The New York Jets Dream Offseason

Stephen Russo with his dream offseason for the New York Jets

In a season mired by historical ineptitude, the Jets have also managed to find themselves on the verge of some other history. They are well on their way to the worst season in franchise history, possibly having the worst season in NFL history and they are pairing that with potentially the worst point differential of any team, ever. They are led by a historically bad head football coach, and to top it all off I think that we can all agree that they have made history for the earliest they have ever made a fanbase want to fast forward to the offseason. However, the upcoming offseason provides the light at the end of the tunnel that so many of us need.

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New York Jets – The Sad Truth About Sam

Stephen Russo with thoughts on Sam Darnold…

It pains me to write this. It really does. If you’ve read my work before, you know that I am a Darnold believer. From his bounce back after the first pass of his career to the highlights he gave us late in his rookie year and in the middle of his sophomore season, I’ve been on his side. If you go back to before the season, I actually predicted the Jets to finish at 8-8 with a shot at the playoffs based on the sole reason that I felt Darnold was ready to make the leap in year 3… I was wrong.

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New York Jets 1st & 10 – Kliff & the Cards Smoke the Jets

Stephen Russo goes 1st and 10 on the New York Jets latest blowout loss…

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Before anything else, I’m a fan. I bleed green. My father instilled this in me at a young age the same way that I am doing with my 6-year-old son. The story is that Joe Namath signed a deal with the Devil to beat the Colts in Super Bowl III, and if that’s the case I’m pretty sure my dad was the one who handed him the pen.

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New York Jets – A Letter to the Johnsons

Stephen Russo vents it out to New York Jets ownership…

Dear Chris & Woody,

Congratulations. You’ve done it. You have beaten us. You’ve taken a fanbase that, despite all it has been through, would still remain hopeful through every year, every game, every training camp, and every offseason. We have waited patiently, we have continued to try to see the positive and clung to it with all we could, and you have successfully defeated us. Through years of missteps and bad management, mistakes and poor judgment, and an awful product on Sundays more often than not, and we still stayed by your side in hopes that this would turn around. We’ve been through it all.

Every year, March and April are more exciting than the fall because at least then we aren’t disappointed by the games, we’re actually excited about the potential for success. Yet somehow, every year, our hopes are ruined before Thanksgiving as the Jets continue to be out of the playoff conversation well before then. We have given you an insanely low bar to clear – just play competitive football. And somehow you have managed to fall incredibly short.

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New York Jets 1st & Forever – The Adam Gase Rant

Stephen Russo with his 1st and 10 rant on the New York Jets and Adam Gase

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I’m guilty. I allowed myself to buy in… sort of. I let my desire to remain objective cloud my judgment. Now let me be clear; I was out on the Gase hire when it was made. I was all the way out on it. I was in the “anybody but Gase” camp. But, when they made the hire, I figured I had to make the best of it. I probably gave him more credit than what was due for a 6-2 finish in 2019. I allowed him to convince me here and there with the little things – the quips, the snarky replies to reporters, Sam Darnold’s belief in him, and yes, Chris Simms interview with Connor Rogers on the Badlands podcast. I thought that maybe there was more to him than meets the eye. Maybe there are things that I am not seeing that is going to lead to him being better than what I thought I knew. I even went as far as texting my father that I thought I was “warming up” to Gase on the Thursday before the season opener.

Boy, was I wrong.

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New York Jets 1st & 10: Painful Season Opening Loss in Buffalo

Stephen Russo goes 1st and 10 on the New York Jets week one loss to the Buffalo Bills…

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Allow me to preface everything I will write from here with this: it is just one game. I will not look to fill the air (or the page) with excuses, because we really don’t care, we just want results. However, the facts are the facts. This was a season opener after the strangest offseason in history with a completely new offensive line and basically a new receiving corps against a very good opponent. So, I will not be hitting the panic button just yet… but damnit I am close.

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New York Jets – The 5 Best Jets Wins of the Last 30 Years

The season is three days away, and while I had to take our optimism down a notch last week with a recap of the Jets most painful losses, let’s change the pace and allow that positivity to creep back into our lives with the best Jets wins in the last 30 years. Here’s to hoping some good memories will spurn a successful kickoff to the 2020 season!

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New York Jets – A Painful Trip Down Memory Lane

Stephen Russo on the five most painful losses for the New York Jets of the past 30 years…

We are less than two weeks away from regular season New York Jets football and while the preseason expectations surrounding this team are usually at their highest prior to week one, I figured I could give everyone just a little dose of sadness to drown out all that optimism. I’m kidding… sort of. For this article, I’d like to take another walk down memory lane and revisit some of the Jets – you guessed it! – most painful losses of the last 30 years!

Exciting, I know…

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New York Jets – Are They Tanking In 2020?

Stephen Russo on why the New York Jets are not tanking in 2020…

Somehow, over the course of the last few weeks, the tide has shifted in the world of Jets fandom and the panic has started to set in, and that word has been uttered more than a few times in the twitterverse: tanking. In a matter of days, the Jets traded their star safety in Jamal Adams for an absolute haul in return and their $85 million stud middle linebacker opted out due to COVID-19. Not exactly ideal for an arguably talent deficient roster as is. And for some reason, it seemed as though the “Tank Talk” didn’t start until the Jets cut guard Brian Winters (yes, you read that right). Maybe Jets fans placed an incredible amount of stake in the oft-injured guards meaning to the offensive line or maybe it was just the timing of it all, but as soon as the name Trevor Lawrence started creeping into the conversation, I had to throw my hands up in disgust.

Pump. The. Brakes.

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New York Jets – What Does Darnold Need To Make The Jump in 2020?

Stephen Russo on what Sam Darnold needs to do in year 3 for the New York Jets offense to be successful

I’ve been quite bullish on Sam Darnold since the start of his Jets career. He passes the eye test. The young quarterback just has something about him that makes you think he’s different. At this point in his career, that’s about all we have – a feeling. Sure, Darnold has made some incredible throws. He has improvised and made some ridiculous plays. And he has finished up each of his first two seasons rather strong. But for almost every “wow” play he’s made, he’s probably had an equally boneheaded play to cancel it out.

However, when you realize that he has been paired with two average-at-best head coaches in his first two years, and pair them with sub-par offensive staffs, an underwhelming number of difference makers on offense, and one of the worst offensive lines in football – what else can we expect? An argument can be made that Darnold has overachieved in his first two years considering what he has had to deal with.

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