The Jets beat the Patriots 26-20 in overtime Sunday to keep their playoff dreams alive. Here are some thoughts and observations on the game:
1. The effect Todd Bowles has had on the Jets reminds me of a recent leader of a New York sports team – Joe Torre. Now, Bowles has a long way to go to match Torre’s success with the Yankees — as in, four championships and a boatload of division titles to go — but Bowles has had a calming influence on the Jets that reminds me of Torre’s.
Remember: Torre took over a tumultuous situation in 1996 with George Steinbrenner firing the popular Buck Showalter after a playoff appearance and walked into a clubhouse with plenty of players still loyal to Showalter. Bowles inherited a Jets team that had not enjoyed recent success, but did have a popular coach in Rex Ryan, both in the locker room and with the fan base. The Jets had been a model of dysfunction over the three prior years, from the Tim Tebow trade to the war between general manager John Idzik and Ryan.
But Bowles instantly calmed the waters. Even when things got rocky in August with the IK Enemkpali punch of Geno Smith, Bowles took the “body blow,” as he calls it, and rolled on. Over time, he won over even the fiercest Rex loyalists in the Jets locker room.
“I remember right off the bat the calming influence he had,” David Cone said in the book “The Yankee Years” of Torre’s arrival, “the way he conducted team meetings, the way he talked to people. You could sense that he was going to be a calming influence.”
Bowles, like Torre, gets respect from players because he was one. Torre won the 1971 National League MVP. Bowles won a Super Bowl with the Redskins. Players respect those kinds of resumes, and it gives them a gravitas that non-players have to earn over years. Torre and Bowles also each had a key veteran assistant. For Torre, it was bench coach Don Zimmer. For Bowles, it has been offensive coordinator Chan Gailey. Both assistants had been in the big chair and could help their new bosses through it. Both were old enough they were not interested in promoting themselves for the next job, just focused on doing their current one. And both were key pieces of the teams’ success.
The other similarity I see between the two men is they are both comfortable in their skin. That is a huge factor when you are a coach/manager in New York. If you’re not, things like the media, a fickle fan base and the distractions that come with this market can wear on you. Torre had been fired three times before he got to the Yankees. Bowles had interviewed for nine other head coaching jobs before the Jets hired him. You get to the point where little fazes you.
Bowles is just beginning his head coaching career. If he is half as good as Torre, Jets fans should be giddy.
2. The Jets’ offensive stars justifiably are getting a lot of attention. Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker and Ryan Fitzpatrick are all having great seasons. But if you talk to Jets players, they can’t stop raving about some of the role players. Call them “The Other Guys.”
On Sunday, Bilal Powell, Stevan Ridley, Kenbrell Thompkins and Quincy Enunwa each had big moments.
Powell has emerged as the Jets’ most reliable back with his role seeming to increase every week. He rushed seven times for 56 yards and caught five passes for 34 yards against the Patriots.
The Jets’ first touchdown drive of the game featured Ridley and Thompkins, both former Patriots. On the drive, Ridley carried four times for 22 yards. He finished the game with 36 yards on seven carries. Thompkins produced two catches for 24 yards on the drive, finishing with four catches for 27 yards overall.
For the second straight week, Enunwa made a huge play late in the game. His 48-yard catch in overtime set up Decker’s game-winner. He had 69 yards on two catches in the game.
Credit the front office with adding Ridley and Thompkins this year, and credit the coaching staff with getting the most out of these under-the-radar players.
3. Chris Ivory is 11 yards away from his first 1,000-yard season. It is amazing it has come down to the final game of the regular season with him still shy of that mark. Ivory’s drop-off is one of the mysteries of this Jets season.
Ivory had 501 yards, halfway to the 1,000-yard mark, through his first five games, the team’s first six (he missed one game due to injury). In the nine games he has played since, he has rushed for just 488 yards.
No one with the Jets provides a straight answer when asked what has led to Ivory’s decline in production. They say he’s healthy. There has been some suggestion opponents stack the box against the run, but teams stopped doing that a while ago when the Jets passing offense picked up.
As Ivory’s production slipped, the Jets offense changed, moving away from him. In three of the past four games, he has not even received 15 carries. The Jets have turned the offense over to Fitzpatrick, Marshall and Decker. Powell is getting more playing time at running back and has been more productive.
Ivory likely will cross the 1,000-yard mark in Buffalo. In a strange way, that will be a reminder of how disappointing his season was after such a tremendous start.
4. This is not a new observation but one worth making every once in a while to remind Jets fans how remarkable their left tackle is: D’Brickashaw Ferguson has played every snap this season – all 1,054 offensive snaps. But that is nothing new for him. Ferguson has played in all 159 games of his career and never missed a snap due to injury. He has played 10,297 snaps in his career … without ever coming off the field because he was hurt. Think about that.
Ferguson has been off the field only once since the team drafted him in 2006. In the final game of the 2008 season, on the team’s final play, Eric Mangini took his linemen off the field, loading the offense up with skill players to try a lateral play.
Since Ferguson has been manning the left side of the offensive line, the Jets have had three coaches, three general managers and eight starting quarterbacks. He is their Iron Man.
Revealing number: The Patriots were 1-for-10 on third down. Their only conversion did not come until the fourth quarter. The Jets emphasize getting off the field on third down, and they did it.
Surprising snap count: Tight end Jeff Cumberland played zero snaps. Cumberland’s role has been reduced all season, but this was the first time he did not play at all. The Jets offense is rolling, and clearly Chan Gailey has no use for the tight end position. The team likely will dump Cumberland this offseason.
Game ball: The offensive line played a great game. Fitzpatrick was only sacked once against a tough Patriots pass rush. The Jets averaged 5.3 yards per rush as the line opened up huge holes. This group has been overlooked with the star power on offense, but they are getting it done.