What Hope Do Giants and Jets offer?

BY LESLIE MONTEIRO

Monday’s New York Post back page mentioned “Loserville” to describe the Giants and Jets and put the photos of Giants head coach Joe Judge and Jets head coach Robert Saleh.

This was in response to New York’s NFL teams losing by a combined score of 67-30. The New Orleans Saints beat up on the hapless Jets 30-9 in the early game, and in the late game, the Los Angeles Chargers made quick work of the inept Giants by getting a 37-21 victory.

We call it a Sunday since 2017. The Giants and Jets are each 22-56 from that sorry period. They are a combined 7-19 record this season.

Here’s what’s worse about this: What about both teams that make their fanbase think it will get better?

There’s no one on the rosters that offers hope. The coaches are a lost cause based on their lack of leadership and their lack of ability to win games. The general managers are guessing and hoping their draft picks work out. It’s not surprising the Giants and Jets are where they are.

I watched the Jets for an hour the other day, and that’s all I could have handled. They offered nothing out there by not generating first downs and scoring points. To quote Jets great Bart Scott, the defense could not stop a nose bleed. They never gave the impression they were out to win the game. They looked like they wanted the game to be over with.

This reflects poor leadership by first-year Jets head coach Saleh. He promised this team would be all gas no brake when he was introduced to the media and Jets fans. This season has come nowhere close to that. There are guys who have no business playing football for the Jets. Whatever he teaches, it just isn’t translating into games.

The Jets should be much better than their 3-10 record indicates. They needed to make progress after an uninspiring 2-14 season last season. This season was supposed to move up in the right direction with Zach Wilson leading the way as the quarterback. Instead, they are worse than last year if anyone can believe it.

The offense is just offensive to watch, and the defense offers no playmakers that can make a difference on defense.

This all serves as an indictment of Joe Douglas. He has been the Jets general manager for a while now, and he has yet to draft or sign a player that would make a difference. Mekhi Becton is Douglas’ best draft pick, and he can’t even stay healthy since he is out of shape. He is in the injured reserve after having knee surgery.

When one sees Douglas’ body of work and Saleh’s awful coaching, it’s no wonder the Jets are failing to get fans to go to the games or even watch them. This isn’t a good thing for Jets owner Woody Johnson.

Johnson can only do something about it by selling the team. The fans are done with him. They know he is clueless in running an NFL team. The Jets have had so many general managers and head coaches come and go under his watch, so why should anyone think he can get it right the next time around when he never did?

He wants to try to get it right, which is why he is not going to sell. Plus, he enjoys making money and being an NFL owner. But he is 74 years old, and how many losses can he take? Does he really need this at this point in his life?

As for the Giants, what’s there to be said? They stink. There’s no reason to watch them this season. Quite frankly, there was never a reason to watch them after a 30-29 loss to the Washington Football team in Week 2.

It’s the same old same old. A quarterback not making plays. The offense not scoring touchdowns. The defense offering zero resistance. So many crushing penalties. It’s like wash, rinse and repeat with the Giants every week.

Second-year Giants head coach Joe Judge had the nerve to say this team is making progress in a press conference yesterday. He talked about this would take time before the team would be elite. He basically was gaslighting the Giants fans and the media.

The Giants find ways to lose every week, and Judge babbles about this team making progress is so laugh-out-loud funny or sad if you prefer.

The Giants are 19-42 under Giants general manager Dave Gettleman, and they are 10-19 under Joe Judge. Yet, neither Gettleman nor Judge is in danger of being fired. In fact, SportsNet New York’s Ralph Vacchiano reports that Mara is inclined to keep Judge for another season.

Mara wants Gettleman and Judge to stay on only just to prove a point he knew what he was doing in hiring them to run their teams. The results tell another story. There’s no way he can be serious about selling those two to a frustrated Giants fanbase heading to next season. He may like them, but if fans don’t, he has no choice but to fire them.

For the fifth year in a row, the Giants have another losing season, and they likely will miss the playoffs. For the 11th year in a row, the Jets will miss the playoffs.

Watching both teams on Sunday, it’s hard to blame a Jets fan and Giants fan to get excited about the future.