JETS 17 - PATRIOTS 3
For many members of the 2023 New York Jets, they weren't even born, or at least in diapers, when Bill Belichick fatefully decided to write on a napkin, "I resign as HC of the NYJ," and handed it to then Jets team President Steve Gutman in the winter of 1999/2000.
Days after those 1999 Jets wrapped up a disappointing season with hopes at 8-8, and Bill Parcells "retired" to the front office, many assumed that Belichick would take over and keep the momentum that Parcells started in 1997 going for years to come.
We all know what happened.
Belichick resigned. He held that awkward press conference at the Jets old digs in Hofstra and was out the door. Days later he became the HC of the NEP.
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| Bill Belichick - Getty Images |
After a 5-11 season in 2000, Belichick ran into a pot of gold when Tom Brady came in for an injured Drew Bledsoe and the rest as they say is history.
Six Super Bowl titles, 17 AFC East titles, 11 trips to the AFC Title game. The Patriots under Belichick and Brady became the dynasty to end all dynasties. The Jets in turn became the Washington Generals to the Patriots, Harlem Globetrotters.
While the Jets got the Pats number in the early Rex Ryan years, including pulling out an upset in the divisional round of the playoffs in January of 2011, it wasn't enough.
The Jets could never match the Pats under Belichick. And heading into this season finale, New England had won 15 in a row against New York. Wild.
So on this snowy afternoon in Foxboro, Massachusetts with both the Jets and Patriots reeling at 6-10 and 4-12 respectively, the Jets inked out a 17-3 win over New England in what is likely Belichick's final game as Patriots Head Coach.
While it was little consultation to Jets fans who watched in horror as the man who was once their Head Coach for all of five minutes become the 21st Century answer to Vince Lombardi and Don Shula with the hated Patriots, a win is a win. Even if it cost the Jets draft position.
The Jets-Pats game on Sunday was a total slopfest. Indicative of two teams sputtering down the stretch. If you watched that game -- it likely set football back 90 years. It was awful. Hopefully you switched over to the Jaguars-Titans game which had higher stakes and better quality football on display.
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| Breece Hall - Getty Images. |
By the fourth quarter the Jets rode the legs of Breece Hall, arguably the team's best offensive weapon who gashed the Patriots for 178 yards, highlighted by a 50-yard touchdown run, followed by a two-point conversion to ice the game at 17-3.
Hall finished the season six yards shy of 1,000, with 994 yards rushing. A bit of shame, because everyone knows that Hall is as talented as any back in the league right now.
And to think the Jets found him sitting there in the second round of the 2022 draft. What a steal.
Speaking of finding gold in the draft. Many fans were upset that Gang Green didn't tank the game for a higher pick. While the Jets wound up with the 10th overall pick in the draft, many fans were upset, thinking that a good player won't drop that far.
That's ridiculous thinking. Just look at the two great players the Jets have on offense. Garret Wilson was the 10th overall pick two years ago. Hall was the 36th overall pick. It's not where you pick. It's how you pick.
Now it is up to Joe Douglas and company to get to work, and find a way to replicate that off-season of two-years ago. They need to. It's now or never for Douglas and Robert Saleh in 2024 to run it back with a healthy Aaron Rodgers and a re-tooled team next fall with eyes on ending another skid: 13 playoff-less seasons.
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