New York Jets: Todd Bowles mistakes don’t matter if in favor of the tank
If the New York Jets are supposed to get the number one pick, don’t sweat the Todd Bowles mistakes.
There has been some interesting chatter in the 24 hours following the New York Jets loss to Buffalo. Some of it has been about the irony in the fact that the Jets scored more points than the New York Giants did on Sunday night. Some of it has been about the continued losing ways of Josh McCown and why the young quarterbacks should be playing. Still other chatter has been about how the Jets performance was about what we expected of them.
However, the most interesting chatter has been regarding the head coach, Todd Bowles. We all saw the admittedly questionable decision he made late in the game. Down nine points with four minutes left, he elected to punt the ball away rather than go for it on fourth down. He justified the decision this way (via NJ.com):
"“We thought we could stop them and get the ball back,” Bowles said. “Simple as that.”"
Be that as it may, this decision got everybody talking. Social media was buzzing with the terrible decision that Todd Bowles had made. People were talking about how after just one game he has shown nothing to earn the right to stay. His game management weaknesses were back once again.
As I was writing this post, a simple Bing news search revealed several articles about his “blunder”. Mind you, there is no doubt it was a blunder. Punting back to your opponent, down two scores with four minutes left is pretty mind-blowing actually. This is not to defend that decision by any stretch. But, I want to refer you to what my friend and fellow blogger Dalbin Osorio had to say on the matter:
Make up your mind: if y'all want the team to tank, then who cares if he punted down 9?
— D.A. Osorio (@DA_Osorio) September 10, 2017
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That makes a whole lot of sense. We have to remember that we can’t have it both ways. Whether we want the Jets to be “Frozen for Rosen” or whatever else, many of us want them to lose as much as possible. If they tank, people believe, they can finally take that franchise quarterback we have been waiting for since Joe Namath.
As a fan, if you want to feel that way, it is completely your prerogative to do so. But if you want them to lose, why worry if Bowles mis-manages the game? Does it matter? If he does, he is essentially helping the team get to the goal you are hoping for. It doesn’t make much sense to be up in arms over decisions that are bringing the result that you were looking for in the first place.
Next: Jets offense can't do enough in loss to Bills
We all know the saying, “You can’t have your cake and eat it too”. As Jets fans we should know that by now, too well. Have we gotten everything we wanted at the same time since Super Bowl III? No, we have not. So the moral of the story is that if we want the team to lose, don’t get so upset if Bowles makes a mistake. He is helping to the result you want. They can’t “tank” and have Bowles make perfect decisions. We can’t have it both ways.