Best of the Jets on WFAN: Can Gang Green shock the world?

Boomer Esiason (0:00)

I don't know about you, Tiki.

Evan Roberts (0:01)

You're so independent minded. I think last night when you sat down and watched Patriot Seahawks, you watched it as a football fan. I watched it as a football fan and a Jet fan. And I had two major Jet thoughts from watching last night's game that are very contradictory to each other.

Sean Rossi (0:17)

I want to be honest. Right.

Tiki Barber (0:18)

Drink May Stakes, and maybe we have a chance.

Evan Roberts (0:21)

Yes, well, that's one of... Maybe we have a chance was absolutely one of them, because the other day, and really over the last few days, Jet fans have called in, some have, suggesting, hey, they could be better than we think. Maybe they can make the playoffs. Nine wins, ten wins. There are things that are going to have to happen for the Jets to shock the world. And one of the things that would have to happen was that. Right. The New England Patriots reverting back to more of the 2014 than the 25 team would be a big help. And it is one game. And as we mentioned yesterday, the Patriots did lose to the Raiders last year to open the season.

But last night, as I'm watching Drake May throw not one, not two, not a few dumbass interceptions, especially late, that was one jet thought I had, which is, hey, if we're gonna surprise people, we got this crappy team twice on the schedule, we're gonna have to beat them at least once. This would go a long way to the jet surprising people and being really good.

Tiki Barber (1:13)

Well, I mean, last year, we know what the formula was for the New England Patriots.

Evan Roberts (1:17)

Play bad teams?

Tiki Barber (1:18)

Yes.

Evan Roberts (1:19)

Exactly. Okay.

Tiki Barber (1:20)

They get the wins. The Dolphins, the Panthers, I mean, somehow they beat the Bills in a tight game. Both those games were tight against the Buffalo Bills. But so we'll give them that one. But a lot of the schedule was easy.

Evan Roberts (1:33)

And then what happened come postseason time? They played better teams, but Drake wasn't good.

Tiki Barber (1:37)

Right. They struggled with the better teams. They gave up a ton of sacks. And I think the division round, they had three turnovers in that game. And in the Superbowl was just, I mean, they had eight turnovers in the postseason last year. And that's after a season. And once they basically had about, I don't know, like 15 or 12 during the regular season. So more than double the rate of turnovers happened in the postseason against the better team. So you're playing a good defense in Seattle. And it wasn't a surprise that even with Drew Locke under center because Sam Darnold got hurt, the New England Patriots struggled because they struggled last year against good teams.

Evan Roberts (2:13)

Yeah, especially offensively. So if, I think we all agree, like there are very few universal NFL points that everyone agrees on. I think everyone agrees the Patriots are not winning 14 games. The question is, how much do they revert? Are they going from 14 wins to 12 wins? No biggie. Right. 14 wins to 11 wins? No biggie. But if they go from 14 to 6 or 7, or a non-playoff team, that's huge. And that's the positive in how it could impact the Jets as they battle them in the AFC East. But my other thought is completely contradictory. And I want jet fans to be honest and raise their hands and admit they thought the same thing I thought.

When Sam Darnold got hurt, and no, I'm not talking about Aaron Rodgers. There's nothing to do with the Aaron Rodgers injury from a few years ago. When Sam Darnold got hurt and did not return, and we don't know the severity of the injury, how much time he's going to miss, the thought went through my mind, you have no idea what I'm about to say.

Tiki Barber (3:04)

I have no idea either.

Evan Roberts (3:06)

The thought that went through my mind is, can we get it first for Geno?

Sean Rossi (3:11)

Wow, already?

Evan Roberts (3:14)

That's why I admit it's contradictory. In one breath it's, hey, patrons may be mediocre, here's our roadmap. But in the next breath it's like, man, if they're desperate for a quarterback.

Tiki Barber (3:23)

It's hard to speculate on that specific injury because you don't see it very often. When he first went down, I thought he was a PCL injury. Because when I tore my PCL, my rookie season, that's exactly what happened. I'm getting tackled from behind, my knee hits first. I'm like, yeah, that felt a little weird. It's all right, I'll be all right. I jog over, limp over, they do the little test. They're like, oh yeah, you tore your PCL. I'm like, oh, lovely.