Link: Lombardi blasts the Jets

by Site Admin

In an article for the Ringer, former NFL executive Michael Lombardi goes deep into why the Jets landed in the predicament they are currently in.

This has already generated a lot of online discussion, with #JetsTwitter initially lauding the article for pinpointing the Jets' main issues.

So, what did Lombardi nail down?

His central premise is a simple enough one. The Jets' 2015 season was essentially a mirage and they should've realized that the team was not that good and torn it down.

Now, I already know that some of you agree with that premise and some don't, but regardless of your viewpoint, you hopefully agree that it's pretty sanctimonious to retroactively tell us that those wins we had don't really count.

(By the way, one of those wins came against a Patriots team that Lombardi was working for at the time. And the Jets led late into the fourth quarter in the other meeting between those teams, too).

Still, he's heading towards making the point that the team wasn't going to be equipped to continue to contend and that obviously has merit, given that it's exactly what seems to have transpired.

Lombardi goes on to make some points about the Jets' impatience and their decision making processes, which we all - on some level - agree have been flawed for some time.

However, as he goes on to deride the Jets for attempting to "squeeze one more year" out of a team he says was doomed to fail, former Jets beat writer Dom Consentino makes a good point:

Consentino goes on to make a few more good points in the discussion generated from the tweet, about how nobody saw most of last year's issues coming at the time.

Anyway, let's review Lombardi's premise - that the Jets' loss to the Bills should have alerted them to how 2016 would go and therefore they should have begun rebuilding then instead of trying to compete the following year - and reapply it to another recent crossroads in Jets history.

In 2008, the Jets had a lot in common with their 2015 counterparts. Behind a veteran quarterback, they exceeded expectations, looked set to go to the postseason and then fell at the final hurdle. Just like in 2015, they ended with a winning record. However, according to Lombardi's logic, losing four of their last five to some pretty bad teams should have alerted them to the fact that they needed to rebuild immediately, not try to remain competitive.

Lombardi has made a habit of bashing the Jets over the years, whether or not it was warranted. So it was no surprise that this was indeed his advice for them at the time. On an appearance on Colin Cowherd's radio show in February 2009, Lombardi blasted the Jets, claiming they were $34 million over the salary cap and implying they'd be one of the worst teams in the league.

However, on this occasion, Lombardi was wrong. The Jets kept their nucleus together, filled some holes and went to the next two AFC title games.

Ironically, that 2008 outfit was one which I myself had been saying was a bit of a mirage, as they had some serious flaws, principally in terms of their underneath coverage which allowed some journeymen quarterbacks to pick them apart. However, the correct approach wouldn't have been to tear that team down. Clearly keeping it afloat and plugging the holes was the right move in that situation.

As it happened, they were never anywhere close to $34 million over the cap (it was closer to $7 million), but when confronted with actual numbers, Lombardi simply chose to double-down on that claim and again bashed management.

This potentially exposes the fact that Lombardi perhaps doesn't have the insight into the Jets that he'd like you to believe. Then again, I guess if we're sticking to Lombardi's criteria the success of those Rex Ryan teams doesn't count either.

Last year was a disastrous one for the Jets, much of which they brought upon themselves with bad decision making or taking risks that blew up in their faces, but they also had some bad misfortune that arguably couldn't have been foreseen.

We get it. The Jets are an easy target, but using hindsight as an excuse to say "I told you so", when you constantly bash the team no matter what they do is disingenuous at best.

The Jets may be a long way off from a Lombardi trophy, but they're never going to be too far from a Lombardi takedown. And now that Michael is back to being a media analyst, I'm sure we can expect more of the same down the road.

Let's hear your thoughts on this in the comments!