The moment everyone had been waiting for in this New York football season arrived Tuesday.
It was time to turn to 2018 and bench the veteran quarterback, giving a younger guy a shot and figuring a few more losses would only improve draft position for next spring and a shot at one of the top college quarterbacks in the draft.
It just did not happen where everyone expected. Instead of this announcement coming in Florham Park, it stunningly came in East Rutherford with the Giants benching Eli Manning for Geno Smith.
Now, the questions for the Jets are: Should they be doing the same thing? Is it time to sit down Josh McCown, thank him for all he has done this year and hand him a clipboard? Is it time to break Christian Hackenberg out of ice or dust off Bryce Petty?
In my opinion, no, it is not time to make a switch.
Here is the difference between the Jets and the Giants: two wins. That may seem trivial to you or me, but it is not to players and coaches. The Jets are technically still alive in the playoff hunt at 4-7. Go ahead and chuckle, but Todd Bowles can point to the standings and say if his team wins out, it could be in the playoffs. Ben McAdoo can’t do that at 2-9.
Bowles would not be able to look at his players and tell them that Hackenberg or Petty gives the Jets a better chance to win than McCown.
Now, McAdoo can’t make that argument to his players either about Smith over Manning, but they are 2-9 and out of playoff contention. Frankly, how his players feel about it does not really matter. The Giants’ 2017 season ended weeks ago.
The Jets players and coaches still believe they can make the playoffs, as any competitor should. Part of Bowles’ job is to motivate his team and keep it playing hard. How is he going to do that if he basically waves the white flag by benching McCown, who has played decently this season?
Bowles has been emphatic lately that McCown is his quarterback. It will be interesting to see if he changes his tune once the Jets are officially eliminated from playoff contention. That could come as soon as two weeks from now. At that point, it becomes pointless to stick with McCown. If Bowles does not move toward one of the younger quarterbacks at that point, it is time to criticize him.
To me, that is how this plays out with the Jets. Once they get eliminated from playoff contention, Bowles will turn to one of the young guys. Last year, Bowles stuck with Ryan Fitzpatrick long after Jets fans wanted him to. He waited until the Jets were officially out of it before turning to Petty.
It will be interesting to see if that is Hackenberg or Petty if they do make the move. The Giants faced a similar decision and turned to Smith even though Davis Webb would appear to have more of a future with the team. It could be because the Giants did not want to leapfrog Smith, who has been Manning’s backup all year.
For the Jets, Hackenberg is the bigger unknown than Petty, who started four games last year. It would make sense to want to take a longer look at Hackenberg, who has not appeared in a game in his two years. But Petty has been McCown’s backup all season after winning the job out of training camp. Would the Jets jump Hackenberg over Petty? We’ll find out unless the Jets go on a winning streak.
For now, the quarterback change comes 30 miles east of Florham Park. The Jets may have a change of their own soon enough, but it can wait.
Leonhard gets his Badger of honor
If you are a Jets fan and are looking for a college team to root for this weekend, consider the Wisconsin Badgers. The first-year defensive coordinator at Wisconsin is Jim Leonhard, the former Jets safety.
Leonhard has done an amazing job at his alma mater this year and was nominated this week for the Broyles Award, given to the top assistant coach in college football.
The 12-0 Badgers face Ohio State on Saturday in the Big 10 Championship game. Wisconsin’s defense will get a test against the Buckeyes.
But that unit comes into the game allowing an average of 12 points per game and 236.9 yards.
It is not a surprise to see Leonhard succeeding at coaching if you watched him with the Jets. Rex Ryan brought Leonhard with him from the Ravens when he became Jets coach in 2009. Leonhard helped implement Ryan’s defense and was like a coach on the field. His value was never more obvious than when he broke his leg in 2010 and the Jets lost to the Patriots 45-3 three days later.
So, if you are looking for someone to pull for this weekend, there is a Jets connection in Madison worth cheering for.