S. Marshall: Why Idzik is to Blame for the Jets Missing the Playoffs

With the Ravens win over the Detroit Lions Monday night, the New York Jets miss out on the playoffs for a third straight season. Head coach Rex Ryan has put together another solid run defense, ranking in the top five in the NFL. Their passing defense was awful, ranking 25th in the league.

We know by now that Ryan is one of the best defensive coaches in the league. A coach is only as good as his players, and unfortunately, Ryan can't make moves to decide who is or isn't on his team. However, rookie General Manager John Idzik can. Why didn't Idzik acquire a mid-tier receiving threat to counter Santonio Holmes and an often injured Stephen Hill? Especially if Idzik wanted his man to succeed-- Yes, HIS man. Geno Smith.

After two seasons marred by the poor --unless you compare those seasons to Smith's current season-- play of Mark Sanchez, Idzik figured it best to go out and draft a rookie quarterback to compete with Sanchez for the starting role. Was it really a competition? In Week 3 of the preseason against the New York Giants, Sanchez went down with a season-ending shoulder surgery on a meaningless play in a meaningless game. At least, it was meaningless to everyone except for Ryan and Idzik. Ryan needed Sanchez in there to make it look like there really was a battle for the quarterback position. To anyone not blind to what was really going on, Idzik was making sure the Jets continued a quarterback battle while in reality he held in hand the power to decide the starting quarterback. Everyone who wasn't oblivious knew Idzik's decision was made in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft. Sanchez was a scapegoat, and when he went down with an injury, no one would've asked questions on if the right quarterback was starting, until Smith's play was so bad, the Jets lost three straight, and were finally eliminated.

The Darelle Revis trade is another move made by John Idzik that still has lingering questions. You could've had another season of the Revis and Cromartie defensive back tandem, but instead gave him to Tampa Bay. While the Jets did acquire Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate Sheldon Richardson because of the deal, they also acquired cornerback Dee Milliner to try to replace Revis. Milliner has been a joke. A cold-hearted, under performing joke. Milliner was benched multiple times after starting games, missed games with injuries, and failed to intercept a single pass in his rookie season. Often times when the Jets defense got beat on deep pass plays, Milliner's man was on the receiving end. Look at Week 15, against the Carolina Panthers, where Milliner's inability to shed a block caused the Jets to surrender a 72-yard touchdown to DeAngelo Williams on a screen pass. Granted, Ed Reed took a poor angle, and David Harris lost Williams in man-to-man coverage, but Milliner got straight up manhandled for being a seventh overall pick in the draft. Without the Revis trade, the Jets would've passed on Milliner, and only gotten Richardson, a solid deal which also would've improved their defense against the pass.

While you might say that Revis' numbers aren't that impressive in Tampa Bay, consider that Revis is one of the NFL's best shutdown corners. Shutdown refers to the ability to shut down a high threat wide receiver in man-to-man coverage. The Buccaneers mostly play zone coverage, which explains why Revis was never headline news this season in Tampa. Plus, Tampa Bay started 0-8.

While Rex Ryan will most likely be fired at the end of the season for failing to make the playoffs for the third straight season, it is ultimately the changes--and lack there of at the wide receiver position-- that John Idzik made that cost the Jets a playoff spot. Ryan will merely take the blow for turning a preseason 4-12 team into an 8-8 contender this season.

Why the NFL Has Become a Soft League

Week 11 of the 2013 NFL season was marred by controversial penalties. On Sunday afternoon, 49ers' linebacker Ahmad Brooks was slapped with a roughing-the-passer penalty when he aggressively tackled New Orleans quarterback Drew Brees and forced a fumble that was recovered by San Francisco. The Monday night game ended when New England quarterback Tom Brady's last second prayer was intercepted in the endzone by Carolina safety Robert Lester sealing the Panthers' 24-20 victory. However, the back judge threw a penalty flag that would've appeared to give the Patriots another chance with either a holding or defensive pass interference penalty against Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly. Offcials conferred, and waved off the penalty, officially ending the game. While I still don't have an opinion on the Monday night fiasco, and probably won't until Sports Science's John Brenkus and Co. break down the play and give scientific evidence as to whether or not Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski could've caught the pass. It's the Sunday afternoon penalty that bothers me the most.

What happened to football? Don't get me wrong, I'm all for player safety, but Brooks' hit on Brees' was one of the cleanest, violent tackles I've seen this year. Brooks simply wrapped his arms around Brees' shoulders. While the shorter Brees started towards the ground, Brooks' arms slipped around Brees' neck and chin strap. Causing a fumble, which was recovered by the Niners, with a 20-17 lead. Brooks was flagged for a "roughing-the-passer, forcible blow to the head of the quarterback". Upon further review, at no point did Brook hit Brees' head illegally. He didn't hit Brees helmet to helmet, and merely hit the chest plate of his shoulder pads against Brees' helmet. I'm sorry, that flag never should've come out.

Quarterbacks, kickers, and punters are protected too much by the rules of the NFL. While I agree a cheap shot on either player is unnecssary, it's embarrassing to think that this era of passers such as Brady and Brees have changed the league into a very soft league. Defensive pass rushers are constantly flagged for merely putting their hand on the head of a quarterback. No offence, but when was the last time a fiberglass helmet couldn't protect against an open hand? Hell, we call players stupid for punching a guy with his helmet on. Why? Because we all know it'll hurt the players' hand more than the opponent's head.

I admire the numbers that Brady and Brees have been able to put up through their illustrious careers, but it is their sensitivity to being hit that keeps them from being in the Brett Favre, Troy Aikman, and Peyton Manning conversation. These guys never look to officials for flags after being hit, and merely invite, or elude the contact. I'm sorry, but just because a few quarterbacks are sensitve to getting hit, doesn't mean the whole league should become as soft as they are.