After their humiliating loss to the Bills, some are starting to overreact about Justin Fields and Aaron Glenn. Are their overreactions justified?
The New York have had a polarizing first two weeks of the season under new head coach Aaron Glenn.
They played with plenty of passion against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 and while a few key plays hurt them, it took a 60-yard field goal from Chris Boswell to ruin their chances for a victory.
Last week, the Jets (0-2) looked like the NFL's version of the Washington Generals playing the Harlem Globetrotters.
QB Justin Fields struggled all game before leaving with a concussion, the defense had way too many careless mistakes and were fooled by everything Josh Allen and the rest of the Bills offense threw at them. It was a major embarrassment after such a promising start to the season and not the way Aaron Glenn envisioned his second game as head coach.
Naturally, fan and media reactions are all over the place with some questioning if Justin Fields should still be the starter and others wondering if Glenn is the right head coach for a team that has the longest active playoff drought in sports today. Are these opinions justified? Is Jets Nation overreacting after one bad game against a potential Super Bowl contender?
Let's take a look at a few of the overreactions coming from Jets nation as the team heads into their Week 3 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers:
Overreaction #1: The Justin Fields Optimism is Over
The Verdict: Not Justified
Every Jets fan on social media knew exactly who Justin Fields was when the team signed him to be their starting quarterback. He's a game changer running the football when a play breaks down. However, his accuracy throwing the football was always his achilles heel. Fields wasn’t necessarily a bust with the Bears or Steelers, but he also didn’t show enough consistency in his play with either team that screamed “franchise quarterback”.
After his impressive debut against the Steelers, the social media world was buzzing. Some believed the Jets finally found a franchise quarterback. Others believed that all he needed was the right offensive system and the Steelers made a mistake for not retaining him. And then the game against Buffalo happened. Fields had the worst game of his career last week and ultimately suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of the Jets 30-10 loss.
The tides turned and now everyone is doubting his ability to lead the offense....after one bad game!! There are even social media accounts that now believe the Jets should tank the season to draft a quarterback. Fields is still young and has big play ability as he showed against a good Steelers defense. From an optics standpoint, the game against the Bills was a disaster. He won't play Sunday against the Bucs. But, rest assured, Fields will have plenty of solid games this season that will get everyone back on the bandwagon.
Overreaction #2:The Honeymoon for Aaron Glenn is Over
The Verdict: Not Justified
When Glenn was hired, his no-nonsense approach was considered a breath of fresh air compared to Robert Saleh, who was a bit too optimistic when things were going south and preached zero accountability. Glenn’s passion during training camp and preseason games was noticeable and infectious. Watching him rip Marcelino McCrary-Ball during the preseason for a late hit out of bounds was something no Jets head coach had done to a player in what seemed like forever....and every fan loved it!
Glenn had his team ready to play the Steelers, but the defense let them down as did Xavier Gipson, whose fumble was a key turning point in the game. Glenn backed up his tough talk about accountability, releasing Gipson a few days before the Buffalo game. Even though the Jets lost, everyone seemed excited with the direction the team was headed under the new head coach.
Those feelings changed dramatically after their game against Buffalo. The Jets were flat from the start and old habits they were trying to leave in the past resurfaced. Bad penalties, terrible coverage, turnovers, lack of interest etc. Glenn was seen on television chewing out Micheal Clemons on the sideline for yet another roughing the passer penalty, but ultimately didn't bench him for the game. For a head coach that learned under Bill Parcells, it was shocking how unprepared and disinterested the team looked on the field.
While no one is calling for his job, it's alarming how quickly people are starting to doubt and second guess Glenn as the head coach after the Bills embarrassed his team in all facets of the game last week. One Jets beat writer labeled the honeymoon between the Jets and Glenn as over, which is ridiculous. Anyone that starts a new job gets at least a few months before being judged on their performance and NFL head coaches get at least a year. The loss to Buffalo was a setback no question. But, Glenn is still in the process of putting his stamp on this team and needs time to weed out the dead weight before the Jets can move forward.
Overreaction #3:GM Darren Mougey had a bad offseason
The Verdict: The Jury is Still Out
Mougey inherited a roster that has talent, but also players who were dragging down the team. The Jets did not go big game hunting in free agency and wisely chose to spend their money on keeping two key homegrown players in Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson with the team for the future. He knew there were issues on the defensive line right before the start of the season and made two key trades for Harrison Phillips and Jowon Briggs.
His first draft has plenty of potential with Armand Membou, Mason Taylor, Malachi Moore and Arian Smith. There is plenty to like about what Mougey has done in his first offseason as General Manager and if he get Breece Hall signed to a new deal, it’ll only be better.
In a vacuum, a few of his free agent signings have struggled. He was widely criticizied for giving Brandon Stephens a three year contract to start opposite Sauce and that deal looks like a disaster. Andre Cisco has had a disappointing start to the season, but this deal is a bit more forgivable because it's only a one year contract. The decision to keep Gipson instead of rookie Jamaal Pritchett as the team's primary kick returner played a major role in the loss to the Steelers and the fact Micheal Clemons is still on this roster will continue to frustrate the fan base.
Jets nation and their beat writers are a very interesting bunch to say the least. For every good move Joe Douglas made during his time as GM, there were plenty of bad moves that he got a pass on because it was much easier to rip into Woody Johnson for the team's faults and dysfunction. Every GM in the NFL makes bad moves. It's laughable to label Mougey's first offseason as disappointing after a few months and a whopping two games. It's easy to be a great GM in hindsight, but it's better to wait and see how the season plays out before declaring Mougey's first offseason as a disappointment.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: 3 overreactions to the start of the Jets' season: Justified or not
Category: Football
