Bowles, Jets Should Emulate the Pats (But Leave the Footballs Alone)

A not-very-scientific study has revealed that, had the Jets played this season with deflated footballs, they would either have won 12 games and would likely be preparing right now for the Super Bowl that’s still somehow 10 days away… or absolutely stunk and instead lost 12 games, which actually sounds kind of familiar. Needless to say, the study has a relatively large margin of error.

Of all the things the Jets should do differently in 2014, taking the air out of the footballs almost surely isn’t one of them. But, when it comes to turning things around in all things not pump-related, the Jets have an incredible role model in the Patriots.

As new coach Todd Bowles said in his introductory press conference yesterday, “It’s not going to happen overnight. We have pieces in place and we’ve got to build and we know that. Obviously the Patriots are in the Super Bowl, and they’re in our division, so we’ve got our work cut out for us.”

I couldn’t agree more with Bowles on success not happening overnight -- or on the fact that the Pats are in the Super Bowl. As for having the pieces in place, well…

Gang Green does have some talented players, though not nearly enough of them, but as the Patriots have shown, in a sport characterized by the salary cap, free agency and all-too-frequent career-threatening or -ending injury, it’s not about having the pieces in place, it’s about having a plan and assembling the pieces on the fly.

Yes, the Pats are headed to their sixth Super Bowl in 14 seasons, but the only constants during that amazing run are owner Robert Kraft, coach/GM-in-all-but-name Bill Belichick and QB Tom Brady.

New England last made the big game in 2012. Just three years later, only 17 players remain from that squad’s final 53-man roster.

In order to achieve success in a division where the Pats have been dominant for an eternity, new GM Mike Maccagnan has to constantly unearth new talent while holding on to the team’s core assets. There aren’t many, but DLs Sheldon Richardson, Muhammad Wilkerson and C Nick Mangold -- who’s getting up there in age but is still as good at his position as anyone in football -- certainly fit the bill.

Bowles, meanwhile, has to consistently “coach up” that ever-changing talent base to get the most out of it. In the Pats’ last Super Bowl, Julian Edelman, then in his third year in New England after being chosen in the seventh round of the 2009 Draft, was a complete afterthought, following a regular season in which he caught just 4 passes. This year, he caught 92 -- and threw a pretty nice one a few weeks ago.

That’s why the Pats are who they are. That’s who the Jets need to be.

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