets played well to an extent on Sunday. Give the unit credit for holding the Bears to just seven points, and minimizing the big plays after Tarik Cohen ate New York’s lunch on a 70-yard touchdown via a Trubisky screen pass that gave Chicago an early 7-0 lead.

While Trubisky did throw for two scores, he had his issues dealing with the various blitzes that Todd Bowles was sending his way. The good news for the Jets is they got a little bit healthy on the backend with Marcus Maye making a surprise appearance with a banged up thumb. Maye recorded seven tackles. He was expected to miss a month, but played hurt. Jamal Adams was all over the field, and stayed in the game after getting winded.

The only problem the unit had was the fact they were on the field for way too long, a direct result of the Jets anemic offense.

Speaking of Bowles, it was another bad game for the Jets head coach. He showed no conviction to move the football into field goal range when the Jets got the ball back with 0:24 and two timeouts in his pocket before halftime. The Jets had time to find a way to get into range for Jason Meyers, but just sat on the ball.

 Then with 5:37 to go in the game, and the Jets down two scores, Bowles decided to punt the football back to the Bears – a virtual surrender move with the game still hanging in the balance. That is not the first time Bowles has punted with his team still in the ballgame. It is one of the many questionable moves made by the Jets head coach over the years.

At 3-5 the Jets are right where they were a year ago, in no-man’s land. With a difficult game coming up in Miami next week, the Jets season is starting to slip slide away.

Mets to Name Sports Agent Van Wagenen as GM

The New York Mets are on the precipice of making one of the most controversial hires in franchise history.  The Mets are negotiating a deal that will make Creative Artist Agency (CAA) sports agent Brodie Van Wagenen their next General Manager.

Naming a sports agent as the head of baseball operations is extremely rare, although it has happened. The only other instance where it happened, the Diamondbacks made Dave Stewart their GM in 2014. But at least Stewart was a well-known baseball man, having played the game for nearly 20 years with the A’s, Dodgers, and Phillies to name a few teams. He was also an assistant to former Met GM Sandy Alderson in Oakland in the late 90s, before he became an agent.

Van Wagenen doesn’t have that experience; he’s just an agent. It remains to be seen what kind of philosophy Van Wagenen has when it comes to baseball ops.

What makes matters a little complicated is the fact that Van Wagenen has represented a number of players currently on the Mets roster including Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Yoenis Cespedes, Todd Fraizer, Brandon Nimmo, and … Tim Tebow.

During the summer Van Wagenen issued a statement that the Mets should either sign deGrom to a long term deal or trade him. Now he might be in the position to trade his soon-to-be-former client if the Wilpon’s deem it necessary.

Already agents and baseball people are expressing concern about the potential hire, citing that Van Wagenen’s career move reflects a conflict of interest.

According to the New York Post, super agent Scott Boras said he has received offers to runs teams in the past, but never took it because his main job is to represent players and their interests.

“The Boras Corporation stands for a total commitment to players, and while I have been offered many opportunities with teams, I would never violate the trust that I have with any player and that is very important to what I do,” Boras said. “I am an attorney and I want [players] to tell me everything and a lot of these things are confidential, they are personal, and if I went to work for a different employer, I would have to divulge all that information because I have to do my job for that other employer I made a commitment to.”

MLB Player’s Association President Tony Clark expressed his concern that players are worried that personal information Van Wagenen may be privy to could be used against them in negotiations for contracts.

“They understand the opportunities that exist for representatives to make the decisions that they are going to make," Clark told ESPN. "To the extent that possibility exists, I would be confident in suggesting that the understanding and appreciation for confidential information remains so."

The Mets had considered Tampa Bay Rays executive Chaim Bloom and former Brewers GM Doug Melvin, but Melvin dropped out on Friday, and Bloom was the last experienced baseball executive standing next to Van Wagenen. The Mets were rejected by Twins GM Thad Levin, Indians GM Mike Chernoff and former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington.

It stands to see what role the Mets three-headed monster of John Ricco, Omar Minaya and J.P. Ricciardi will play if any in the Van Wagenen led front office, but one would figure the trio will stick around to assist the former agent in the transition to front office executive.

Giants Head Coach Pat Shurmur Looks Clueless in Loss to Falcons

FALCONS 23 - GIANTS 20

When the Giants hired Pat Shurmur to be its head coach in January, they did so under the assumption that they hired an adult, someone who would be the anti-Ben McAdoo. Someone who could revitalize the career of Eli Manning and bring the Giants back to life one year after going 3-13.

Instead, it has been more of the same and then some. One can even argue that the 2018 Giants under Shurmur are now worse than last year's version under McAdoo.

Monday night's debacle in Atlanta was this team's waterloo.  Facing one of the NFL's worst defenses, the Giants couldn't get anything started until late in the fourth quarter. Running back Saquon Barkley was virtually ineffective, rushing for only 43 yards on 14 carries and Eli Manning once again played comatose. Even though he threw for 399 yards, he was sacked four times and couldn't engineer a scoring drive until the end of the game.

A lot of that has to do with the execution as much as it does the play calling of Shurmur, who turned in one of the worst games by a head coach in Giants history.

Trailing 20-6 with a little less then five minutes remaining in the game, Big Blue finally got into the end zone when Barkley scored from two yards out to cut the deficit to eight points at 20-12. Instead of simply going for the PAT to cut the deficit to a single touchdown, Shurmur instead opted to go for two-points, a hideous decision that blew up in the coaches face. Had the Giants kicked the extra point, a 20-13 deficit would have been possible if New York could stop Atlanta on its next possession.

But these are the 2018 Giants where stupidity reigns supreme.

Atlanta would respond, as Matt Ryan drove Atlanta in position to kick a 56-yard field goal to extend the lead to 23-12, pretty much cementing the Giants fate.

What was even more mind boggling was the Giants ill-fated attempt to score in the final minute. The Giants ate up almost all of the final two minutes of the game on a long 72-yard scoring drive that would make Donovan McNabb blush, highlighted by two bone-headed calls by Shurmur to have Manning try a quarterback sneak not just once, but twice at the Atlanta one yard line. Predictably the Giants didn't score. By the time Big Blue finally scored there were five seconds left in the game. The game was over. What a complete waste.

In a season where the Giants have played awful football, where their star wide receiver not only got paid, but has thrown the franchise under the bus, Monday's game was a new low for the franchise. For all the Giants fans who praised the hiring of Shurmur, what do you think now? There is a reason Shurmur was 9-23 in two seasons with the Browns, and it isn't all on the bad culture in Cleveland. Shurmur was part of that bad culture there, and the Giants ignored it, much the same way the New York Jets ignored the fact Rich Kotitte lost his last seven game with the Eagles in 1994 before hiring him to be their head coach in 1995.

Wait, did I say it? Yes, Pat Shurmur, you are the Giants version of Rich Kotittte.

Aye Caramba! The Jets Stink Versus Vikings

VIKINGS 37 - JETS 17 

The Jets have nobody to blame but themselves for Sunday’s loss 37-17 to the Minnesota Vikings, an afternoon that was defined by mistakes in all three facets of the game as the Jets dropped to 3-4 on the season.

For a young team like the Jets, this kind of performance is expected, especially against a team like the Vikings. But what made Sunday’s defeat so frustrating is the Vikings were ripe for the picking. The Jets could have won this game had they played smarter. 

While the turnover sheet shows the Jets turned the football over four times, the amount of mental and physical mistakes created a laundry list of problems for Gang Green.

It seemed to all start when punter Lachlen Edwards received a horrible snap on a simple fourth down early in the second quarter and it just kept down hill from there. Edwards botched the punt, giving the Vikings the football at the Jets 40, and inspite of an inspired Jets defensive stand, Minnesota still got points out of it to take a 10-7 lead.

Then the mistakes kept coming. A botched snap by Spencer Long resulted in a loss of possession. Fumbles by Andre Roberts on punt returns proved costly; huge drops by Jets receivers in big spots were uncanny, unconscious play by Parry Nickerson, and bad turnovers by Sam Darnold. The mistakes kept coming like a geyser.

 After the Vikings scored a touchdown on their opening possession of the third quarter to make it 17-7, Darnold made a horrible mistake when he tried to gun the ball down field, only to have it picked off by Hunter Smith. Smith brought the ball back 52-yards to the Jets nine yard line, setting up another Viking field goal to make it 20-7.

Then, the really awful mistakes started to happen. The Jets got a gift when Roberts returned the ensuing kick-off 53-yards into Viking territory, but New York found a way to shoot themselves in the foot when Eric Tomlinson and Isaiah Crowell dropped passes that would have been easy first downs.

 Instead of marching down field for a much-needed touchdown, the Jets had to kick the field goal to cut the Viking lead down to 20-10.

The next big mistake came minutes later when Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins threw the football behind himself for a clear fumble. Nobody on the Jets knew what was going on. Parry Nickerson was the closet Jet to the football and didn’t realize the ball was alive until Stefon Diggs fell on it. Had Nickerson paid attention, he could have scooped up the ball and scored.

After both teams exchanged touchdowns to make it a 27-17 ball game, the Jets still had a shot with nearly nine minutes to go in the game after the defense forced a Viking three-and-out, but even that was asking too much.

On second and 10 from the Jets own 43-yard line, Darnold threw a costly interception to Holton Hill on a pass intended for Andre Roberts. The Vikings would make the Jets pay when Cousins found Aldrick Robinson from 34-yards out on a fourth down and eight to blow the game open at 34-17.

Ironically, the Jets could have gotten out of this mess. Two plays before Cousins hit Robinson in the end zone, Cousins tried to dump a pass off down the middle that Parry Nickerson had in his hands and dropped. It could have. No, it should have been a Jets interception. Instead, his drop gave the Vikings life, which they took advantage of.

Clearly the number of missing bodies from this game hurt the Jets. They Jets were without Marcus Maye, Trumaine Johnson and Buster Skrine, forcing the Jets to give more playing time to Nickerson and Darryle Roberts. For his sake, Roberts did ok in the Jets secondary, but they missed the hard hitters in the lineup.

Offensively, the Jets never got going. Without Quincy Enunwa who is out for a month with an ankle injury, and without Terrell Pryor, who the team inexplicably cut just hours before the game, Darnold was throwing to guys he wasn’t used to. Andre Roberts, Deontray Burnett and Charone Peake shouldn’t be catching passes from Darnold. In Peake’s case, he caught a pass and lateraled it to a Viking player by accident.

As a result, Darnold had his worst game since the Jacksonville game four weeks ago. The quarterback was 17-of-42 for 206 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions.  

At 3-4, the Jets loss to the Vikings was a missed opportunity, a reminder that this football team is still light-years away from being a good team. New York heads to Chicago next week to face an angry Bears team. If the Jets don’t clean up the mistakes, it will be ugly next week.