The mediocrity of the N.Y. Jets and Giants

SPORTS COMMENTARY

There used to be a time where Sundays, for many people, were the best days of the week. Now, however, they are just more a depressing additive to the school week to come. Football in N.J./N.Y. is composed of some of the most die-hard fans, many of them being at West Essex. I personally hate Sundays now, because the Jets provide a depressing period of time from 1 to 4 p.m. with homework waiting to be done after that.

Let’s start with the Giants. They paid $200 million out to players this past offseason they thought would be giving them a huge boost on both sides of the football. Olivier Vernon was expected to come here and dominate right from the get-go, but has only been able to secure five and a half sacks so far this season. After committing to pay Vernon $85 million over the next five years, the team expected more production from their supposed star pass rusher.

Rob Zapparrata, sophomore Giants fan, is upset with how the Giants are playing. “The Giants haven’t been doing well this season and aren’t living up to the expectations that the fans hold them to,” he said.Though they have been doing well enough to stay in the playoff hunt, Giants fans always want more.

[Editor’s Note: The Giants have been playing well as of late. Though, if they want to continue to keep up with the rest of the league and stay in the playoff hunt behind the Dallas Cowboys they must keep winning.]

Many Giants fans, like Rob, expected a big year from their team, but have been disappointed so far. The Giants are 8-3 as of right now, but considering that they have won two Super Bowls in the past 10 years, they have very high expectations. With the amount of money they spent this past offseason the Giants really need to step it up if they want to satisfy their fans.

The Giants have become an unpredictable team, making questionable moves like giving huge contracts to Janoris Jenkins, Olivier Vernon and Damon Harrison and drafting Eli Apple in the first round of this year’s draft. The Giants have a legacy to live up to and need to find ways to start winning now if they want to satisfy their fans.

I don’t even know where to begin with the Jets. It all started with the “Butt Fumble” back in 2012 which has led to an insurmountable amount of ridicule. This is where the Jets began to go downhill and the team started losing a lot more than winning. With this also came the fall of Mark Sanchez and Rex Ryan, in which both seem to be questioned by many as to whether or not they should even be in the league anymore.

The point is that the Jets have had too many seasons where they lost more games than they won. Even last year, with the acquisitions of Brandon Marshall, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Darrelle Revis things were finally starting to look up. Until they lost in an elimination game (you can still hear the crying of Jets fans in the distance) and have now started the season at 3-8 to make things worse.

As a Jets fan myself, I cannot stand the lack of urgency the Jets have. Most of the players they have drafted these last few years have either turned out to be busts or have already been released from the team.
Jace Amaro, Dee Milliner, Quinton Coples, Geno Smith. Any of those names ring a bell? These are four players drafted in first two rounds since 2012. They can all be classified as busts due to their lack of production and inability to provide anything for the Jets.

The Jets have drafted a quarterback each of the last four years and none seem to be able to take over the team right now and provide a winning team. In order to become a competitive team, they have to find their quarterback of the future, and that certainly is not Ryan Fitzpatrick.

Jets and Giants fans both have to suffer the same torture every Sunday. It is time to stop the madness and demand for better results. This is New York, New Jersey and West Essex we are talking about, there’s no room for any teams that are disappointing in this town.