FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- There is so much wrong with the Jets organization right now -- from the roster makeup to the scouting to the coaching to upper management -- quibbling about the details almost isn't worth the pixels or breath. What matters is somehow, someway, Jets owner Woody Johnson needs to summon the will that he didn't have two offseasons ago and drop the plunger on his dysfunctional organization. Blow it up. No more half-stepping.
The Jets need a new head coach, a new quarterback, and, yes, a new general manager to replace John Idzik. The talk about how dispiriting it is to start over yet again has no application. Blow it up. It's the only way.
That's the only conclusion possible from how wretched this 1-7 Jets season turned Sunday, when the Jets hit a new low in the Rex Ryan era during their 43-23 self-immolation against the Buffalo Bills. And Idzik said nothing to remove himself from the firing line Monday during his midseason state-of-the-team news conference, which he'd already scheduled before Sunday's six-turnover mess.
Idzik is often disparaged as an automaton who parries back at reasonable questions by saying it's not his "policy" to divulge answers or details about "organizational decisions." And Monday, there was still a grating amount of that. Idzik actually did summon some emotion during the novel (bordering on bizarre) 20-minute soliloquy he delivered at the start of his presser before taking a single question. He even tried to wax poetic, at one point invoking the "pain" of the "granddaddys and grandmoms" who have been suffering Jets fans for generations.
Too bad the takeaway from what he offered up was as light as his draft and free-agent successes since he arrived two Januarys ago. Anyone expecting a hatchet job from Idzik on how bad things have become got a sales job from the Jets GM instead.
And not a remotely convincing one at that.
Ryan deserves to be fired because in nearly six seasons here he's never mastered certain skills or nuances of being a head coach. But Ryan is still better at his job than Idzik is at his. And Idzik's love of withholding information doesn't obscure the fact his fingerprints are all over the mess the 2014 Jets have become. He, not Ryan, has to wear this: He gave Ryan a poorly constructed 2014 roster that doesn't jibe with Ryan's defensive coaching style, and ignored how necessary it is to have good cornerbacks and wideouts in the passing league the NFL has become. The fact the Jets' schedule was laden with Hall of Fame-caliber opposing quarterbacks like Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers was another good reason to load up.
Instead, do you know what is the most magical thing Idzik has accomplished by far?
He's somehow made Ryan a sympathetic figure even though the Jets have lost seven straight (and counting). Where else has that ever happened in the NFL, let alone in New York? It's truly amazing.
Rich Kotite still can't get served in parts of Queens for his Jets crimes. But when Ryan gets fired here -- and he will -- some fans will go to their graves believing Idzik sabotaged him.
Whether it was intentional or unintentional incompetence is beyond the point. Idzik had a chance to acquit himself Monday by at least offering solutions going forward. And he didn't do that, either. He spoke in curlicues about believing in his plan and staying the course. Some of his characterizations were so detached from reality, they were insulting to anyone who's been paying attention.
Jets fans who were bone-tired of Geno Smith's turnover problem even before Sunday's nadir don't want a GM to remind them how long they've been waiting for the second coming of Joe Namath. They want someone to do something about it.
Idzik was asked several times if he believes he was too stingy about spending the $30 million in salary-cap space he had before this season, and again he said no. Idzik calls it "room," and he kept extolling over and over the advantages of having "room" -- as in "room" is a tool, the Jets will use their "room" wisely, and, the rather obvious declaration, "I like having room."
Idzik also disputed the contention that Michael Vick, who was finally named the Jets' starting quarterback Monday afternoon, was not given a fair shot during training camp over Smith, Idzik's second-round pick last year, despite all the lip service Idzik has given to fostering a climate of "open competition."
Later, Idziik admitted that Vick purposely wasn't given an equal share of work with the first team because he's a "savvy" vet.
All this parsing and obfuscation is beyond silly.
You can argue Johnson's insistence on making Idzik keep Ryan on as head coach rather than hire his own man was misguided. But Idzik -- who had never interviewed for a GM job before and wasn't believed to be the Jets' first choice -- grabbed the gig. And he still walked into a good scenario here.
In addition to the salary cap room, he's had 19 draft picks -- but used them to little effect. Free-agent signings? The Titans knew Chris Johnson is done, so why didn't the Jets? Bringing in Dimitri Patterson at cornerback when other options from Vontae Davis to Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie were available -- only to see Patterson, who's now had six NFL stops, go AWOL and get cut in preseason -- was reminiscent of something a rival league executive said when the Jets took a flier on chronic troublemaker Mike Goodson, another bust signing: Doesn't anyone working for the Jets do background checks?
If they do? Not good enough. Different season. Same problems.
Idzik did at least get some things right Monday. He said, "The buck stops with me," and, "I need to examine everything I do." He called his job performance "unsatisfactory."
Glad we agree.
Now Woody Johnson has to see the obvious, too.
Time to blow things up.