Well, at least the Jets did not lose this weekend.

They had a bye.

The less said about the last two Giants games, the better.   It does not help that half the team seems to be injured, including half the offensive line and most of the top wideouts.   We had a rookie who was flashing some great moves at receiver, to be fair, but now he is hurt too.

The past few years — maybe longer than than, the months and years have been flashing by in a blur and I have lost track — I have pretty much forgotten what a “day off” looks like.   I have so much to do, so many projects, books and films and television shows, even a railroad, that I have been working seven days a week for longer than I care to remember.   EXCEPT during the NFL season, when I take Sundays off to watch the Jets and Giants games.   Sundays used to be a nice restorative for me.   The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat… usually, with two teams, there was a good chance that at least one of them would be competitive.

No longer.   The Jets and Giants are both awful, and the rare signs of progress (like two weeks ago) always prove illusory.

I do not have the energy to dissect games like today’s Giants loss to the Rams.

Life is miserable and full of pain.

Might as well work.

Current Mood: depressed

Gasp.  And gasp again.

Hey, hey, what do you know.   The Giants WON!  And the Jets WON!   On the same day.  Both in overtime.

Of course, the NFL and DirecTV had both games on at the same time, which meant I had to record them both and spend all day switching back and forth between them, while falling further and further behind.   I also had to avoid looking at the scores at the bottom of the screen, lest one game spoil the other, or vice versa.  Both teams entered the day at 0-3, and I had every expectation of them ending it at 0-4.   The Giants had played pretty well through those first three losses, losing the last two on last second field goals as time expired, but they were playing the Saints in the Superdome.  Even without Drew Brees, the Saints are a pretty formidable team, and more so when at home.   As for the Jets, well, they were in Jersey against the Titans, and the Titans are no powerhouse… but Gang Green had looked so absolutely wretched in their first three outings that I figured we’d get crushed anyway.

The way the Jets game opened, it looked like my fears were well placed… but in the second half they came alive, and HOLY HELL our kid quarterback (who has a helluva arm, even if he does look as though he is straight out of high school) started heaving bombs down the field.   To JETS receivers, not the other team.  And suddenly we were winning.   Then, of course, with a game almost won on a 4th and 10, we committed a killer penalty and almost blew it, and the Titans tied it up and sent it into overtime and Parris was charging up our home defibrillator.   My teams have a way of stopping my heart.   (That’s a joke, guys.   A joke.   I feel compelled to add that, for fear of what kind of headlines you might see on the clickbait websites elsewise).

But then, after snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, the Jets went to overtime, won the toss, marched the ball down the field, and snatched it right the hell back.   Whoeee.   A VICTORY!   After last year, Jets fans had mostly forgotten what that felt like.

Meanwhile, over on t’other channel, the Giants were doing the same thing.  That game started tight, with the G-Men holding up well against the New Orleans O, but then the Saints started pulling ahead and I started feeling gloomy.   But NO!  The Giants came back, and Danny Dimes had the best game of his career, making some heart=stopping heaves and earning his nickname.   Could we possibly have turned a corner?  Oh, that would be sweet.   It is only one game, of course… but if Daniel Jones can keep it up, Blue could well get Big again.

Oh, and the throws that Zach Wilson made… DAMN, what an arm.   So that’s why the Jets took him.   He keeps that up, he’ll need a nickname too.  The BYU Bazooka?   Mad Bomber 2.0?  Zach the Cannon?   Some of his heaves took me back to the heyday of the AFL, when Broadway Joe and Darryl Lamonica were firing balls fifty yards downfield.

All in all… a much sweeter Sunday than the last few.

And the minions all went wild.

Life is magical and full of joy.

This week, at least.

 

Current Mood: bouncy

Well, that was a kick in the balls.

I really thought that the Giants and the Jets would be much better this season.   They had (I thought) strong drafts and good offseasons.

A week and a half into the new season, they are a combined 0-3.

Life is meaningless and full of pain.

The Jets played the world champion Kansas City Chiefs this afternoon, and the result was just what you’d expect.

That’s 0-8 now.

And Gase still has a job.

 

Current Mood: gloomy

Need I even mention that the Jets lost another one on Sunday?

It was actually the best game they played all season.   They had the lead for almost three full quarters.   Unfortunately, the game was four quarters long.

After a promising first half, Gang Green managed four yards of offense in the entire second half.

And this weekend they have to play the world champion KC Chiefs.   That could be very ugly indeed.

Writing these weekly football posts has gotten to be a very wearisome task.   I think I may pause for a while.  There is just not much to say.  At least nothing that I have not said before.

The Jets are just awful and they need to fire Adam Gase, the sooner the better.

Current Mood: gloomy

That one really hurt.

The Giants had the game won.   Five minutes left.

Then they choked.  Offense choked, defense choked, offense choked again.

It was as much fun as being kicked repeatedly in the balls.

Life is meaningless and full of pain.

 

Current Mood: morose

Ohmigod.   The Giants WON one!!!

Yes indeed.   Big Blue is now 1-5, having just defeated the Washington Nameless Horrors 20-19.   So… there’s that.   Winning is always better than losing.

It was not what you call a crushing victory, however.  The Washington Football Team, which is now also 1-5, is not exactly a powerhouse.   And the Giants almost blew this one.   They had an early lead, then squandered it.  Then they had a late lead, thanks to a fumble return for a TD, and seemed to have the game in hand… only to let DC score a touchdown with only seconds left.   A routine extra point would have sent the game into overtime, but the Washington coach Ron Rivera decided to go for two and try to win instead.   The attempt failed, so the G-Men got the win.  I don’t really blame Rivera.   It was a gutsy call, but why not?  Washington is not going anywhere this season anyway, any more than the Giants are, so might as well roll the dice and give it a shot.

A win is a win and I will take it, but there were several discouraging things about the game.  I really thought our defense, which has looked pretty good in some of the losses, would shut down the Nameless Horrors offense, playing with their second string QB.   But no.   They let Washington come back when a solid stop would have iced the win.   And while Danny Dimes looked pretty good most of the game, his biggest plays came from running, not throwing the ball.   And on the goal line, once again he threw a horrendous interception.   He still turns the ball over too much, usually at the MOST horrendous times.

Ah well.  At 1-5 the Giants are no longer at the bottom of the NFL.

That honor is reserved for the Jets, who were shut out by the Miami Dolphins 24-0.   I would love to find a silver lining there, but really, there is nothing to say.  It was the first time the Fins have shut out Gang Green since the AFC Championship “Mud Bowl” in… what was it, 1982?  A long time.   Joe Flacco started for Darnold again, and looked lost.  On the other side, the Dolphins had Ryan Fitzpatrick, a veteran of eight NFL teams, including the Jets.   The Jets let him walk years ago… but even now, he is better than any QB that Gang Green has fielded since.   Miami even got to put in Tua, their QB of the future, for a few plays in garbage time, and he looked good as well.   The Jets O looked inept, the Jets D looked disinterested.

Losing 24-0 in the late third quarter, Adam Gase tried for a long field goal.  (And missed, of course).   I guess he was trying to avoid the shutout rather than going for a win.  The team was unprepared and disinterested.

Oh, wait, Marcus Maye did have a really nice juggling behind-your-back interception at one point.  A play for the highlight reels.   Maye is the best player remaining on the Jets.  I wonder who we will trade him to…

On the bright side, since the Giants and the Falcons both won, the Jets at 0-6 are now the only remaining winless team in the whole NFL.   Number one overall draft choice, here we come!

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Current Mood: grumpy

The Jets and the Giants both lost again this past weekend.   That seems to be the story of the season.  It feels as if I am writing the same post week after week.   There is no joy in Mudville… or in Gotham.

As ever, the Jets defeat was much worse.   They were crushed once again, this time by the Cardinals.   Sam Darnold was injured, so Joe Flacco got the start this week, but it did not make a dime’s worth of difference.   Gang Green continues to look inept and unprepared on both offense and defense.  The Texans and the Falcons both fired their head coaches this past week, and yet Adam Gase continues to have a job.   It passes all understanding.   I have no idea how the Johnsons can continue to think of him as a good coach.

Instead of firing Gase after the latest loss, the Jets instead released Le’veon Bell, the star running back they paid a bloody fortune for when he was a free agent.   It is said that Gase never wanted Bell.   He certainly had no idea how to use him.  To me, that’s another argument for dumping Gase, not Bell.  Bell has now signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, where I expect he will excell.   We shall see.   In the offseason, the Jets traded their best defensive player, Jamal Adams, to the Seahawks for a bag o’ magic beans.   They also let their best wideout, Robbie Anderson, walk.   Got nothing for him.   Got nothing for Le’Veon Bell.   Others teams build around their best players, but the Jets seems intent on getting rid of them all.   It is the coach and the GM that they should be getting rid of.   At this point, I think 0-16 is a very real possibility.

The Giants are a different story.   Yes, they are 0-5 as well… but they keep almost winning, whereas the Jets just get blown out.   That was certainly true this past weekend against the Cowboys.   The G-Men outplayed Dallas for most of the game and should have gotten the W… but they were up against the zebras too, and you can never beat the zebras.   The refs overturned not one but two Giants touchdowns on bullshit ticky-tacky penalties, and then, on the Cowboys game-winning drive, overlooked an absolutely flagrant hold by Dallas.   Give the G-Men those two TDs and they win going away.  And believe me, they needed that win.   Joe Judge has yet to win a game as head coach, but I have a lot more faith in him than I do in Gase.   At least the Giants make it close.  I think Big Blue will find a few wins sometime this season.

But this is not a good year to be a fan of NYC football.

 

Current Mood: embarrassed

One more week and two more losses.   What an NFL season this is turning into.

The big difference this week was that only the Giants lost on Sunday.   The Jets got it over with early and lost on Thursday night.

Both games were closer than last week’s blowouts, which I suppose is something to be thankful for.   (But not much).

Aside from that, the theme was more or less the same as the first couple of weeks.   The Jets were defeated by the Denver Broncos 37-28.  They actually scored first in this contest, and led again (briefly) in the second half, but of course they fell apart at the end.   It was the closest contest they have had all year, but that was not entirely encouraging.   The Broncos are another dreadful team, though plainly not as dreadful as Gang Green.  Denver was also 0-3 entering the game.   Now they are 1-3 and the Jets are 0-4.   Worse, the Broncos were the weakest opponent the Jets are going to face for quite a while.  Looking at what lies ahead for them in the weeks to come, I think there is a very real possibility Gang Green may be 0-7 or 0-8 or 0-9.  They even have a chance to go 0-16, which would at least get them first pick in next year’s draft.   There’s supposed to be a red hot can’t miss quarterback coming out, which some might think means hope for the future… except I remember when Sam Darnold was the red hot can’t miss quarterback coming out, so…

The Giants loss was to the LA Rams, a much better team than Denver, and they played the game in Los Angeles.  Away games are always harder, even when they have cardboard cutouts in the stands in place of fans.   A loss is a loss is a loss, but I have to say, the G-Men gave a really good effort in this one.  The final score was 17-9, but the Giants had a chance to tie the game and maybe even win it right up to the last minute of the fourth quarter, when Daniel Jones threw a drive-killing INT near the Rams goal line.   That was his only turnover of the game, however; despite being sacked numerous times and pressured constantly, he did not lose a fumble, which came as a huge relief.   Meanwhile, the defense did a really good job of holding the potent Rams offense, which has been scoring 30 a game, in check.   The biggest problem continues to be the O line.   The Giants have been trying to bolster that for years, with trades, free agent signings, and high draft picks, but it remains a mess.   Maybe one day..

The Giants are not going to be going to the playoffs.  All chance of that ended when Saquon Barkley went down.   But I think they might manage to win a few games before the season ends.

I am not so sure about the Jets.

Current Mood: depressed

Life is meaningless and full of pain.   At least on Sunday.

The Jets and the Giants did it to me again.   Two more losses.   Horrible losses.

The Giants lost their first two games, but at least they were competitive.   They hung tough in those contests, even had a shot at winning or at least taking the lead late in the game.   Not today.   Today the G-Men looked as bad as the Jets.   The 49ers crushed them.   A debacle, start to finish… and what was worse, they lost to a backup quarterback and San Francisco’s junior varsity defense.   Depressing.

Come the afternoon game, the Jets were miserable again.   The season’s first two losses were hideous, but this was the worst one yet.    Adam Gase needs to be fired.   Jets ownership thinks he is an offensive genius, yeah… but you know how you can tell if a coach is an offensive genius?   Their offenses score some points.   The Jets are getting worse, not better.   And Sam Darnold, our heralded quarterback of the future, is regressing.   He threw three INTs this afternoon, and gave up a safety.   He was supposed to be the best prospect in his draft class, but right now he is looking like the worst.   Gase is supposedly a “quarterback whisperer.”  I have no idea what he is whispering to Darnold, but it isn’t working.   Looking at the schedule in the weeks to come, Gang Green could easily go 0-8 or 0-9, unless they win one soon.

Most of the year, I work seven days a week.   The exception has always been Sundays in the fall, when I take off to watch NFL football.   This year, that is starting to look like an exercise in masochism.

 

Current Mood: discontent