Niagara Falls, NY – Happy Monday for some, I guess. I hope everybody’s having a happy Monday. I can’t say I am. My family has a way of making holiday events into traumatic ones. I think a while back we all had a good laugh at how my dad had to go to the hospital after slipping on ice while walking, and all the chaos that came with it. We’ll my brother topped him by not waking up on Thanksgiving day. So while I process that, the one thing I do have is MTM. These things are important when you’re trying to wrap your head around everything and process your emotions.
With that said, let’s get into the topics for today: an impressive Jets win, a New York Knicks update, and a Rangers review.
NY Jets Win
The Jets’ season is over. It was over after the kickoff of the first game, I think. As sad and true Jets fans, we all know that. With nine losses already this season, even if they won everything remaining, they’re assured of another losing record.
But for a first-year coach trying to build on the three-year vision, seeing the guys still play the system and fight for each other is critical. This team hasn’t laid down over the last few weeks. They’ve won a couple while nearly losing a few others—games they could have won with a couple of better plays here and there.
The quarterback switch seems to have worked. The very experienced veteran Tyrod Taylor is playing really well, using those old legs yesterday to help keep the offense moving and score. It was capped off by another experienced vet, kicker Nick Folk, using every bit of his 41 years and leg power to just get a 58-yard kick over the bar and into the corner to get the Jets a last-second win.
It was impressive. The defense wasn’t great but stood tall when it needed to, and the offense moved the ball down the field just enough, in spite of a key penalties, to get Folk the chance to make that kick.
NY Knicks
The New York Knicks are back to their winning ways this week. They went on the road and beat Brooklyn—whatever, it’s Brooklyn. But they followed that up with a road win against the Bobcats in the NBA Cup and then another NBA Cup win at home against Milwaukee. Then, they beat the Raptors at home, in a regular season game, who going into that game were on a significant winning streak.
The most impressive thing to me about these wins is how, with some guys out, other guys are stepping up, and head coach Mike Brown is going deep into the bench. He’s shown an incredible amount of faith and has been rewarded by guys who are #11 or #12 on the depth chart stepping up and making things happen.
NY Rangers
The New York Rangers had a really good week. After going winless last week, they started Monday with a win at home against the Blues, then went on the road to Carolina and got a win there. Then on Friday night, they got a win in Boston—a dominant performance, but I think they emptied the tank a little too much in that 6-2 win, because Saturday at home against the Lightning they just looked sluggish and second to every loose puck, which showed in the 4-1 defeat.
The Rangers’ home form is still nowhere near what they need to be a lock for the playoffs, but their overall performance means they are hot in spurts. A little more consistency and a winning streak of maybe five or six games will really start to show what this team is made of come playoff time, and in how they face each other.
Thanks for reading and please feel free to comment below. Since my set-up last week was a winner, I am gonna keep iComing up tomorrow is the Tuesday thrasher, the Frank McCourt of suburban midschool nostalgia, Ben Whitney.
