NEW YORK, NY — On any given National Football League Sunday, expect the unexpected with at least one favorite getting knocked off by a team at the bottom of the barrel.
This has obviously been a dreadful season for first-year Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, and his starting quarterback, Justin Fields. Going into Sunday’s game with the Bengals in Cincinnati, the Jets were 0-7, with Fields looking particularly feeble. He was constantly sacked by opposing defensive ends. When he was fortunate enough to get off a pass, it was rarely caught. Leading drives which resulted in touchdowns were rarer than winning lottery tickets for the Jets.
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Things had gotten so bad that Jets owner Woody Johnson figuratively threw Justin Fields under the proverbial bus last Tuesday chatting with the press following an NFL owners meeting in midtown Manhattan. “It would be nice to have a quarterback who could complete a pass,” Johnson wisecracked.
While Johnson was criticized for his remarks, it is easy to understand why he blew off some steam. He knows he has become the butt of jokes. Going on fifteen years without your team making the playoffs, the longest drought in professional sports, will do that. Johnson was also smarting from his team’s disastrous loss the previous week to the Carolina Panthers. While he should have been insured by now, seeing a half-empty MetLife Stadium on a summery October afternoon clearly enraged him.
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To his immense credit, Fields took the jabs from his owner in good stride. He just wanted to prove to him, and so many others, that he was a better QB than what he had shown in the first seven games of the season.
All indications were that Glenn would be giving Fields’ understudy, veteran Tyrod Taylor, the start against the Bengals. Taylor is 36 and has played fifteen years in the NFL. He has endured more than his share of injuries. Taylor hurt his knee when he came in to relieve Fields in the second half of the Panthers game.
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Glenn had no choice but to give Justin yet another chance.
Fields made the most of this opportunity. Even though the Jets frequently trailed by two touchdowns to the Bengals as late as the second half, Fields did not get rattled as he led the Jets on a pair of fourth quarter touchdown drives which gave them a surprising 39-38 win. It was even more remarkable considering he did not have either of the Jets’ top two receivers, Garrett Wilson and Josh Reynolds, who were injured.
Also missing the game was the Jets star cornerback, Sauce Gardner, who was recovering from a concussion. Bengals QB, ex-Jet Joe Flacco, along with his Pro Bowl wide receivers Tee Higgins and JaMarr Chase, easily carved up the Jets’ porous defense. After playing two consecutive solid games in which they limited their opponents to 13 points, the Jets defense returned to form.
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Luckily, for the Jets, the Bengals’ defense was equally inept, especially when it came to containing running back Breece Hall.
Jets legend Nick Mangold passes away at the age of 41
The passing of former Jets center, Nick Mangold, from kidney disease at the age of 41, tempered a lot of the joy of Sunday’s win for fans. Mangold played for eleven years for Gang Green and was the best at his position in the NFL for most of his career.
There is a good chance he will be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in January.
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Rex Ryan was Mangold’s head coach for six years and is now a pundit on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown” show. The show’s anchor, Mike Greenberg, who makes no secret of his Jets fandom, broke the news of Mangold’s passing. Although Mangold had gone public two weeks earlier about his need for a kidney donor, Rex, like all of us, was unprepared for such devastating news. He could not hold back his tears as he was eulogizing one of his favorite players. It is hard to watch a clip of Rex’s touching tribute without tearing up yourself.
Eagles get revenge on Giants at Lincoln Financial Field
The Philadelphia Eagles, who lost badly to the Giants at MetLife Stadium on Thursday Night Football two weeks ago, got their revenge Sunday at Lincoln Financial Field, with a 38-20 win. The loss was the least of Giants’ head coach Brian Daboll’s concerns.
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Exciting rookie running back Cam Skattebo dislocated his ankle after getting tackled on a pass reception attempt. He is out for the rest of the season. That kind of injury is not an easy one for a running back to recover.
Big East Basketball Media Day at Madison Square Garden
The Big East conference held their annual men’s and women’s media day on the floor of Madison Square Garden last Tuesday. Big East officials wisely set the tables for their two best teams, the University of Connecticut Huskies, and the St. John’s University Red Storm at opposite ends. I am sure Danny Hurley and Rick Pitino, their respective coaches, preferred it that way.
SJU forward Zuby Ejiofor was named Big East Player of the Year in a preseason coaches poll. If Ejiofor can repeat his 2024-25 season, then he should be a first-round pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
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I asked him if being a star college basketball player in New York City has gotten him any major endorsement contracts. Zuby laughed and said, “I am open to all offers!” He is well-aware of the economic interest in the Big East based on the number of television networks who have deals with the conference (FOX Sports, TNT, and ESPN), as well as the fact that Madison Square Garden is eager to book the Red Storm for as many home games as they would like since they now sell out the “world’s most famous arena.” There is no reason college players, especially stars, should not benefit economically from their labor.
Skye Owen is looking forward to another season being the point guard for the St. John’s Red Storm women’s basketball team. Although she is from Staten Island, Skye clearly loves Queens. Before going to St. John’s, she attended St. Francis Prep in Fresh Meadows. “I got up at five o’clock every morning!” she told me.
More from Big East Basketball Media Day at MSG
Rick Pitino has credited the team’s biggest booster, Body Armor CEO and Middle Village native Mike Repole, for providing the funds to recruit top-tier talent to St. John’s. I asked Red Storm women’s head coach Joe Tartamella if Repole has been as helpful to his program. “I would say he has more interest in the men’s program, but he has attended our games and practices.”
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SNY will no longer be able to televise University of Connecticut women’s basketball games as they have done in past years as is precluded by the Big East’s new television rights agreements with national networks. Legendary Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma told me he thought highly of SNY’s coverage of his team, but now his players’ families can watch all their games no matter where they live in the United States.
Nancy Dubuc and Kati Fernandez attend conference for National Association of Broadcasters at the Javits Center
Veteran television executives Nancy Dubuc and Kati Fernandez, who now run a digital women’s sports platform, togethxr.com (I am guess the “x” replaces the “e” to highlight xx chromosomes), were speakers at last week’s National Association of Broadcasters conference at Javits Center last week.
They were asked which would be the next big women’s sport behind basketball, soccer, tennis, and golf. Their answer of volleyball, followed by softball, surprised me. I asked them about the Professional Women’s Hockey League which is now in its third year. “They have shown growth, but they still have a way to go,” Fernandez told me.
Social Media trends for MSG and the Barclays Center
Here is an interesting social media trivia nugget. According to Covers.com editor-in-chief James Bisson, the arenas which have appeared more often than any other are our own Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center.
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Surprisingly, neither of Los Angeles’s two major venues, the Crypto.com Arena and the Intuit Dome, did not make the top ten.
“Roundball Rock” theme returns NBC for its NBA telecasts
The return of the “Roundball Rock” theme by NBC for its NBA telecasts has gotten a lot of press. I would like to see NBC revive another theme for its sports telecasts. In the late 1970s, NBC used a catchy, but minor disco hit, “Don’t Turn Away,” by Midnight Flite for its NFL broadcasts at the time. It would be great if they used it for either their Saturday night college football telecasts or for “Sunday Night Football.”
A multi-part Netflix documentary on Kevin Durant in the works
Netflix is working on a multi-part documentary on perennial NBA All-Star and future Hall of Famer Kevin Durant.
Tim McGraw set to perform this Saturday, November 1, in Atlantic City
Country singer Tim McGraw, the son of the late iconic Mets relief pitcher Tug McGraw, will be holding a concert this Saturday, November 1, at the Hard Rock Casino & Resort in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
You can read more of Lloyd Carroll’s columns posted weekly on The Queens Chronicle.
