Countdown to Camp: 95
As we look ahead to training camp in late July, we're going to take a daily retrospective look back at some random people, moments and games from Jets history...
The Current 95
Josh Martin is one of the best special teamers in the league, but by the end of last season, he'd beaten out the likes of Kony Ealy and David Bass for a starting role at outside linebacker too. Having signed a two-year extension, the expectation is that Martin, whose 43 tackles and 1.5 sacks were more than his first five seasons combined, will see his role reduce once again. However, it's not immediately clear who is going to take most of the defensive reps away from him.
The Greatest
The best players to have worn 95 in team history are unheralded defensive linemen. Let's give the edge to Rick Lyle, who made 65 starts in five years for the team, including all 16 games in their 12-4 season in 1998. Also, because when he got a job on Eric Mangini's staff, he had one of the best coach's headshots of all time:
Is that Ming the Merciless?
The other 95's
CJ Mosley, Tom Baldwin, Howard Green...
The '95 season
The Jets entered the 1995 season with high hopes as former Eagles offensive mastermind Rich Kotite had been handpicked to lead the team into a new era. Kotite was not only given the coaching job, but also the final say on personnel.
The Jets lost 52-14 on opening day and things didn't get much better from there. They began 1-6 and finished up 3-13, losing seven games by 10 or more points.
The Jets once again didn't have any pro bowlers. Boomer Esiason led an offense that scored just 22 touchdowns all season and had a seven game span where they totalled just 72 points. Adrian Murrell led the team in rushing and receptions, but the main bright spot was rookie Wayne Chrebet, who led the team in receiving yards.
The worst 95 ever
One of the more frustrating and humiliating losses in the modern era saw the Jets play great for the first 55 minutes. They were on the brink of a tough 13-10 win at altitude and high humidity and on a short week. All they had to do was prevent a 95-yard drive by Tim Tebow...and the drive was almost over before it began:
Maddeningly, the Broncos drove all the way down the field and won the game on this play:
Remarkably, the Jets bounced back to win three in a row and moved to 8-5 on the year, only to then blow their last three games.
Let us know if there's any connections to 95 that we missed...