The Jets, and Brett Favre, Are Done

Photo: Getty Images

12/22/08 at 10:31 AM
New York Magazine

The New York Jets improved in almost every capacity this season. Their running game, their offensive line, their defensive front, even the cornerbacks; all have looked better on a consistent basis than they were during last year’s irrelevant 4–12 season. The one position they are worse at — at least when you compare this year’s performance to the one last year by Chad Pennington — is quarterback. The ultimate irony is now evident: The Jets’ season might have been doomed when … they traded for Brett Favre.

Such talk about legends veers on public blasphemy, but it’s true: Considering Favre’s performance over the last month, the Jets, had they kept Pennington, would likely be playing for the AFC East title next week. Instead, they’ll be trying to stop Pennington’s new team, the Miami Dolphins, a team that was even worse than the Jets last season, from winning the division. The Dolphins are led by executive vice-president Bill Parcells; the Jets are led by third-generation Parcells disciple Eric Mangini. For now.

Favre has been awful for four games now — one touchdown, six interceptions — but he was never worse than he was yesterday, throwing for only 187 yards and struggling in the freezing Seattle snow, conditions he has built a reputation on mastering. On the team’s final “drive,” the Jets went four-and-out deep in their own end zone, thanks largely to a Laveranues Coles drop on a rare nice Favre pass, and the game was finished. And the Jets season, for all intents and purposes, was finished.

Sure, the Jets still have a chance to make the playoffs, though it’s not much more of a chance than the 0–15 Detroit Lions have. They need to beat Pennington and the Dolphins in the Meadowlands, and they have to hope that the Patriots lose to the Bills AND the Baltimore Ravens lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars. This is extremely unlikely. It is more likely that the Jets, facing a tumultuous off-season, are going to look even more different next year than they did after all the changes this year. This team is over. Eric Mangini is likely over. And Brett Favre is almost certainly over.

(More here.)