Jets Game? What Jets game?

Did the Jets play a game? On Monday Night Football, you say?

Surely not.

Those were not the Jets. That was the Weehawken High School Junior Varsity dressed up in Jets uniforms, surely.

The hardest hit of the night was the one the security guys put on the streaker.

Oh, well. Bryce Petty came in and showed flashes. That was something. One nice long TD pass… and a lot of misses. We’ll see him the rest of the way, I am told. Good. Maybe with some reps in practice, he can improve.

An APB has been put out for Gang Green’s once heralded D.

(The Jets being the Jets, now that they have been officially eliminated from the playoffs, they will probably win a few meaningless end-of-season games, just to mess up their draft position).

Life is meaningless and full of pain.

I returned from Mexico last night just in time to watch the amazing WESTWORLD finale, and the Giants – Steelers game, which Parris had TIVO’d for me.

WESTWORLD won, but the G-Men lost. Can’t say I was surprised, but I was disappointed. My fears were confirmed: the six game Giants win streak was more an artifact of weak opposition than it was an indication of the strength of Big Blue.

Against a strong team like Pittsburgh, New York’s weaknesses were exposed. There’s still no run game — second worst in the league, at present — and the offensive line is a turnstile. Eli gets no time to throw, they can’t open holes for the RBs, and Flowers is still holding on every other play and getting beat on the others. Injuries have not helped. Justin Pugh was a huge loss. That being said, it would help if Eli threw the ball to someone besides Odell from time to time. Victor Cruz was not targeted once.

The defense still looks stout, but injuries there hurt as well. JPP going out was very worrisome. He’s desperately needed.

It should also be said that Odell was not wrong in his postgame comments: the officiating was terrible, and very one-sided. The Steeler DBs got away with mugging ODB repeatedly, but that was far from all. The Pittsburgh O-line was holding flagrantly on several big plays from Big Ben, but was never called on it.

Honest officiating would not have made a difference, however. The Steelers would have won anyway. They were the better team yesterday.

These next four games are all tough ones. The Giants need to step it up, or they could very well lose all four.

The Giants got their sixth win in a row yesterday, which is great. Their longest win streak in years. Of course, it was against the hapless Cleveland Browns, who are racing toward an 0 -16 season and the first overall pick in next year’s draft. I’m informed that it still counts.

Odell Beckham had an amazing afternoon, catching two TDs and returning a kick for a third… though the last was called back on a penalty, pfui. And JPP had a monster game on the defensive side of the ball, the best he’s had since blowing off half his hand in a Fourth of July fireworks accident. Big Blue’s D seems to be getting better every game, and JPP is a big part of that. Victor Cruz had a nice catch as well.

On the other, the win was not nearly as convincing as it should have been, considering the quality of the opposition, and there was plenty to be concerned about as well. The Giants still have no running game to speak of, and the O-line is suspect. They don’t run block well, they don’t give Eli enough time, and Eric Flowers commits too many holding penalties.

So while I am pleased, I am still far from convinced that the G-Men are juggernauts. The Giants are now 8-3 and well positioned for a playoff run, but the real test for them lies ahead. The easy part of their schedule ended in Cleveland. Their last five games are all tough ones. The acid test will come in their rematch with the Cowboys, who they beat in the season opener. Dallas has not lost since. Rematches with the Redskins and Eagles also await them, along with games against the Steelers and Lions. Every one of those teams is formidable, and Eli and Company will need to be playing at the top of their form to beat any of them. I just hope the Giants have saved their best for last.

As for the Jets… sigh… well, they lost again. To the Patriots. What else is new?

To be fair, Gang Green played a pretty good game. If they had played that well in some of their earlier games, they might not be 3 – 8. But they didn’t, and they are. Fitz had a good game, except right at the end when it really counted.

At this point, I just don’t see the sense of starting Fitz. He’s not going to be with the team next season, and even if he does “give them the best chance to win,” winning a few more games this season is not going to make any difference. The Jets need to look to the future and start thinking about next season, and the season after. They need to see what they have in Bryce Petty. Yes, he’s young, he’s raw, he will make mistakes… but he won’t get better sitting on the bench. With rookie QBs like Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott tearing up the league, there’s no good reason for not playing Petty, who has been in the league a season longer than either. And if he’s NOT the answer, well, better to know that sooner rather than later…