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How low can they go? New York football has become competition in futility

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How low can they go? New York football has become competition in futility

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The sad news for Big Apple football fans – that would be followers of the Giants, or the Jets, or those who might happen to root for both of the New York teams – is that it hasn’t hit rock bottom yet.

Not even with the Giants releasing Daniel Jones, a couple days after demoting their starting quarterback. Not with the Jets firing general manager Joe Douglas, a few weeks after dumping coach Robert Saleh.

This could get even worse. I mean, there’s too much more football (or at least the concept of it) to be played this season. After such an eventful week, it can turn even uglier to throw mud on the holiday season. And without refunds for season-ticket holders.

OK, here’s a bright spot: The Jets (3-8) have a bye this weekend. So, with Baker Mayfield and the scrappy Bucs coming to the Meadowlands, that’s only one (likely) L for the NY scene. Then the Giants (2-8) will spend Turkey Day in Dallas. So, that’s winnable.

Yet the real competition is this: Which New York franchise is more pathetic?

The Jets, with zero winning seasons since 2015, went all-in on Aaron Rodgers in 2023. Soon, with a new GM and coach coming, it will be time to craft a new long-time strategy without him – and that’s even if A-Rod, pushing 41, sticks around for another year because some crazy coach (hello, Rex Ryan) thinks he can squeeze a bit more juice out of the quarterback.

The Giants, meanwhile, with two winning seasons since 2016, went all-out on Saquon Barkley. They let the star running back walk last spring, after making the huge commitment in 2023 to keep Jones, their first-round pick in 2019 (sixth overall), with a four-year, $160 million extension. Bad moves.

Barkley, who took a free agent trek to the Philadelphia Eagles, might be the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year. Shame on the Giants fans who booed Barkley – who demonstrated much class throughout his New York tenure – during his recent return to MetLife Stadium. It’s funny, though, that Barkley finally beat the Cowboys … and had to join the Eagles to get it done. Jones had one decent season, with one playoff win, and got a $40 million-per-year extension.

For what? Just because the market rate for quarterbacks is so staggering, NFL decision-makers need to know better for spending their cap dollars. This is where Giants GM Joe Schoen, flanked by coach Brian Daboll, failed miserably. And the franchise is paying for it immensely. The philosophy that dictates spending on a quarterback rather than a running back because the position is more valued, is rather flawed.

Game-changing running back vs mediocre quarterback? Sure, the injury risk is greater for a runner. But if the running back is special, I’d invest in winning. You hear a lot about running backs being a dime a dozen. Well, so-so quarterbacks like “Danny Dimes” can be easily found, too, with values are already inflated in the draft process.

It’s like using analytics for game situations. The statistics may suggest going for it on fourth-and-2, but if the third-string left guard is being manhandled by the all-pro defensive tackle, the analytics – with input from “ideal” circumstances weighing into the equation to some or even a great degree – going for it might be a self-inflicted wound.

Sometimes common sense, instincts and football IQ trump the Moneyball formula. Schoen and Daboll inherited Jones. But that doesn’t mean they needed to hitch the franchise to the quarterback for the long haul.

Then again, maybe Jones, without the expectation of becoming the next Eli Manning, will grow from his Big Apple experiences and become another Sam Darnold.

It’s fair to ask whether Schoen will lose his job over the Barkley-Jones miscalculation. And if Giants owner John Mara isn’t asking, then that’s part of the problem – even though the G-men are running laps around the Jets and Woody Johnson in the ownership race.

Ah, the Jets. Last month, during the NFL owners meeting in Atlanta, Johnson insisted that the Jets had assembled the best roster in many years. He had just fired Saleh and traded for Davante Adams, with the holdout of Hasson Reddick (obtained in the spring from the Eagles) on its last leg.

Roughly a month later, the man who assembled all that talent – Douglas – was shown the door. And, conveniently, reports surfaced this week that Johnson had suggested benching Rodgers … which is contrary to the thinking that the Jets were bending over backwards to accommodate Rodgers.

The Jets (whose quarterback miscalculation came in drafting Zach Wilson with the second pick overall in 2021) have been such a mess you’d wonder whether any of the hottest candidates on the market for the upcoming coaches hiring cycle will see the franchise as an appealing challenge. Maybe the appeal meter rises if Johnson, who served as Ambassador to Ireland during Donald Trump’s previous administration, takes another post in the looming administration. Or maybe not. During that last four-year term the Jets finished 5-11, 4-12, 7-9 and 2-14.

Who’d be crazy enough to campaign for the job? Ryan, of course, months after he publicly lobbied to become Cowboys defensive coordinator. The former Jets coach (2009-2104) leaves no gray area about the notion that he wants back in.

During an ESPN Radio interview, the ESPN analyst was asked whether he’d blow up the Jets. Typically, he was so Ryan-esque with his reply.

“Blow it up? We’re going to blow the opponent up,” he said. “There’s way too much talent on this team to play the way we’ve been playing. … Nobody has seen a team that is going to play as hard as this team’s going to play in the future, trust me. If I’m the guy, trust me.”

He’s laying it on thick, which in a Jets kind of way, might make Ryan a “fit,” as they call it. He led the Jets to back-to-back AFC title game appearances during the first two seasons of his six-year New York stint, and he was at the helm in 2010 – the last time the Jets and the Giants both had winning records. Then the results kept getting worse, culminating with a 4-12 mark in 2014. Todd Bowles, Adam Gase and Saleh followed, with Bowles producing the only winning season in the 10 campaigns since.

Earlier in the week, Ryan maintained the Jets would be “probably undefeated” if he coached them this season.

Remember, this is the same man who once introduced Trump at a campaign rally. Now he’ll spew stuff about going undefeated … without evidence.

Ryan would sure fuel the buzz and attention … and fall right in line with the Jets circus.

It could be a while before the Jets and Giants are winners, but one thing seems certain as they try to rebuild for an alternative: There will be no shortage of drama.

Quick slants

  • Las Vegas Raiders rookie Brock Bowers leads all tight ends with 70 catches and 706 yards, which puts him on pace to break two rookie reception records set last season when Los Angeles Rams wideout Puka Nacua caught 105 passes and Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta snagged 86.
  • Since Week 5, Denver Broncos rookie Bo Nix has posted a 106.3 passer rating that is fourth-best in the league for quarterbacks with at least 145 attempts. Only Jared Goff, Lamar Jackson and Joe Burrow have higher ratings during that span. And after not throwing for a touchdown in his first three starts, Nix has a 14-to-2 TD-to-INT ratio since.
  • With an NFL-high 336 points and +159-point differential, the Lions (9-1) are just the fifth team since the 1970 merger to score at least 325 points with a +150-point differential after 10 games. A good omen? The last team to hit those marks at this point in the season, the Drew Brees-armed New Orleans Saints in 2009, went on to win the Super Bowl. 
  • When Jim and John Harbaugh face each other on Monday Night Football with their Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens, their parents won’t be in attendance at SoFi Stadium. Jack and Jackie will watch the “Harbaugh Bowl” from their daughter Joani’s house in Florida. And they will have much to celebrate, regardless of which team wins the game. Monday will mark their 63rd wedding anniversary.
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