I'm not a Jets fan. Anyone who knows me knows that. However, Woody Johnson is so in-your-face about his constant need for attention that it's hard to ignore them. And we can all agree that there was no bigger desperate plea for New York's attention than the Jets' trade for Tim Tebow in March.
Try and deny it all you want Woody, we know the truth. You know it too. You wanted to leverage Tebow's incredible popularity and turn it into ticket sales. And since the media is obsessed with Tim Tebow, you knew that, at the very least, the trade would get people talking about the Jets, if only for a little while. Never mind the fact that you already had a quarterback and really had no use for Tebow. Besides, who doesn't like a good quarterback controversy? As long as the Sanchez vs. Tebow debate raged on, that meant the New York Jets were the topic of discussion. We know you loved that.
Problem is, trading for Tim Tebow didn't make the Jets better. In fact, their season was doomed as soon as the trade was completed. Mark Sanchez was given a raise and vote of confidence after the Jets' unsuccessful courtship of Peyton Manning. Then they went and got one of the most popular players in the league to serve as his "backup." Some vote of confidence. Most NFL starting quarterbacks are given enough benefit of the doubt that they're allowed to throw an interception in the first quarter in September without the fan base immediately calling for them to be benched. Not so for Mark Sanchez. There was Team Sanchez and Team Tebow, and not just among Jets fans. The locker room was divided. That's where all the problems started.
Furthermore, Tebow proved to be nothing more than a distraction. They claimed to have this special package of plays for him. As it turns out, all of those plays were basically the same. When Tebow came in, the Jets were going to run. Once that became clear after about three games, the Jets offense became a lot easier to scout. Tebow wasn't this big "threat" that he was billed to be. And if anything, the constant switching quarterbacks on every other play seemed to mess with the Jets' offense more than the opposing defense. They could never get a rhythm going. You have an actual NFL quarterback in the game, start driving down the field, then here comes the glorified running back to completely mess with that momentum. But, yes, getting Tebow was a "football decision" that was going to "help the team."
I think all of that was Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum trying to appease their owner by finding some way to play with his new toy. They never wanted Tim Tebow. Woody Johnson did. I'm on the record as thinking Tim Tebow sucks. He was given waaaaaaaaaay too much credit for Denver's success last year. (Do you think it's just a coincidence that, Peyton Manning or not, the Broncos immediately jumped the second they had a chance to get rid of him?) His style may have worked in college, but he's simply not good enough to be an NFL quarterback. I'm not the only person who thinks that. And I have a feeling Ryan and Tannenbaum agree with me.
Now, I'll admit, I've been a member of Team Sanchez. Not only do I not get the whole Tebow obsession, I think Sanchez was unfairly set up to fail. How about giving the guy credit for taking them to two AFC Championship Games during his first two seasons as a pro by winning four consecutive road playoff games? How about acknowledging the fact he wasn't the reason the Jets lost their last three games to miss the playoffs last season? How about blaming the people actually responsible for making personnel decisions that there were no playmakers around him?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying Mark Sanchez is completely blameless for the Jets' struggles, either. Way too many of his interceptions are his own fault, and he definitely fumbles too much. And more often than not, these turnovers come at crucial times and prove costly. But I do agree with Ryan's reasoning for sticking with Sanchez as his starter. He did give the Jets the best chance to win.
Of course, the key word in that last sentence is did. The first sign that Sanchez's days as the starter might be numbered came in that miserable "game" against Arizona when Tebow was inactive with broken ribs and Sanchez was pulled in favor of Greg McElroy, who drove the Jets down the field for the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of a 7-6 victory. That's when people started clamoring for Sanchez to be benched permanently. But cooler heads prevailed. Rex Ryan didn't get carried away, realized that all the Jets proved in that game is that they're slightly less bad than the Cardinals, and stuck with Sanchez as his starter the following week in Jacksonville.
Monday night's game was the last straw, though. Sanchez was bad, really bad, in a loss to the Titans that eliminated the Jets from the playoff race. He threw an interception deep in Titans territory while the Jets were driving towards a possible go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Then, after the Jets got the ball back in great field position after a terrible Tennessee punt, he fumbled the first snap and the Titans recovered to seal the game. (It should also be noted that on the one drive the Jets actually moved down the field in that game, they took Sanchez out and put Tebow in for an entire series in the middle of the drive, which ultimately stalled.)
So, Rex Ryan felt the time had finally come for Mark Sanchez to be replaced as the starter. By Greg McElroy. That should tell you all you need to know. Tebow never figured into Ryan's plans. If he had, Greg McElroy wouldn't be starting against the Chargers on Sunday. I'm sure everybody on the Tebow bandwagon will criticize the move left and right if McElroy doesn't perform, but Rex Ryan, who's probably coaching his second-to-last game with the New York Jets, thinks the man best equipped to replace his struggling former starter isn't the NFL's most talked-about backup. It's a third-stringer who's been inactive in every game other than that one against Arizona. Yet Ryan would rather have him under center than the human PR campaign.
Everyone knows Rex Ryan's days with the New York Jets are numbered. So are Mike Heimerdinger's. And, today it was made clear that Mark Sanchez's probably are, too. But, another thing was also made clear today. Tim Tebow's not the answer at quarterback. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he's not a member of the 2013 New York Jets, either.
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