Big Ben Tuesday: Best and Worst Case Scenarios For the New York Jets and Giants

MetLife Stadium – The preseason is over, but weirdly, we’re still two Sundays away from Giants and Jets football.  I was confused as to why they would throw in a dead weekend, but then I saw that the Super Bowl is on February 13th. The NFL’s plan to ruin Valentine’s Day has finally come to fruition! Anyway, the Jets unveiled their shiny new QB and he has sure looked the part. As for Big Blue, it’s feeling like deja vu. Let’s Best Case/Worse Case this bitch for both teams.

Yes, I admit it’s getting better 
It’s getting better since you’ve been mine

JETS

The Jets have a new coach and a new QB, and early returns have looked positive. Preseason can’t show if a QB for real but it can show if he’s overwhelmed. Wilson sure passed test #1, completing 75% of his passes with a solid 9.6 yards per pass, showing off a rocket arm and poise, with no turnovers.

Corey Davis looks to be his favorite target so far and they’ll likely go with a committee approach at RB. OC Mike LaFleur has the right bloodline to make the offense go, but they’re gonna want to run the ball to take the pressure of Wilson. Especially since the backup will either be James Morgan or Mike White, not to be confused with the two accountants in my office.

HC Robert Saleh seems capable as well but they’ve had a ton of injuries already, especially on D. Maybe Saleh brought them with him from San Fran. Trading for Shaq Lawson will help but he’s no Carl Lawson. He’s better than no Lawson.

Best Case

Becton recovers and the offensive line plays well. The Jets run the ball well while Wilson gets his footing. The D holds up enough and they take advantage of a modest schedule, especially early. Wilson settles in a leads them to a few upsets. They play .500 in the division and go 10-7. 

Worst Case

The offensive lines struggles and they can’t run the ball. They’re forced to throw and play from behind often. Wilson takes a lot of hits and looks skittish. With no other option, they try to let him fight through it. The defense struggles with injuries and is on the field a lot. They finish 5-12.

Meet the New Boss
Same as the Old Boss

Giants

In the first half of the Giants last preseason game, they showed exactly the same problems that derailed them last year. Mother effing groundhog day. Jones was pressured often and the young tackles looked like turnstiles. The running game looked nonthreatening, and Jones undid a good drive with a poor throw/decision interception in the end zone. He had a nice (dime?) TD toss to close out the half but it was against Patriots backups. Prior to that drive, the Giants were making LB Josh Uche look unblockable.

Perhaps the more depressing part of the game was that the Giants’ new toys on offense, plus the returning Saquon, were all on the shelf. Golladay, Toney, and Rudolph have basically missed preseason and they’ll have to build chemistry with Jones on the fly.

There was Jones, trying to survive with Shepard and Engram as his top two weapons and a perhaps even crappier offensive line than last year. That’s not a recipe for success.