Tag: Joe Namath

Jets legend Joe Namath has some interesting thoughts on Zach Wilson, QB’s size

Jets legend Joe Namath isn’t sure if Zach Wilson is going to be a good quarterback, and he has some concerns about the No. 2 pick’s frame and supporting cast.

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Joe Namath isn’t convinced Zach Wilson will cut it in New York.

The legendary Jets quarterback wants to see more from Wilson – as well as his supporting cast – before passing final judgment on the 2021 second overall pick.

“I think there’s a side of school that’s still out,” Namath said on The Michael Kay Show. “We’ve got to see more. But the other thing is – I know it takes a group. Zach couldn’t perform at his best for a couple of reasons. He’s not there yet, certainly, and it was new for him and his team is not that solid. He needs more help around him. With help around him, it’s amazing how much better a guy can play.”

Wilson’s rookie season started off poorly with a league-leading nine interceptions and a 57.46 completion percentage through the first seven weeks. A mid-season knee injury then forced him to miss four games. Wilson came back and only tossed two interceptions over the final seven games and scored nine total touchdowns.

Namath did see some impressive traits in Wilson – particularly his arm strength and mobility outside the pocket – but didn’t sound too convinced his 6-foot-2, 214-pound frame will hold up in the NFL.

“I like him, but I don’t know how long he’s going to last,” Namath said. “You’d like for a guy to be 6-foot-6 or 6-foot-7 back there in the pocket. School’s still out on how Zach’s going to do.”

Now, that comment about Wilson’s height doesn’t make much sense, especially since Namath himself was only 6-foot-2, 200 pounds during his playing days. There have only been 29 quarterbacks in the NFL since 1920 who stand at least 6-foot-6 and only 13 have started at least 20 NFL games. One of those quarterbacks is, coincidentally, Joe Flacco, but the list also includes players like JaMarcus Russell, Mike Glennon and Josh Freeman – not exactly a Hall of Fame class.

But Wilson doesn’t have a huge frame, and he was the most pressured quarterback in 2021 and took 44 sacks. No one can take that many hits on a consistent basis and expect to develop properly, and it’s why it’s even more important for Joe Douglas to build a better offensive line. Wilson can succeed despite his smaller stature, so long as he has the support system around him.

Namath also shouldn’t be convinced Wilson is good yet – because the Jets quarterback hasn’t proven himself to be anything yet. Wilson’s numbers were among the worst in the league last year and the Jets offense ranked lowly in almost every statistic.

This offseason will be crucial for Wilson’s development. Maybe after another season, Namath will make up his mind.

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Patriots’ three passing attempts are NFL’s lowest since 1974 Bills-Jets debacle

The Patriots attempted just three passes in their Monday night win over the Bills, who won in 1974 with just two passing attempts.

The Patriots are well-known for adjusting to any situation and any opponent. So, when Bill Belichick and his crew came into Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. and faced a snow globe situation with driving winds and wintry precipitation, you knew that Mac Jones wasn’t going to be throwing the ball all over the field. In the end, Jones attempted three passes, completing two for 19 yards. It was New England’s ground game and defense that got things done, not to mention a weather situation that didn’t really help the Bills, who have not had a great run game all season, and whose defense has been great for the most part, but vulnerable to power-running teams.

The last time a team threw fewer passes in a game than the Patriots did? Well, we have to go back a ways, though we’re staying in the AFC East.

September 29, 1974 — Week 3 of the season — saw similar weather conditions in Rich Stadium in upstate New York. As William M. Wallace of the New York Times News Service pointed out, the game featured winds at 20 miles per hour, with gusts doubling that. Rain was also a major factor. The ball had to be held on kickoffs, an American flag was frayed by the wind, and about half the crowd of 76,978 had left by halftime.

Joe Namath attempted 18 passes, completing two to his own receivers, and three to the Bills. Buffalo quarterback Joe Ferguson threw two early interceptions to the Jets, but both were erased by penalties, and after that, head coach Lou Saban decided to stick with the ground game. Those were the last two passes Ferguson attempted — just two attempts with no completions in the entire game.

Like the Patriots on Monday night, the Bills went on the ground pretty much exclusively, with O.J. Simpson gaining 117 yards on 31 carries, Jim Braxton gaining 84 yards and scoring a touchdown on 17 carries, and Ferguson gaining 14 yards and scoring a touchdown on 10 carries.

That was enough for the Bills to come out of the muck with a 16-12 win. The Jets scored one touchdown on a John Riggins run, and Bobby Howfield kicked two field goals in the third quarter, but the Bills had a bit more juice on the ground — which did not happen this time around.

“It was murder,” Saban said after the game. “Absolute murder.”

Namath echoed Saban’s thoughts.

“It was absurd. Ridiculous. If it was a golf tournament, they would have canceled it… I was missing guys on little cuts — six, seven yards out.”

Which is why Belichick wanted his quarterback to avoid the same fate.

Josh Johnson records first 300-yard game 12 years after NFL debut

Josh Johnson couldn’t finish an improbable comeback against the Colts, but the Jets’ journeyman QB had the game of his career Thursday. He also joined a club with Joe Namath.

Josh Johnson’s comeback bid came up short against the Colts, but the Jets’ journeyman quarterback played admirably in relief of the injured Mike White on Thursday.

White exited after New York’s second drive of the 45-30 loss with a forearm injury. Johnson, playing in just his second NFL game since 2018 — his first came last Sunday in a brief relief stint — took over from there. Things started off slow as the 35-year-old practice squad call-up adjusted to teammates he hasn’t taken many reps with, but Johnson kept the score closer than the game ever was due to a shoddy Jets defense.

Johnson admitted to feeling “butterflies” when he entered, but he ultimately went 27-47 for 317 yards and three touchdowns. His late interception ended an improbable comeback attempt, but New York would have never hung around if not for the veteran.

“I thought he did an awesome job,” Robert Saleh said of the third-stringer. “He ran the offense the way it should be run. He hit receivers and moved the chains.”

Johnson first entered the league when the Buccaneers used a fifth-round draft pick on him in 2008. Thursday was the first time he ever threw for 300 yards or three touchdowns. It was his 35th NFL appearance.

Johnson, who has bounced all over the NFL and some other leagues, became the first Jets quarterback to throw three touchdowns in a game he didn’t start since Joe Namath did it in 1971, per The Associated Press’ Josh Dubow. The Jets, meanwhile, have now had two different passers throw for over 300 yards in consecutive games for the first time in franchise history, per ESPN’s Rich Cimini.

White threw for 405 yards against the Bengals.

One of the best performances of Johnson’s winding career didn’t end the way he wanted it to, though. Rather than focus on personal accomplishments, he noted that “this league is about wins and losses,” and New York didn’t win.

“You just try to go out and show the team can rely on me when need be,” Johnson said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t do enough.

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Former Jets Super Bowl TE Pete Lammons dies at 77

Lammons was 77 when he tragically died after falling into a lake at a fishing tournament.

Pete Lammons, a former Jets tight end who helped New York win Super Bowl III, died in a boating accident Thursday, according to a statement released by Major League Fishing.

Lammons, 77, fell into the Sam Rayburn Reservoir near Brookeland, Texas, while participating in the MLF Toyota Series tournament, according to the statement. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department recovered Lammons’ body Thursday afternoon and was unable to save him. Lammons’ nephew, Lance Lammons, said his uncle had been recovering from multiple surgeries before the event.

Lammons played for the Jets for six seasons after being drafted in the eighth round of the 1966 AFL draft. He went to the Pro Bowl in 1967 and caught six passes for 65 yards and a touchdown in the 1968 postseason – including two catches for 13 yards in the Jets’ 16-7 win over the Baltimore Colts.

Lammons finished his career with the Packers in 1972 and tallied 185 receptions for 2,364 yards and 14 touchdowns.

The Jets had no 4,000-yard passers in the 16-game era

Beyond Joe Namath’s early production, the Jets have been cursed with bad quarterbacking through most of their history.

It’s interesting that for a team whose best-known player is a former quarterback (Joe Namath, of course), the New York Jets have been living in QB purgatory for a very long time. Of course, if you’re a Jets fan, it’s less “interesting” and more “disgusting,” but we digress. Namath was the first quarterback in pro football history to throw for over 4,000 yards in a season, which he did with the American Football League’s Jets in 1967. But since then, no other Jets quarterback (including Namath) managed to do it, even when the NFL increased the number of regular-season games from 14 to 16 in 1978.

Now that the 16-game season appears to be a thing of the past in favor of a 17-game campaign in 2021 and beyond, it behooves us to mention that the Jets are one of two teams to never have a quarterback throw for 4,000 yards in the 16-game era. The Bears, of course, are the other. Now, the Bears haven’t had a franchise-defining quarterback since Sid Luckman’s last good season in 1946, so that’s an entirely different quarterback curse. The Jets’ quarterback curse is one in which one quarterback set the standard for passing yards, and after that, nobody else could come even close.

It helps to mention the guys who were responsible for this statistical no man’s land from 1978 through the present, because it explains a lot.

Matt Robinson, Richard Todd, Pat Ryan, Ken O’Brien, Browning Nagle, Boomer Esiason, Frank Reich, Neil O’Donnell, Vinny Testaverde, Ray Lucas, Vinny Testaverde again, Chad Pennington, Brooks Bollinger, Brett Favre (for one season), Mark Sanchez, Geno Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh McCown, and Sam Darnold.

Fitzpatrick came the closest with 3,905 yards in 2015 — a season in which he also threw for 31 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. This is most likely the best quarterback season in Jets history, such as it was. Sadly, Fitzmagic finished his season with a 181-yard, three-interception performance against the Bills. Perhaps some things were just never meant to happen.

If Fitzpatrick’s 2015 wasn’t the best quarterback season in franchise history, Ken O’Brien’s 1985 might have been. That year, O’Brien threw for 3,888 yards, 25 touchdowns, and just eight interceptions. His primary issue that season was that he had to face the ’85 Bears defense in Week 16, which resulted in a 19-6 loss in which O’Brien completed 12 of 26 passes for 122 yards. Not that any other quarterback fared any better against Buddy Ryan’s guys that year.

And there was Vinny Testaverde, the NFL’s ultimate stat collector, who in 2000 threw for 3,732 yards, 21 touchdowns, and 25 interceptions. Which sums things up nicely.

Richard Todd and Mark Sanchez had their moments, respectively, with 3,478 yards in 1983 and 3,474 yards in 2011. And then, there was Brett Favre, who played one year for the Jets (2008) in his time between the Packers and the Vikings. In 2007, his last year with the Packers, Favre amassed 4,155 passing yards. In 2009, his first year with the Vikings, Favre amassed 4,202 passing yards. In 2008 with the Jets? 3,472 yards, and a league-leading 22 interceptions. Oof.

Of recent note is Sam Darnold, who has been confined to his own offensive coach hell in the NFL with Jeremy Bates, Dowell Loggains, and (horror of all horrors) Adam Gase overseeing the entire disaster. Darnold has broken 3,000 yards just once in his three NFL seasons, the Jets might be moving on without him, and though the presence of new offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur augurs well for the Jets’ QB future… well, how many times have we said that before with different guys in charge?

Even Namath was never able to match his historic season again. In 1968, the season that ended with the Jets beating the Colts in Super Bowl III, Namath threw for just 3,147 yards, had a six-game stretch with no touchdown passes, and didn’t throw a single pass in the fourth quarter of that historic game. Due to injuries, Namath’s passing yards would plummet over the next few seasons — from 4,007 in 1967, to 3,147 in 1968, to 2,734 in 1969, to 1,259 in 1970, to 537 in 1971. He did manage a few more high-volume seasons, but more and more, he was the guy leading the league in interceptions more than anything else.

As we have noted, some teams just have a quarterback curse.

Joe Namath: Deshaun Watson is ‘sensational,’ but Sam Darnold could be around for ’15 years’

Joe Namath believes Deshaun Watson to be superior to Sam Darnold, thinks Darnold will be around for the next 15 years as a long-term starter

Joe Namath is no stranger to offering his thoughts on the state of the Jets, let alone the quarterback position.

Namath has often come to the defense of Sam Darnold, but he’s changed his opinion of the 23-year-old quarterback. Namath believed Darnold would step up entering the 2020 season but, just a month ago, he changed his tune, claiming that Darnold isn’t a “gifted passer.”

Now Namath believes that Darnold will be in the NFL for a long time. He just might not be with the Jets.

And, like many, Namath is a big fan of disgruntled Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson. Namath believes there’s an evident talent gap between Darnold and Watson but wouldn’t go as far as to say that he would make a blockbuster deal for the latter. Instead, he deferred to Joe Douglas and New York’s front office.

“He looks sensational,” Namath said of Waston during an appearance on ESPN NY’s DiPietro, Canty & Rothenberg. “He’s further along than most of the quarterbacks, including Sam, no doubt about it. Those guys are going to make the decisions in that [front] office up there, and I hope they make the right decision. I want to see us win. I want to see us start being happy after the game and happy during the game.”

Although Watson would be a premium addition under center, Namath also brought up a good point: the Jets having multiple needs other than quarterback. They’re going to need some draft capital to fix those issues.

“I don’t know what the Jets are planning to do with him,” Namath said of Darnold. “We need help in a lot of places. Sam has been playing on a team that was pressing to try to get that victory and try to get it done. It remains to be seen what Joe Douglas feels what he can do with him. Sam’s going to be around. I believe he’s going to be around for 15 years.”

Namath doesn’t seem to be opposed to running it back with Darnold, who he suspects can be a long-term starter in this league. It’s just not his decision to make.

Joe Namath takes aim at Adam Gase, criticizes Jets coaching staff

Jets legend Joe Namath questioned Adam Gase’s leadership abilities and believes that New York has to do something about it.

Never one to shy away from sharing his opinion, Joe Namath voiced his concerns about Adam Gase this week.

Appearing on Showtimes’s “Inside the NFL,” Namath was quick to blame New York’s 1-13 record on the team’s coaching staff. A former player himself, Namath stopped short at blaming those within the locker room, but rather those who are supposed to be leading it.

“You’ve gotta question the daily leadership,” Namath said, per NJ.com. “The leadership, the coaching staff in its entirety has to be looked at. Because I believe the players try hard every play. They’re getting evaluated, and in the locker room, teammates can look around that locker room and know who is focused in the meetings, in practice and in games. They can recognize the guys that really want it … It’s the leadership, they have to do something about that.”

To Namath’s point, the Jets’ effort was on full display in the team’s upset win over the Rams in Week 15. Namath added that he didn’t think Gang Green would win at all this season.

Namath didn’t single Gase out by name, but it’s obvious who he was referring to when he talks about leadership and the coaching staff. As the head coach brushed off questions regarding his future with the organization on Wednesday, it’s evident that Namath believes a change should be on the horizon.

Joe Namath to be guest picker on ESPN’s College GameDay before Iron Bowl

Former Alabama QB Joe Namath will be the guest picker for ESPN’s College GameDay in Tuscaloosa before the 2020 Iron Bowl between Alabama…

Tomorrow, before the 2020 Iron Bowl, ESPN’s College GameDay crew will be stationed in Tuscaloosa, Alabama doing all things pre-game and making their picks for games all over the country.

Like every week, the crew brings on a guest picker to help make picks for all the different, highly-talked-about games. This week, it’s former Crimson Tide star quarterback Joe Namath.

Namath, who quarterbacked Alabama in the early 1960’s, won a National Championship ith the Crimson Tide in 1964, and went on to have a very succesful career with the New York Jets in the NFL – which will be forever remembered with a Super Bowl win, as well as a spot in Canton, Ohio at the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

I wonder who he’ll be picking between Alabama and Auburn…