National Football League

One scathing review of 2012 Jets

Published Nov. 16, 2012 12:00 a.m. ET

Peter Schrager

After visiting celebrity chef Guy Fieri’s “Guy’s American Kitchen and Bar” four times in the past two months, New York Times food critic Pete Wells wrote what many are calling the most scathing restaurant review in the newspaper’s history this week.

Wells’ review is written as an open letter to Fieri and consists of nothing but questions to the bro/dude host of Food Network’s popular "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives."

I’ll never be the food critic for the Times. However, I do treat my NFL Sundays like Wells approaches an evening at Per Se or Le Bernardin (two places I’ve never been to, and likely won’t in my life … unless they add buffalo wings to the menu). I take my NFL Sundays seriously. I value fine quality. I appreciate good service. I cherish the masters of their craft.

With that in mind, I have been severely underwhelmed by one of the plates I’ve been served each Sunday this season. Here’s my review of the 2012 New York Jets … Pete Wells style.

Rex Ryan, have you looked at your team lately? Have you considered whether you would purchase a $20,000 PSL, pay $30 every week for parking, and pay full price for the future preseason games in which your squad participates? Do you watch the game film from week to week and notice your team getting staler, your offense somehow getting less imaginative?

Do you ever listen to the remarks you make in your news conferences? The ones in which you insist your squad is going to the playoffs and where you spend 24 of 25 minutes addressing questions about your backup quarterback?

Do you know that your team has scored just one offensive touchdown in its past two games and has been outscored 58-16 in those losses? Are you aware that the “Ground and Pound” offense that both you and offensive coordinator Tony Sparano boasted about this summer requires a good offensive line, dynamic running backs, and an at least somewhat formidable passing game to avoid eight men in the box on running downs? Did you realize that a “run first” team hasn’t won a Super Bowl since the 2002 Tampa Bay Buccaneers? Do you care that your offense appears to be allergic to touchdowns once they enter the red zone?

Some may point to injuries as the reason your squad looks more and more like a relic from the Rich Kotite era than the Bill Parcells one, but why is there no depth at any skill positions? Why was Tim Tebow — essentially a backup quarterback/fullback/punt protector — the big offseason signing instead of a skilled wide receiver or running back? Why was Drew Stanton, a solid backup quarterback, signed and waived within a matter of weeks?

And what about your starting quarterback, Mark Sanchez? After taking the Jets to the AFC Championship Game in each of his first two seasons in the league, is there a reason why he has taken giant steps back in seasons 3 and 4? Are you aware that he has five different games this season in which he has completed less than 50 percent of his passes? Do you know that no other quarterback has less than three such games? How come Josh Freeman and Matt Stafford have improved steadily year to year over their four-year NFL careers, while Mark Sanchez has gone in the opposite direction?

And Rex, what exactly were you and Coach Sparano working on this summer when you demanded the media leave the premises as you fine-tuned the Wildcat package up in Cortland? After hosting ESPN’s army of cameramen, producers and on-air talent for an entire week of training camp, why was the media suddenly not allowed to write about, talk about or critique the “Tim Tebow” package? Was there even any package being cooked up? If so, why haven’t we seen it yet? Why are we 10 weeks into the season with your offense ranked 30th in the league, while Seattle Seahawks receiver Golden Tate has thrown more touchdown passes than Tebow, the big offseason acquisition?

Why are Antonio Cromartie and LaRon Landry swearing when speaking with reporters? Why is Bart Scott trying to fight fans up in Seattle?

Why are “unnamed sources” calling the backup quarterback "terrible?"

Are Brian Schottenheimer and Wayne Hunter really going to get the best of the Jets on Sunday in St. Louis? Weren't they kicked to the curb for a reason? Surely, they were the ones to blame, right?

I ask all of these questions because the Jets were once one of the most entertaining teams to watch in the league and you were one of the sport’s most beloved personalities. Calling the 2012 Jets a circus would be wrong. There's nothing fun about them. It's sad what has become of this team.

The NFL’s better when the Jets are competitive. Can you somehow make that happen again?

Thanks.