Could Have. Should Have. Would Have.

  Could have. Should have. Would have. Those are great words to express a fan’s take on sports—especially when their team failed to do something critical. 

I know that those words apply to the New York Jets. Owners of a 2-4 record after losing to Buffalo on Monday night, there has always been a lot of second guessing and misgivings associated with this team through the years—and now again in 2024.

The Jets would have won the game had kicker Greg Zeurlein not hit two uprights attempting field goals in the swirling winds at Met Life Stadium. Zeurlein is a good kicker but his failures cost the team a win. Not that Buffalo’s kicker didn’t have his own troubles when he missed a field goal and extra point. These were kicks the two should have made. 

Rodgers threw a pass near the end of the game which was intercepted. Former LA Chargers wide out Mike Williams seemed to slip when reaching for the ball. Had he caught it, New York would have been in great position to tie or go ahead. Fans were lamenting about what could have been. 

New York finally was able to trade with Las Vegas to obtain disgruntled wide receiver Davante Adams. Adams was the top receiver for Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers when the two were together in Green Bay. They formed a dynamic duo. If the team comes up just short of making the playoffs, Jets fans will cry about what would have been if Adams had not been absent for the six games he was still in Vegas. 

Former New England head coach Bill Belichick now gives his opinions about the NFL for good money. He has no regard for the Jets and, in particular, owner Woody Johnson. So forget about any rumors of him coaching the team next season. It’s not going to happen.

Where it is much more likely that Belichick will resume coaching after his one year sabbatical, if he so chooses, is Dallas. There is a team with great expectations—seemingly every year—that has been hoisted by its own petard. 

In Dallas, owner Jerry Jones controls the team. He is the General Manager and he has final say on all personnel matters. Jones is receiving much greater criticism this season for his team’s shortcomings—which rightly falls on his head. 

It is just a question of whether Belichick wants to strut into a toxic situation only to be constantly criticized by his boss. Hadn’t he had enough of that in New England with Robert Kraft? And are the Cowboys really good enough to win the Super Bowl—are they once more merely pretenders? I think the latter is applicable here.

A tough Detroit Lions team demolished the Cowboys in Arlington on Sunday. The Lions looked like one of the teams to beat in the NFC and, for that matter, in the NFL. That was until star defensive lineman Aiden Hutchinson went down with a gruesome leg injury which required immediate surgery at a Dallas hospital. If Detroit misses the opportunity to finally win a Super Bowl—they are one of four franchises (Jacksonville, Cleveland and Houston are the others) not to have walked away with the trophy—their long-suffering fans will rue the day Hutchinson was injured.  

I did watch much of the Washington-Baltimore game on Sunday. It was a battle between a team which has Super Bowl aspirations and one which seems to be ahead of schedule in coming back from the doldrums. With a riveting performance, he Ravens’ Lamar Jackson reminded everyone why he was a M.V.P. winner. 

However, Washington rookie QB Jayden Daniels, the reigning Heisman Trophy winner, once more showed how much of an up side he has in leading the Commanders. With no clear cut favorite to win the NFC East, his on the field heroics have given DMV fans a lot of reason to believe in their team—now. 

in college football news, Texas remains at the top as they prepare for their battle with #5 Georgia in Austin on Saturday night. It should be a doozy. 

Speaking of doozies, #2 Ohio State traveled to Eugene to face #3 Oregon. This was a back and forth contest between two highly-ranked Big Ten teams. (It’s still hard to think about Oregon, USC, UCLA and Washington being in the Big Ten)  

Had OSU QB Will Howard—a really gifted player who I think will have a nice future in the NFL—not decided to run on the final play and slid a little earlier, OSU might have been in position to attempt to kick the winning field goal. Instead, time ran out for OSU. Moreover, an offensive pass interference penalty on a long completion didn’t help the Buckeyes’ cause. 

And a slick move by Oregon placing 12 players on defense at the end of the game, which would have been a dead ball foul and not cost yardage but instead allowed greater pursuit of Howard was another nail in OSU’s carcass.  There is a great example of could have, would have and should have. I wouldn’t have the courage to say that in Columbus. Conversely, there is plenty of elation in Oregon with the big win. 

A quick comment about Rutgers. What looked to be a promising start for the Scarlet Knights has devolved into the same old, same old. Wisconsin, a very average Big Ten squad, demolished RU Saturday in Piscataway. Head Coach Greg Schiano, a very nice man and solid recruiter, might be on shaky ground if the team doesn’t get better in its final six games, especially with a new AD coming in. There is only so much the downtrodden Rutgers fans can take. 

Caitlin Clark was named First Team All-WNBA. Rightly so. The WBA Rookie of the Year deserved the accolade. 

Right behind her, on the second team, was Sabrina Ionescu. You might remember that she went head-to-head with Steph Curry in a three point contest at the NBA All Star Game, pushing the greatest long-distance shooter to the limit before falling to Curry. 

Ionescu’s New York Liberty is facing the Minnesota Lynx in the best-of five WNBA finals. With the teams tied 1-1 after the first two games in Brooklyn, the Liberty found themselves tied with the Lynx as the time ran down. The ball was in the hands of Ionescu, who deftly executed a feint to create space from her defender and heaved a shot from nearly the center court logo. 

Nothing but net for the WNBA star and after that dramatic win, Brooklyn now has a chance to close it out on Friday. She showed her inner Curry on that one—a brave shot executed with great confidence like the one Curry hit at the recent Olympics. 

Besides the Jets, no greater place for what might have been is in New York. That goes for the Giants, whose fans are always in an uproar over their quarterback and head coach. 

Same applies to the residents of Madison Square Garden. The expectations for the Knicks and Rangers have always been high, even if the number of championships in my lifetime—soon to turn 74 next week—is two for the Knicks and one for the Rangers. The amount of bellyaching that goes on after each frustrating lost season is enormous. 

But where the biggest scrutiny is in baseball. Mets fans are always arguing every bad move or play that prevents the team from its third World Series title. I feel a little for them. 

For Yankees fans are too spoiled with 28 World Championships and the mantra of late owner George Steinbrenner channeling his best imitation of the late, great Green Bay Head Coach Vince Lombardi that winning is the only thing. If Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Gerrit Cole and the rest of the Yankees underwhelm and don’t win a title, the amount of howling over the littlest of things and the calling for the heads of General Manager Brian Cashman and Manager Aaron Boone will sound worse than a swarm of cicadas. 

Could have. Should have. Would have.