What’s worse right now, being a Jets fan or a Bills fan?
After the Jets whipped Buffalo yesterday at MetLife Stadium, both teams finished 2016 with losing records. At 5-11, the Jets will have a higher first-round pick in the 2017 draft than the 7-9 Bills, but then again, with Mike Maccagnan and Doug Whaley (respectively) doing the picking, it’s hard to feel to good about how things will turn out.
As of now, it looks as though Woody Johnson is bringing back Maccagnan and Todd Bowles for another year, which excites absolutely no one in New York--not even Bowles apparently, who looks like he has enough trouble just keeping his eyes open for three hours each Sunday. In Buffalo, they’re currently in search of a coach, having canned Rex Ryan last week. Bills management gave offensive coordinator Anthony Lynn a one-game audition as the interim guy vs. the Jets, and boy, did he knock it out of the park.
The Bills got blown out while doing the one thing they haven’t done all year--giving the ball up as eagerly as if it were a grenade. Buffalo went into the last game of the year with just nine turnovers--and a chance to set the record for fewest giveaways in a 16-game season. That went out the window, however, after they coughed up the pigskin three times in the second half. Meanwhile, in the fourth quarter--seemingly unaware that a kickoff is a live ball after traveling 10 yards--the visitors allowed the Jets to recover the ball in the end zone for their final score of the day. Miraculously, the home team--the most turnover-prone in the NFL--had none on New Year’s Day.
Then there’s quarterback. For some reason, Whaley and the Bills front office can’t wait to get rid of Tyrod Taylor, who’s been a smart and solid pro for the team over the past two seasons. Against the Jets, afraid they’d be on the hook for tens of millions if Taylor got hurt, Buffalo sat their starter and played former first-round pick EJ Manuel, who’s so bad he couldn’t even make the Jets roster. Manuel and third-stringer Cardale Jones, who got the nod in the final quarter, did something no one else has been able to in more than a year: make Darrelle Revis look good. Revis came away with his first INT of the year vs. Jones, nearly turning it into a pick-six.
As for the Jets at QB, it would’ve taken Ryan Fitzpatrick getting kidnapped at halftime for Christian Hackenberg to see any action. Actually, that wouldn’t have done the trick, as Woody would’ve paid billions in ransom to keep Hack off the field. Fitz is done with the Jets, and who knows if the rookie will ever get started?
I’ll say this--Taylor would look great in green and white.
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Really, though, it’s a no-brainer that being a Jets fan beats being a Bills fan. After all, where would you rather spend the next few wintry months, the Big Apple or Buffalo?
