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Silverman: Leadership Issues Keep Jets Floundering In Murky Waters

By Steve Silverman
» More Columns

It's not about effort, but rather results.

And the New York Jets just aren't getting them.

If they were, they would not have let a winnable game at Green Bay slip through their grasp in Week 2.

If the Jets were getting the right results, they would have dictated the pace of a Monday night game against the eminently beatable Chicago Bears, instead of letting the visitors have their way.

They would have defended their home field against the Detroit Lions, instead of letting the Detroit defense maul them and stop them at every turn.

A team that gets results does not go to the West Coast and get blanked by the San Diego Chargers. It would have at least put up a fight against a team that is moving in the right direction.

The Jets did about all they could have against the Denver Broncos, and getting a win against Peyton Manning was never in the cards. They played hard, and they got the results that were expected.

But finally, the Jets played the exact type of game they wanted against the New England Patriots and they had Bill Belichick's team on the ropes throughout the night. Once again, the results were not what they wanted.

It has never seriously been about whether the Jets play hard enough for Rex Ryan. That has not been an issue because they certainly play with effort and commitment for him. They just don't get results.

That's not an assessment of anything but Ryan's overall coaching ability. He may want his team to win more than any other coach in the league and he may inspire loyalty by the bucket load. But that's not what it's all about in the NFL.

It's simply about winning and losing. If you win enough regular-season games, you get to the playoffs. If you win enough playoff games, you get to the Super Bowl.

If you lose enough games,your season ends in late December. Your team goes home and you watch the playoffs on TV.

That's what has been happening with the Jets, and it continues to happen this year.

What makes it hurt that much more for Ryan is that the Jets won two playoff games in each of his first two seasons and got to the AFC Championship Game following both the 2009 and 2010 seasons. Since then, it's been nothing but disappointment.

Ryan was quite emotional after the narrow loss to the Patriots, and that's just what would be expected. The Jets fought their guts out against the big dogs of the AFC East, and dropped a 27-25 decision when Nick Folk's 58-yard FG attempt was blocked by Chris Jones on the final play.

The Jets are 1-6 in the AFC East, and it would take a miracle to turn things around.

While Geno Smith played a credible game for the first time in weeks, there's little reason to think that he is the answer. He finished the 2013 season on a positive note and appeared to have a decent training camp, but those indicators have disappeared in September and October.

That brings us to general manager John Idzik. The question of what he's doing with this franchise has to be asked.

Specifically, what is he doing with the leadership of the franchise? Does he look at the combination of Ryan and Smith and think that he's got the same kind of duo that Tom Telesco has in San Diego with Mike McCoy and Philip Rivers?

He couldn't possibly think that.

Idzik may have made a gross mistake with Smith. But let's say that he didn't make on, and that the quarterback has the talent to win consistently in the NFL. Does Idzik really think that Ryan is the right coach to bring out that talent?

That was never going to happen, even with Lieutenant Marty Mornhinweg running the show on the offensive side.

It's not a good match. Idzik could have hit the ground running and taken out Ryan after the 2012 season, or he could have let Ryan have one more year just so he could learn the team and the AFC East a bit more.

But he has retarded the team's development by keeping Ryan on the job in 2014.

The Jets are lost, and there's no leadership to help them find the right path.

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