By Kerry J. Byrne
Cold, Hard Football Facts air traffic controller
Could it be more than coincidence that the Hindenburg crashed and burned on the New Jersey coast in 1937, just an hour south of where the Jets crash and burn in the second half of every promising season of the past 40 years?
O.K., maybe not. But it is a neat photo ... and a lesson for the Cold, Hard Football Facts.
We might have made a classic mistake two weeks ago: we assumed that a 9-2 start to the 2010 season meant that the Gang Green was ready for primetime.
As
we wrote then,
"Larger-than-life Rex Ryan is remaking the image of the 'Same Ol' Jets.'"
But the Jets have offered a pair of punchless losses in the wake of that declaration: the 45-3 disaster Monday at New England; a 10-6 defeat Sunday against Miami.
Some organizations seem to have strengths and weaknesses built into their institutional DNA, trends that seem to appear year after year, decade after decade: The Bears play well on defense and can't find a quarterback. The Steelers are committed to smash-mouth football. The Lions suck. The Texans can't play defense. The Chargers light it up on offense but
can't get it done in crunch time.
New York, meanwhile, offers us the Same Ol' Jets.
They start strong, build up plenty of hype from the Gotham media machine, which tends to over-hype and over-value the local 11. And then the Jets crash like a Messerschmitt over the English countryside once the bullets start flying late in the year. It's this second-half implosion that makes New York fans lament the Same Ol' Jets year after year, no matter who's stalking the sidelines or who's taking the snaps under center.
Now, let us acknowledge that there is still a lot of football left to be played here in 2010.
Rex Ryan's Jets could still win the AFC East. Hell, they could still win the Super Bowl. Last year they were a one-dimensional 9-7 defensive club, yet they fell just one win shy of the big game. So we're not declaring the J-Men's season over, even after the last two pathetic performances.
The Same Ol' Jets are the NFL equivalent of Aeroflot: even when everthing seems like it's flying high and on schedule, you're still white-knuckling it over the Ural Mountains.
As CHFF's own test pilot of pigskin, Colonel Comey,
touched on earlier this year, New York has a history of starting strong and filling Fireman Ed & Friends with hope, only to end in shattered pieces across the NFL landscape.
Here's a look at some of the signature years that helped create the legacy of the Same Ol' Jets. Turns out the legacy of the Same Ol' Jets began in the immediate aftermath of their greatest moment, the iconic 16-7 win over the Colts in Super Bowl III.
1969
The start: 7-2
The finish: 3-3 (including playoffs)
The coach: Weeb Ewbank
The quarterback: Joe Namath
The Same Ol' Jets: The Jets looked ready to defend their one and only Super Bowl title in style. They won six straight in the middle of the season to take a 7-2 record into late November.
The Jets are going to win another Super Bowl!
But the engines began to flame out in December, and the team finally crashed in the divisional playoffs: an offense-less, two field-goal, 13-6 loss to the Chiefs. Joe Namath could not have played worse: 14 of 40, 164 yards, 4.1 YPA, 0 TD, 3 INT, 17.1 rating.
It was the team's lowest offensive output since 1966 and it came at absolutely the worst time. We cite this game as the start of the legacy of the Same Ol' Jets.
1972
The start: 5-2
The finish: 2-5
The coach: Weeb Ewbank
The quarterback: Joe Namath
The Same Ol' Jets: After a pair of poor seasons to kick off the 1970s, Joe Namath and the Jets flew out of the gates in 1972. They scored 85 points in their first two games and hung more than 40 on three of their first five opponents.
The Jets and Broadway Joe were back in their gunslinging finest form!
But then the team tanked along with the offense, scoring just 64 points in its final four games, and failed to reach the playoffs.
1982
The start: 5-1
The finish: 3-3 (including playoffs)
The coach: Walt Michaels
The quarterback: Richard Todd
The Same Ol' Jets: In a nine-game season interrupted by a players' strike, the Jets started 5-1 and dominated on both sides of the ball. Mark Gastineau recorded six sacks, previewing one of the great pass-rushing stretches on record in the seasons to come. He helped force opposing passers into 17 picks in just nine games for New York's great defense.
But the Jets lost two of their final four to finish 6-3, tied for the fourth-best record in the AFC's eight-team playoff format that season. But wait! The Jets destroyed the Bengals then beat the Raiders in Los Angeles to make the AFC title game.
Maybe?! This is the year!?
Nope. The Jets were blanked by the Killer Bees, 14-0, in rainy, mud-soaked Miami, thanks to a five-pick effort by Richard Todd.
The franchise responds to the Todd meltdown by drafting quarterback Ken O'Brien with the 24th pick overall in the 1983 draft. The winner of the AFC title game, the Dolphins, grabbed a kid named Dan Marino three picks later.
1985
The start: 5-1
The finish: 6-5 (including playoffs)
The coach: Joe Walton
The quarterback: Ken O'Brien
The Same Ol' Jets: Jets are 4-1 out of the gate and have turned the ball over just four times.
This IS the year!
Maybe not. The Jets commit 25 turnovers in their last 11 games, go 6-5 and lose at home to the Patriots in the playoffs.
1986
The start: 10-1
The finish: 0-5
The coach: Joe Walton
The quarterback: Ken O'Brien
The Same Ol' Jets: Wow! The Jets rebounded from the disappointment of 1985 with what appears to be the franchise's best team since the champs of 1968: They're 10-1 after 11 games, while holding seven opponents to 20 points or less. Along the way, Ken O'Brien famously outguns Dan Marino in a 51-45 overtime thriller that featured 927 passing yards and 10 TD tosses.
Maybe O'Brien is just as good as the phenom Marino! Maybe the Jets had found finally found their quarterback of the future!
But then the Jets slammed into reality like an airliner crashing into the Andes, then watched as the passengers ate each other to survive.
The Jets lost their last five games of the regular season to blow a first-round bye, recovered to beat the Chiefs in the wildcard round and then fell at Cleveland, 23-20, in double overtime. The Browns famously lost the following week in the AFC title game courtesy of John Elway and "The Drive."
2000
The start: 6-1
The finish: 3-6
The coach: Al Groh
The quarterback: Vinny Testaverde
The Same Ol' Jets: Why did Al Groh last only one season with the Jets? Blame a crash and burn season that stunned even long-abused customers of Gang Green Airlines.
The Jets were the class of the AFC East, with a 6-1 record, including four wins over division foes. But then they lost three straight to tumble to 6-4, only to regain their footing with three straight wins and a 9-4 record.
The Jets were back on track and a lock for the playoffs!
But the team couldn't handle the pressure and fell from the heavens like Skylab with three straight end-of-season losses in which they were outscored 85-34. The Jets missed the playoffs after their 6-1 start.
2004
The start: 5-0
The finish: 5-6
The coach: Herm Edwards
The quarterback: Chad Pennington
The Same Ol' Jets: The Jets start 5-0, the offense is explosive behind super-accurate Chad and the defense is getting it done.
OK, now it's New York's year!
Sigh. The Jets end up a wildcard team thanks to a 5-6 effort from late October onward, manage to pull out a stunning win at San Diego in the playoffs, but then lose a heartbreaker in Pittsburgh in the divisional playoffs, 20-17. Plucky little club. But too little, too late.
2008
The start: 8-3
The finish: 1-4
The coach: Eric Mangini
The quarterback: BrettFavre
The Same Ol' Jets: By now the Jets are so desperate to produce a winner, that their immune system breaks down and they suffer a classic and debilitating case of
Old Yeller Fever.
Yes, that's right, the Jets foolishly believed (get this!) that aging, mistake-prone quarterback BrettFavre is capable of leading the team to a Super Bowl ... even though, you know, he hadn't won a Super Bowl in 12 years.
But wait. It's BrettFavre. He's a gunslinger! Let's go buy his jersey!!!
Well, you know how that story always ends: in a
Canary Islands-style disaster. BrettFavre throws a league-high 22 interceptions, including nine in the final 1-4 stretch of the season.
The Jets still had a shot at the playoffs entering the final two weeks of the season. But BrettFavre tossed a pair of picks in a 13-3 loss at 3-11 Seattle, and then capped the 2008 campaign with three more INTs in the finale against the Dolphins, handing Miami the division title.
2010
The start: 9-2
The finish: 0-2 ... so far
The coach: Rex Ryan
The quarterback: Mark Sanchez
The Same Ol' Jets: The Jets have a 9-2 record and the inside track on the AFC's No. 1 seed entering December.
Rex is the Man! These Jets are different. Even the Cold, Hard Football Facts say so!!
Two weeks later and it all looks like a mirage. The Jets have failed to score a single touchdown in each of the past two weeks. They've scored a total of 9 points (three field goals) in their last three games against Quality Opponents.
Young coach. Young QB. Different year. Different players. New stadium. But you know the story: Same Ol' Jets.
