Hopefully, Aaron Judge Hasn't Abandoned New York

It’s Thanksgiving. Time for turkey and overloading with food. 

It also is time for some NFL football. Three games. Pretty good ones, too. Resurgent Detroit takes on Buffalo at Ford Field. Because of the snowstorm which buried Orchard Park and the Bills’ home stadium, Buffalo actually played in Ford Field more recently than the home team, which went to the Meadowlands and walloped the Giants. 

This is no gimme for the Bills. Blessed with good field conditions inside the arena, the Bills pasted the Cleveland Browns. And with the New York Jets doing the unbelievable in losing to New England for the 14th straight time, there is a logjam in the AFC East. Idle Miami sits atop the division. Buffalo is second because it lost to the Dolphins. Suddenly, New England is in third because of the Jets’ ineptitude. New York slid from potentially being in first with a win over the Patriots, to now residing in fourth place.  

Buffalo can stake its claim to first place with a win. On Sunday, Miami hosts the lowly Houston Texans in a game the Fish should win. New England, fresh off of its gift win via the Jets stupidity, is in Minnesota on Thursday night. The Vikings had their heads handed to them at home by the Dallas Cowboys. Minnesota should be smarting from that embarrassment and would be expected to give the visiting Patriots a very rough time. 

The other game for Turkey Day is the Giants and Cowboys in the annual Dallas Thanksgiving Day game. Dallas is on the rise. The Giants looked challenged against Detroit, which isn’t as bad a team as their 4-6 record might suggest. Dallas is maybe the best or second best team in the NFC. New York has suffered some key injuries, and perhaps has played over its head thus far. A loss here imperils the G-Men’s chances to make the playoffs. A win puts them back into the NFC East title chase. This is a very important game for both squads. How many times will I be nauseated by shots of Cowboys owner Jimmy Jones happily cheering his team from his suite at AT&T Stadium? Answer: too many. 

Let me get to the Jets. A once promising season is now in tatters. Zach Wilson, drafted second overall just a few short years ago, played horribly again when facing Bill Belichick’s team. 

The defense was outstanding. Once more a play which could have changed the game went against the Jets. Unlike the interception touchdown at Met Life Stadium which was negated by a penalty, this near TD fumble recovery was ruled an incomplete pass. Two questionable calls. Both going against the Jets. Naturally. 

There was 00:20 left on the clock before the 3-3 tie could head to overtime. Jets punter Braden Mann needed to merely kick the ball away from the New England returner, and the clock would have run out and the teams could have resumed the battle in the OT. 

With the windy conditions, Mann was having difficulties. Instead of booting the ball away, it went right to Marcus Jones. In 15 seconds, Jones had eluded all of the Jets on the field and scored the winning TD with five seconds left. 

A mere observer would say that play was incredible. Except that the Jets are tied to the butt fumble by Mark Sanchez when he ran into his own teammate, allowing the Patriots to win a game they shouldn’t have. 

We just marked the tenth anniversary of that disaster with a new one. Which shouldn’t be surprising given the recent history with New England—the Jets snatching defeat from the arms of victory, has now lost 14 straight to its nemesis. And NYJ has sunk into last place in the AFC East, where almost all pundits had placed them at the beginning of the season. 

Wilson looked so lost out there. His post-game press conference, like the previous one versus New England, was bizarre. Head Coach Robert Saleh had seen enough with Wilson and is sitting him down this week when the Chicago Bears visit Met Life Stadium. 

Second-stringer Mike White, who has performed okay in limited action over the last couple of years, is now the number one QB. To me, this is a panic move. I may not like how Wilson has been playing or acting lately, but he has dealt with injuries and his growth has been slowed as a result. 

Nevertheless, if the franchise is to succeed, that success is tied to the maturity of Wilson. Yanking him from the starter’s role will do nothing for the team or Wilson. 

I have heard the rumbling that the team was not happy with Wilson’s putrid performance—he only threw for 77 yards and was a shambles in the pocket as he went through his progressions, never getting the ball to receivers accurately or timely. I get it. 

Maybe Saleh thought he would lose the team if he didn’t make this move. But just like the Giants, this team has way overachieved and the fact that both teams are still in the playoff hunt is way beyond expectations of both fan bases. 

Saleh and Brian Daboll the Giants’ first year coach, have been mentioned in the Coach of the Year conversation. Then again, Nick Siriani of Philadelphia, Mike Zimmer in Minnesota, and Mike McDaniel, the Yalie who is the head man in Miami, have all been discussed as possible winners. With seven games still remaining in the season, this will change. 

But the fortunes of the Jets took a tremendous hit on Sunday in Foxborough, a place of horrors for them. Chicago comes to New Jersey wounded—literally. QB Justin Fields, having a tremendous year, suffered a left shoulder injury late in the loss at Atlanta last week. He has been diagnosed with ligament damage in that shoulder. 

While Fields is optimistic about playing versus the Jets, this could turn out to be a battle of backups, as Trevor Simien could well start for the Bears opposite White. Doesn’t that sound delicious?

Whatever reasons went into Saleh’s decision to bench Wilson—maybe he didn’t want the QB to face the wrath of perpetually disappointed Jets fans when they take out their long term frustration encompassed in this latest disaster—it changes the dynamic greatly. Chicago is very weak on defense. Wilson could have had a good comeback game. The Jets could have vaulted themselves back into playoff contention with a win. 

With White leading the offense, things are much murkier. The future of the team and Zach Wilson is in limbo.

Yet in my 47 year tenure as a Jets season ticket holder, this is not uncommon. Somehow, the Jets have not had that leader to take them to the promised land like the great Joe Wille Namath did in 1969. Which is why he is revered whenever he appears at Met Life. 

I liked Chad Pennington. His career was shortened by injury. Sanchez was never the same after the fumble, and his fortunes plummeted, as did those of Head Coach Rex Ryan.  

This same spiraling appears on the horizon. Just when I thought there might be a glimmer of hope, a beacon of light which could free Jets fans from the playoff exile in which we have been entrenched, this time it is a bad punt which has once more doomed us. 

Evidently Zach Wilson, the next savior, isn’t that in the eyes of the team and the coaches. And probably Jets fans too. Not surprisingly.

Enjoy the football. Enjoy your turkey and the trimmings. Hopefully, Aaron Judge hasn’t abandoned New York. That could totally ruin the holiday.