If I was a Detroit Lions fan, I'd be screaming for referee blood about that.

Picking up that flag on a FLAGRANT pass interference by Dallas in the fourth quarter was the worse call… or non-call… the NFL has seen since… well… since the non-call on the botched field goal attempt in the Giants/ 49ers playoff game ages ago.

Shocking.  Really shocking.

The Lions could still have won the game.  They did lots to blow it afterward, from penalties of their own (none as flagrant, none picked up) to blown coverages to a shanked punt and a fumble.  But still… Detroit could well have locked up the victory on that drive, the play was textbook pass interference, the penalty needed to stand.  The defender mugged the tight end.

One for the books.

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So now the rumor mill tells us that the leading candidate for the Jets' head coaching job is Doug Marrone, who just stepped down as coach of the Buffalo Bills, where we won… how many SuperBowls was it?  Oh.  Zero.  Well, how many playoff appearances?  Oh.  Zero.

Having dumped Rex, one of the best coaches in the NFL, will Gang Green reach out for mediocrity?

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/mehta-consultants-pushing-doug-marrone-jets-article-1.2062892

These are the Jets.  Maybe they will be smart this time around.  (Hah)

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Black Monday is here, and true to expectations, the Jets fired John Idzik and Rex Ryan.

Idzik was a disaster from day one, and set the franchise back years.  He did leave plenty of salary cap room for his successor, which is about the only good thing that can be said for him.  He was bad at drafting and worse at free agency.

Firing Rex was a huge mistake, though.  Gang Green will have a hard time finding anyone even half as good.  All that talk about Jim Harbaugh was as empty as I suspected.  Rex will turn up again as head coach, and soon, and will lead his new team to the playoffs… sooner than the Jets will be returning there, I fear.

So the Jets need a new GM, a new head coach, and… most of all… a quarterback.  It makes no difference who occupies the front office and stands on the sideline so long as Geno Smith and Michael Vick are the choices behind center.  With Rex and his defense, we only needed an adequate quarterback to win; without them, we need someone good enough to go up against Tom Brady twice a year.

The future does not look bright.

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So the Jets won and the Giants lost, and this painful and depressing NFL season is finally over… for my teams, at least.

The Giants O looked terrific against the Eagles, right up until Eli threw that final fatal interception.  Odell Beckham continues to look like a budding superstar, and Reuben Randall has started to make some great plays as well.   Next year, with Victor Cruz back, the passing attack should be as dangerous as any in the league.  But the running game still needs a lot of help.  Might be that's more the O line than the RBs.  And the defense… the defense could not stop the Eagles, and really, hasn't stopped anyone all season, which is a disgrace for a franchise with a proud history of defensive excellence.  I'd keep Tom Coughlin as head coach, and Ben McAdoo as offensive coordinator, but I think the G-Men need to replace Perry Fewell as defensive coordinator, and draft defense, defense, defense.

As for the Jets, beating the Dolphins is always a nice way to end the season, though all the victory really did was move Gang Green lower in the draft.  Geno Smith played the best game I have ever seen him play, aside from that one absolutely idiotic fumble.  Even so, I do not believe he is the answer at QB, and I hope both he and Michael Vick are somebody else's problems next year.  Tomorrow is Black Monday, when coaches and GMs are fired all over the league, and it is widely expected that the Jets will be cleaning house.  I certainly hope they do give John Idzik his walking papers; his two years have been a disaster, and the team today is significantly less talented than when he came in.  He started his tenure as GM by trading away Darrelle Revis, one of the team's best players and a cornerstone of Rex Ryan's defense, and it's pretty much been downhill from there.  Idzik was a salary cap guy, just like Mike Tannenbaum, his predecessor.  I really hope Woody does not make that mistake again.  The Jets need a football guy in charge.

As for coach… if it was up to me, I'd keep Rex Ryan.  Defense wins championships, and Rex has proven himself one of the best defensive minds in the NFL.  Give him some cornerbacks, and a quarterback and wideout who are at least adequate, and he can take you to the playoffs, as he proved his first two years.  Even more crucially, though… if you fire Rex, who do you bring in?  I don't see anyone out there who is going to be a sure-fired improvement.  Change for the sake of change never gets you anywhere in the NFL.  Unless the Jets have a better coach than Rex in their pocket, firing him would be a big mistake.

But these are the Jets, and big mistakes are standard operating procedure, so watch… Rex will get fired tomorrow.
 

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