Back in 2003 when All Star Goalie Mike Richter retired New York Rangers fans could only hope they could find a goalie as good as the one who helped lead the Broadway Blue Shirts to a Stanley Cup title in 1994.
Some two years after Richter retired, they found the rightful heir to the throne in Henrik Lundqvist. While Lundqvist didn't win a Stanley Cup in his 15 years at net for the Rangers, he became beloved by fans who dubbed him "the King."
Lundqvist is the all-time leader in franchise history in games played (887), wins (459) and save percentage (.918). He won the Vezina Trophy in 2012 as the NHL's top goaltender. He holds the record for most wins by a European-born goaltender in the NHL.
On Friday night, Lunqvist's number 30 joined Richter's number 31 in the rafters at Madison Square Garden.
Richter along with Rangers legends Mark Messier, Adam Graves and Brian Leetch were all on hand to welcome Lundqvist to the exclusive club. Only 11 Rangers have had their numbers retired.
"When I came here, I didn't know what to expect," he said. "I was going to play hockey. I was going to live my dream. Thinking back now, I didn't know how many times I had to pinch myself because I lived my dream here. To live in a place where people care so much. Where they treat you so well. To play in Madison Square Garden. To live in New York City."
After a thorough vetting process the New York Giants have officially named former Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll as Head Coach.
The hiring isn't the least bit surprising considering Daboll has long been perceived to be the favorite to land the job, especially after the Giants hired former Bills Assistant General Manager Joe Schoen as their new General Manager. Both Daboll and Schoen worked together the past four years, and are said to be close friends.
Daboll was one of five candidates for the job including for Miami Dolphins Head Coach Brian Flores, Dallas Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn, Bills Defensive Coordinator Leslie Fraizer, and Giants Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham.
Quinn pulled his name from consideration and returned to Dallas. Reports were Friday that he was more interested in Denver's head coaching job before they settled on Green Bay Offensive Coordinator Nathanael Hackett.
The Giants interviewed Flores on Thursday, and there was speculation that Daboll was a hot candidate for the Miami Dolphins job, but the Fish decided to wait before making a decision.
Flores would have been considered a risky proposition, considering his checkered history coaching the Dolphins that included no playoffs in three seasons and issues he had in working with members of the front office and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.
The Giants decided not to wait another minute, and hired the man Schoen wanted to be his head coach.
Daboll was the only offensive coach to get interviewed by the Giants. He is largely credited with turning around Josh Allen's young career the past three seasons. Allen has gone from project to superstar, and his prowess was on full display last Sunday when he threw for four touchdowns in Buffalo's 42-36 loss to Kansas City in the AFC Divisional playoffs.
The Bills were ranked fifth in total offense this past season, and were second in scoring offense.
"Over the last four years, I have observed first-hand Brian's
strengths as a leader -- he is an excellent communicator, intelligent,
innovative, and hard working," Schoen said in a statement. "Brian's
genuine and engaging personality is refreshing. He fosters relationships
with the players and coaches around him. He is progressive in his
vision and values collaboration, two of the attributes we think are
essential.
"I am thrilled to partner with Brian and welcome he and his family to this side of the state."
The key now is for Daboll to craft a coaching staff. There has been speculation he could bring Bills passing game coordinator Ken Dorsey with him as his offensive coordinator, and former Ravens Defensive Coordinator Wink Martindale to run the D.
Once a staff is fully crafted the focus will turn to quarterback Daniel Jones, whom owner John Mara and Schoen said they are committed to for the 2022 season. Can Daboll do for Jones what he did for Allen? That will be the burning question between now and opening day next September.
When Alex Rodriguez and David Ortiz were expected to appear on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 2022, everyone knew that there would be a visceral, angry reaction one way or the other.
On Tuesday night, the Internet blew up when Ortiz received 77.9 percent of the vote, while other accused and suspected steroid users like Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Alex Rodriguez were not voted in. In fact this was the final year of eligibility for both Clemens and Bonds. Bonds only received 66 percent of the vote. Clemens got 65.2 percent.
Former Diamondbacks and Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling was also removed from future consideration after drawing less than 60 percent of the vote.
Fans were in a uproar.
David Ortiz and Alex Rodriguez, much like Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGuire before them were faces of the steroid era. Rodriguez was suspended for the entire 2014 season for using performance enhancing drugs.
Ortiz was never suspended, although a New York Times story revealed in 2009 that Big Papi was one of 104 players who tested positive in 2003. Ortiz would never test positive since that time the rest of his career.
Many have claimed both on the talk radio circuit and online that Ortiz's inclusion into the Hall was based on personality rather than accomplishments.
It's hard to argue against Ortiz's resume, however. He hit 541 home runs, drove in 1768 and was a lifetime .286 hitter. He won three World Series titles, and helped Boston end its 86-year drought in 2004 when it shocked the Yankees in the American League Championship Series, and beat the Cardinals in the World Series. Go by stats alone, and his impact on history, Ortiz is deserving.
The problem is, the steroid question. If Ortiz did indeed take steroids at one point in his career like many others, it creates an entirely new debate, and a sticky one that baseball has to come to terms with.
Should MLB allow the other steroid users in? If Ortiz is in, and there is without a doubt other users that are likely in the Hall already, Baseball is going to have to figure something out with regards to its most prominent abusers of the game and settle it. Then again, it has been 32 years since Pete Rose was banned from baseball for gambling, and baseball still hasn't looked back at that either.
Buffalo Bills Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll is getting a second
interview with the Giants on Tuesday, and it will be in person. This
comes as the Giants are also set to interview former Falcons Head Coach
and current Cowboys Defensive Coordinator Dan Quinn for the head
coaching job.
Daboll is the first coaching candidate the Giants have interviewed
who is getting a second interview. He interviewed via zoom on Friday.
Typically second interviews in person are a good indicator that a team
is closing in on “their guy” for head coach.
General Manager Joe Schoen is well versed in Daboll’s coaching
ability and personality, having worked with him in Buffalo the past four
years when Daboll was the O.C. and Schoen was Assistant GM. Daboll has
perceived to be the favorite for the job for some time.
The Giants have
also interviewed Bills Defensive Coordinator Leslie Fraizer, Cincinnati
Bengals Defensive Coordinator Lou Anarumo, and Quinn. Former Dolphins
Head Coach Brian Flores has not been interviewed formally as of yet, but
was once believed to be a candidate.
Daboll’s Buffalo Bills lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the
Divisional Playoffs 42-36 in overtime on Sunday night. Quarterback Josh
Allen, whom many credit Daboll for turning into an All-Pro at the
position, lit it up, throwing for 329 yards and four touchdowns.
The
Bills were ranked fifth in the NFL in total offense this year behind
only the LA Chargers, Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Buffalo was also ranked third in scoring offense in the NFL at 28.2
points per game. Only the Cowboys and Bucs were better.
Should the Giants go the route of Brian Daboll, he will be tasked
with fixing an Giants offense that was ranked 31st in the league in both
scoring offense (15.2 points per game) and total yards per game (287.3
ypg).
Before joining the Bills in 2018, Daboll spent parts of 11 years with
the New England Patriots as an assistant on both sides of the ball. He
was the Offensive Coordinator for the Browns, Dolphins and Chiefs during
a four year period from 2009-12. He was also the Jets quarterbacks
coach under Head Coach Eric Mangini from 2007-08. Daboll was also the
offensive coordinator on Alabama’s National Championship winning team in
2017.
The Giants named Buffalo Bills Assistant General Manager Joe Schoen, (pronounced 'Shane') as their new General Manager on Friday, and in earnest began interviewing Head Coaching candidates, namely Bills Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll.
While the Bills are still in the playoffs, and depending on how they do on Sunday in Kansas City, could remain in the playoffs for another three weeks, the fact the Giants interviewed Daboll first, and his connections to Schoen, might indicate that he is an early favorite for the job.
Schoen spent the past five years with the Bills as Assistant GM under Brandon Beane. He is credited as being part of a front office that orchestrated a franchise turnaround from destitute loser to perennial Super Bowl contender.
Whether that makes Schoen a shoe-in to be a success down I-81 is anyone's guess. He has to hit on the head coach first. There are a number of candidates aside from Daboll, who are interested. Namely former Dolphins head coach Brian Flores who is expected to interview for the job.
Flores is a New York native, and is said to want the job. He is coming off of three mediocre seasons in Miami as head coach, and was fired because he didn't get along with the front office or quarterback Tua Tagovailola. Do the Giants want to go the route of hiring a head coach who was just fired? Remember when the Jets did that? Adam Gase was supposed to be an offensive genius, but had a spotty history with Miami. The rest, as they say, is infamy.
Daboll, like Flores, also hails from the Bill Belichick tree, having served most of his career as a Patriots assistant coach. He is credited with turning around Josh Allen's career the past few seasons when it looked like the quarterback was off to a disastrous start to his career in 2018.
Daboll is the unknown. He has never been a head coach at this level, and nobody knows how good he will be. A Daboll-Schoen tandem would be the ultimate shot in the dark for the Giants, who are trying to get back on track in a division that has no true dominant team.
In addition to the head coach, Schoen has to figure out what to do with quarterback Daniel Jones. There is no slam dunk in the draft this year. There never is. Do the Giants reach for someone like Kenny Pickett in the draft and hope, like the previous administration did with Jones, that Pickett is the guy, eventually?
Or do the Giants go out and try to contend by trading for a veteran? Aaron Rodgers and Russell Wilson are two significant names that could be on the market this spring. If the Giants went that route, Schoen would need to significantly beef up the offensive line and make other moves that could make the Giants contenders right away.
Or, the safest bet is roll with Jones for another year. Build around him as much as possible, and if doesn't work out, it doesn't work out. At least Schoen and (fill in the blank for Head Coach) would have a year under their belts to evaluate the roster and make a significant move in 2023.
If the 2021-22 Brooklyn Nets weren't facing enough challenges this season, they received probably the worst news they could get: Kevin Durant is out for the next month-plus with a sprained MCL.
Durant suffered the injury to his knee in Brooklyn's 120-105 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans on Saturday night.
According to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, the realistic timetable for Durant's return is sometime after the All Star Break, which is between February 18-23.
The good news for Brooklyn is obvious, Durant is expected back before the playoffs begin in late April. He should be fully recovered by then. In addition 11 of the next 14 games are on the road, meaning Kyrie Irving will be on the court for Brooklyn. Last year the Nets went 16-3 in games where they only had Harden and Irving on the floor.
The Nets have put a lot on the shoulders of the 33-year old Durant since he signed with the Nets over two years ago. Last year he carried the Nets through the playoffs when the team was dealing with numerous injuries down the stretch.
This year he has had to carry them through a year where the team has been hit hard by both COVID, and Irving's absence from the team due to no vaccination against COVID.
Durant is averaging 29.3 points per game this year.
The Nets are 29-15, a half game behind the Chicago Bulls for the top seed in the East. Ironically, the Nets have really struggled at home this year, posting a record of 12-11. The Nets only hold a two-game lead over Philadelphia for first place in the Atlantic Division.
When asked whether the 2021 season was one of the most embarrassing he has seen from the New York Giants, owner and CEO John Mara paused for a beat before answering, "Yes, yes it is. I kept thinking during the season we hit rock bottom and then each week it got a little worse."
Mara sounded both contrite, exhausted and frustrated during a 20-minute news conference with reporters the day after he and co-owner Steve Tisch fired head coach Joe Judge after two years on the job. The firing of Judge echos a full house cleaning for Big Blue after General Manager David Gettleman "retired" at the end of the season on Sunday.
"We've gotten into this process for too often recently," Mara added. "There is nothing more painful to me than making that walk down a hallway to tell a good person like Joe that we are making a change. We have done it far too often. We are going to get it right this time."
Judge is the third head coach in six season for Big Blue, the others being Ben McAddo and Pat Shurmur, both of whom were promptly fired after only two seasons a piece. The three coaches combined are 32-51 since 2016.
In many ways Mara expressed a certain amount of regret about hiring Judge, although he said twice that he still believed that Judge could be a good head coach.
"We haven't necessarily made the right choices. I think looking back on our process, I wish it had been a little more extensive, that we had seen more people, and maybe taken our time with it a little more," Mara said about the hiring process that led to selecting Judge in 2020. "We are going to try to not make that mistake this time."
Asked whether Judge's 11-minute rant following New York's 29-3 loss to the Chicago Bears where he threw the Washington Football Team and Pat Shurmur under the bus was a final straw, Mara said he "wasn't thrilled with it."
"I can't say there was one specific act that was the last straw, it was culmination of things," Mara continued. "We dug ourselves so deep I didn't see a clear path to get out of it unless we blew it and start over with a new General Manager and Head Coach. I still believe there is a good head coach inside Joe Judge; I just felt like given where we are with a new general manager, we need the flexibility to allow that person to bring in who he wants."
And that is where the Giants are right now. They are in the process of interviewing candidates for General Manager. Already New York has interviewed Cardinals Vice President of Pro Scouting, Adrian Wilson, and Buffalo Bills Assistant General Manager Joe Schoen. There have been rumored to be as many as nine potential candidates for the job.
"I feel good about the group of candidates we have right now. Any one of them can make a great general manager," said Mara.
Ultimately Mara indicated that it will be his job, and the job of ownership to earn back the trust of a fan base that has been disheartened by so many years of poor football. Mara echoed that it would not be an overnight turnaround, rather a lengthy process that begins with the naming of the general manager.
Still, names for Giants head coach are being tossed around in various circles from Kansas City Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Eric Bienemy; Buccaneers Defensive Coordinator, and former Jets Head Coach, Todd Bowles; Patriots Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels, and recently fired Dolphins Coach Brian Flores. Even Saints Head Coach Sean Payton is a name many are discussing, although to get him, the Giants would have to give up draft compensation to New Orleans.
The New York Mets will retire the number of Keith Hernandez this summer, a move Mets fans have wanted to see happen for many years.
Hernandez's number 17 will be lifted to the rafters of Citi Field on July 9 before a match-up with the Miami Marlins. Hernandez becomes the fourth player to be so honored, joining Mike Piazza (31), Jerry Koosman (36) and the late Tom Seaver (41). Gil Hodges (14) and Casey Stengel (37) have their numbers retired as managers.
Hernandez will also be the first member of the 1986 World Series championship team to have such an honor bestowed to him.
In the summer of 1983 then Mets General Manager Frank Cashen sent relievers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey to the St. Louis Cardinals in exchange for the All Star first baseman, who had already won a World Series in St. Louis. Hernandez was initially hesitant about staying with the Mets until he began to see the plethora of budding young talent coming up through the Mets farm system.
In so many ways Hernandez was the linchpin of those 80's Mets teams. As described by many of his 1986 teammates in the ESPN 30-for-30 documentary, "Once Upon A Time In Queens," Hernandez was the leader that most of the players looked up to.
In his seven years as a Met, Hernandez hit .297 with a .387 on base percentage. He slugged 80 home runs and 159 doubles, and drove in 468.
He had seven RBI during the Mets World Series run in 1986.
A line-drive hitter, Hernandez was better known for his glove at first base, posting a stellar .994 fielding percentage and capturing 11 Gold Gloves over his entire 17-year Major League career.
After his playing days were over in the early 90's, Hernandez became widely known for a handful of appearances on the sitcom "Seinfeld," with whom he struck up a good friendship with the show's co-creator and star, Jerry Seinfeld.
More recent fans of course know Hernandez from his many years in the Mets broadcast booth which began in the early 2000's on Fox Sports Net alongside the likes of Howie Rose, Fran Healey and WPIX Channel 11 alongside Gary Thorne and Tom Seaver.
By 2006, Hernandez formed the three-man booth on SNY with Gary Cohen and his old '86 Mets teammate, Ron Darling. The trio have worked Mets games for 17 years, bringing their unique baseball insight, with a little bit of comedy and storytelling mixed in.
Gary, Keith and Ron have become so popular that Mets fans even put out their own t-shirt line of the trio a few seasons ago. Even Yankees fans have acknowledged that the Mets TV booth is one of the best in the sport.
Giants fans can finally take a deep sigh of relief. The New York Giants officially fired embattled Head Coach Joe Judge after ownership spent the past two days meeting with Judge to gauge his plans for the team moving forward.
Judge finished 10-23 in two seasons as Giants head coach.
The Giants entered 2021 with very high expectations, but the team never even came close to matching them. A combination of poor play in big spots early in the season, combined with injuries and finally inept, noncompetitive play in the final month and a half of the season was too much.
Two weeks ago Judge had a bizarre 11-minute rant in which he claimed the Giants were not a "clown show" bringing up the scuffle on the sideline with the Washington Football Team as an example. Then against Washington, the Giants chose to do two quarterback sneaks out of the shadow of their own goalline that was totally ludicrous.
Finally, the fans just couldn't take it anymore. Fans were in MetLife stadium wearing bags on their heads, and demanding Judge's firing, while questioning ownership's commitment to excellence. In short a change was coming.
"(Co-owner) Steve (Tisch) and I both believe it is in the best
interest of our franchise to move in another direction," Giants co-owner
John Mara said in a statement. "We met with Joe yesterday afternoon to
discuss the state of the team. I met again with Joe this afternoon, and
it was during that conversation I informed Joe of our decision. We
appreciate Joe's efforts on behalf of the organization.
"I said
before the season started that I wanted to feel good about the direction
we were headed when we played our last game of the season.
Unfortunately, I cannot make that statement, which is why we have made
this decision.
"We will hire a general manager and that person will lead the effort to hire a new head coach."
That last sentence has to be music to Giants fans ears. Hiring a General Manager from outside the organization, who will bring in a new vision is exactly what the Giants need. They need a total reboot, a new look and feel to turn this organization around.
Giants fans got one half of what they wanted following a disappointing 4-13 season, General Manager David Gettleman is history.
Gettleman officially "retired" as Giants GM after four mediocre seasons running the Giants franchise. It was a tenure marred by bad decisions and horrible play on the field as the Giants went a combined 19-46 during Gettleman's four years.
Of the many mistakes by Gettleman, none were bigger than the drafting of running back Saquon Barkley with the second overall pick in a quarterback heavy draft in 2018 when the Giants clearly needed to find the successor to Eli Manning. Gettleman opted to stay with Manning another year.
As for Barkley, after a break-out rookie season in 2018, he struggled to repeat that performance henceforth. Injuries played a big role, as a ACL tear in week 2 of the 2020 season ended his year, and sent him down a path where he is a shell of the player he once was.
Gettleman also drafted quarterback Daniel Jones, who has been nothing short of average as Giants starting quarterback, when healthy.
Gettleman was also instrumental in signing Kenny Galloday and drafting Kardarius Toney, neither of whom reached the end zone this past season.
He was also the General Manager who hired not one, but two failed head coaches. First it was Pat Shurmer. Now it's Joe Judge.
And speaking of Judge, it appears as though Judge might return for the 2022 season, although nothing is for certain. Reports on Sunday indicated that the Giants were torn about what to do with Judge. There were even reports that the players were tired of the bumbling Giants head coach and want change.
However by Monday while other coaches were getting the axe, Judge was preparing to meet with players as if he was going through his the process of remaining the H.C. of the NYG for the foreseeable future.
There is always the chance that the Giants fire Judge, should a new GM insist that they go in another direction. More likely, the Giants are going to put a square peg into a round hole and marry Judge with whomever the new GM is, whether that person likes it or not.
It's not the most sound strategy, and one that almost certainly will blow up in the Giants faces, just ask the Jets who made a similar move with Rex Ryan and John Idzik back in 2013.
Anyone paying attention to all the wild playoff clinching scenarios that were taking place Sunday afternoon knew the Jets were in a very tough spot in Buffalo late Sunday. And what happened Sunday was predictable as the Jets were slammed by the Bills 27-10 in the season finale, as Buffalo clinched the AFC East title for the second straight season.
In fact Buffalo clinched the division before the game was over thanks to the Miami Dolphins 33-24 win over the New England Patriots.
The Jets were putrid offensively. A combination of injuries to the offensive line, wide receivers, and Zach Wilson's tendency to hold onto the football way too long paved the way for a brutal night for the Jets.
Wilson was knocked down 19 times, sacked eight times, and only completed 7-of-20 passes for 87 yards. He was totally under siege against the best defense in the NFL.
Yet somehow the Jets managed to hang around for most of the evening due in part to the Jets ability to slow down Josh Allen and the Bills and hold them to a pair of field goals in the early going, and the fact that Buffalo punter Matt Haack had a horrible night, shanking a couple of punts, and punting one ball seven yards after a fumbled snap.
Were it not for the special teams gaffs on the part of the Bills, the Jets probably would have been shutout.
The first shanked punt resulted in a Jets touchdown, a nice throw by Wilson to Keenlan Cole on a crossing pattern that the speedy receiver ran home for a 40-yard score to cut the Bills lead to 10-7.
In the third quarter, the Jets got a gift on the bobbled snap from the long snapper that Haack punted only seven yards to the Buffalo 29-yard line. Unfortunately for the Jets, they couldn't do anything with it, settling for a field goal to cut the Bills lead to 13-10.
Buffalo finally got its act together in the fourth quarter. Josh Allen's 32-yard scramble jump-started a seven-play, 51-yards scoring drive that culminated in a Devin Singletary one-yard run that gave the Bills a 20-10 advantage.
After a Jets three-and-out, Buffalo put the finishing touches on the game when Allen dropped a dime into the hands of Gabriel Davis for a 27-yard gain into Jets territory. A few plays later, Singletary hauled in an Allen pass for a touchdown to make it 27-10.
The Jets finish the season at 4-13. It was a season where the Jets young players showed some progress. Zach Wilson had his moments throughout the year. All eyes will be on what kind of leap Wilson can take, if any, in year two when the team reconvenes this spring and summer.
What will be the fate of head coach Joe Judge? Well, if you ask Giants fans and pundits, they want to see Judge handed a pink slip. Outrage on social media has grown louder by the day, and it hit a fever pitch on Sunday in the second quarter of the Giants 22-7 loss to the Washington Football Team.
With Big Blue trailing 3-0, the Giants decided - TWICE - to go for a quarterback sneak deep inside their own territory in order to avoid the potential for a safety. Giants fans lost their cool, and one can understand why. The Giants offense has lacked creativity all season, and ever since Judge fired offensive coordinator Jason Garrett in the middle of the season, the offense has spiraled into mind-numbing proportions.
Where was the aggression? Where was the passion? The Giants are a 4-13 football, there should have been a willingness to do something to get the offense moving, and there was nothing.
When asked about the play Judge said, "We were backed up, I wanted to get room. We gave ourselves room for the punt, we protected it, and we held them on the next drive."
To be fair, Judge's tenure is not going to come down to two plays in the shadow of the Giants own goalline. But what will determine it is the fact that the Giants scored only 53 points in their final five games; ended the year on a six game losing streak, and has held one bizzaro press conference after another.
Against Washington, the Giants were once again inept offensively. They managed only 177 total yards, and Jake Fromm was bad once again, throwing for only 103 yards with two interceptions, including a pick six.
The only positive, a 22-yard touchdown pass by Fromm to a wide open Darius Slayton was quickly nullified as Washington chewed up and spit out the Giants defense on a nearly five minute drive that culminated on a Antonio Gibson 18-yard touchdown to give the Football Team a 19-7 lead.
A decision on Judge probably won't be made quickly. The Giants are in the process of evaluating candidates for General Manager. In house candidate kevin Abrams is believed in many circles to be the favorite for the job. If he gets it, Judge might not be going anywhere.
In addition, both John Mara and Steve Tisch have to ask themselves if they are willing to fire their third straight head coach after two years on the job? That is a terrible pattern to be in, and not one conducive to rebuilding a winning culture, a culture that seems very, very far in the distance for the Giants.
There comes a point in the
development of a young team that the very idea of "moral victory" has to
go out the window, especially when actual victory is there for the
taking.
The Jets instead bobbled that opportunity. It wasn't a
buttfumble, but it certainly was a major brain fart by Head Coach Robert
Saleh and Offensive Coordinator Mike LeFluer as the Jets, facing a
fourth and two-plus inside the Buccaneers five yard line, decided to go
for it, up 24-20, rather than kick a field to extend their lead to a
full touchdown.
Not only did they decide to go for it, they
decided to have Zach Wilson keep it on a quarterback sneak. The result:
Wilson was stopped at the line of scrimmage.
Turnover on downs.
The
Jets didn't score any points on a drive where the Bucs used all of
their timeouts, and the Jets were poised to end the game out right.
Instead,
Tom Brady got the football back, and he did exactly what the GOAT
always does. He drove Tampa Bay the length of the field the final two
minutes, and stabbed the Jets in the heart once again with a 33-yard
strike to Cyrill Grayson in the end zone to win it walk-off style with
:15 to play.
What should have been a Jets win, turned into an excruciating 28-24 loss.
Welcome to the New York Jets, Robert Saleh.
Saleh said afterwards that there was a miscommunication. However, it doesn't explain why the Jets stayed with the call to go for a quarterback sneak after they called a timeout.
Instead Saleh is left with the worst loss in his young head coaching career, after he was just a play away possibly from the best win of his career.
The loss mars what was a solid effort by quarterback Zach Wilson, who was pinpoint accurate with his throws, especially in the first half, and had the Jets clicking most of the day offensively. He also didn't turn it over, a huge plus.
Braxton Berrios was dynamic again for the Jets, hauling in eight passes for 65-yards and a touchdown that gave the Jets a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter.
Berrios also scored the Jets opening touchdown of the game on an end around. In short the Jets had the Bucs right where they wanted them. When Brady couldn't complete a pass to Tyler Johnson at the goalline, forcing Tampa to kick a field goal, cutting the Jets lead to 24-20, New York had its shot.
Wilson had the Jets moving the ball with alacrity. He completed a big pass to Keenan Cole for a first down, and the combo running of Austin Walter and Ty Johnson were eating up chunks of yards and clock. Then came the infamous red zone opportunity that went by the wayside.
If there ever was a game this season that Jets fans will look back on and kick themselves, this was it.
Another week, another unwatchable effort for the New York Giants.
It has become commonplace of late here in the 2021-22 season as the Giants managed only one field goal, and finished the game with minus-10 yards passing in a 29-3 loss to the Chicago Bears.
It was the third time in the last five games that the G-Men failed to score a touchdown, and the fourth time in five weeks they failed to score more than 10 points.
Head Coach Joe Judge emphatically tried to defend his players after another dispiriting defeat:
"This ain't a team that is having fistfights on the sidelines. This ain't some clown show organization or something else," Judge said. "You talk about the foundation built. The toughest thing to change in a team, in a club, is the way people think. You understand that? That is the toughest thing. You can get new players. You can have your damn locker room all you want. You have to change how people think. You have to change how they (BLEEP)ing believe in what you're doing. And they have to trust the process. And that is a lot easier said than done when they're looking up right now and you've got one game left and the most you can win is five this season.
"But I guarantee you this: Those men are going to walk in Wednesday and be ready to roll. We're going to practice hard on Wednesday, practice hard on Thursday and Friday. And we're going to play for each other when we get on the field next week."
Mike Glennon completed four of 11 passes for 24 yards. Because he was sacked four times for minus-34 years, the Giants finished with negative net yardage in the passing game.
The only real positive was Saquon Barkely breaking 100 yards rushing on the day for Big Blue.
The Giants fell behind early when Glennon was strip sacked by Chiacgo. The Bears quickly turned the gaff into points on the first of two rushing touchdowns for David Montgomery to give the Bears a 7-0 lead. They would never look back.
The Giants finish the season at MetLife Stadium next Sunday against Washington.
