In case you’re a Jets fan, in fact it’s Sam Darnold in Tremendous Bowl 60 and naturally it’s the Patriots who can be on the opposite facet of the ball from him in Santa Clara. Possibly there may very well be extra of a worst-fears-realized situation for the Jets than this one, but it surely’s onerous to give you one offhand. Jets followers can solely be wanting on the massive recreation this manner:
Them vs. Him.
Name it the Ghost Bowl. Darnold as soon as famously mentioned he was seeing ghosts when he went up towards the Patriots. Solely now he’s the ghost for Jets followers.
The Jets aren’t the one group that gave up on Darnold. The Vikings did the identical factor even after Darnold had them at 14-2 a little bit over a 12 months in the past. However the Jets are the group that drafted Darnold with the third general choose after which gave up on him a couple of years later as a result of that they had a normal supervisor who satisfied the proprietor that Zach Wilson was going to be a greater quarterback than Sam Darnold. In order that they took Wilson – look ahead to it – with the second choose of the 2021 draft.
After which, three years after the Jets did that, simply because these are the Jets and Jets issues simply hold occurring to them, the Patriots took Drake Maye with the third choose of the 2024 draft. And the way did the Patriots find yourself with the third choose of the draft? As a result of in Week 18 two years in the past, the Jets beat Invoice Belichick’s Patriots within the final recreation Belichick would ever coach in Foxborough. So the Patriots’ file fell to 4-13, they usually fell into the place within the draft the place Maye was ready for them after the Bears had taken Caleb Williams and the Commanders had taken Jayden Daniels. So even when the Jets bought a win towards Belichick – after having misplaced to him 15 straight occasions within the common season – they actually ended up shedding. The Patriots lastly had a quarterback to switch Tom Brady. The Jets nonetheless don’t have a quarterback.
Hear, loads of professional soccer groups have made errors with quarterbacks who ended up enjoying in championship video games for any individual else. The Steelers reduce Johnny Unitas earlier than he ended up with the Colts. The Patriots gave up on Jim Plunkett, who ended up successful two Tremendous Bowls with the Raiders. No person noticed greatness in Kurt Warner earlier than he bought with the Rams. The record is longer than that. Now the Jets are on it, due to Sam Darnold, who doesn’t flip 29 till subsequent June.
The Panthers gave up on him, too. So did the 49ers. The Vikings gave up on Darnold as a result of they preferred J.J. McCarthy higher. However it’s the Jets who gave up on him for Wilson, after by no means giving Darnold the possibility to indicate what he may do in the event that they put sufficient good gamers round him; who by no means actually forgave him for saying “I’m seeing ghosts” to his then-coach Adam Gase throughout a Patriots got here, a mic’d change that later resulted in guidelines modifications about procedures for in-game audio from gamers. It didn’t assist Darnold on the time. The harm had been carried out. The Patriots had carried out it to him the best way they’d been doing it to him from the time he’d gotten right here from USC. The rating that evening was 33-0. The mixed rating of his three losses to the Patriots whereas he was a Jet was 99-17 (he missed three others due to mononucleosis and accidents). Six of his 39 profession interceptions as a Jet got here towards New England. The final recreation he ever performed for the Jets was a 28-14 loss in Foxborough.
Then Woody Johnson got here again to the Jets after his wildly forgettable efficiency as Ambassador to the Court docket of St. James – while you’re a Jet, you’re a Jet all the best way – and he wished a clear slate and his GM Joe Douglas (who didn’t draft Darnold as a result of Mike Maccagnan did) developed a quarterback-crush on Wilson. Darnold didn’t lastly flip into the quarterback the Jets hoped they had been getting till he bought to Minnesota, the place Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell – who’s alleged to know higher – had developed a ridiculous quarterback crush of his personal on McCarthy.
Now the dominoes that started to fall as soon as Darnold had escaped from New York have produced this Ghost Bowl for Jets followers. The Patriots are about to play of their tenth Tremendous Bowl since Belichick give up the Jets to take the Patriots job over twenty years in the past. The Patriots are doing what they’re doing after two straight 4-13 seasons, a interval throughout which even the Jets gained 4 extra video games than they did. However Patriots bought Maye. Jets bought Put up Achilles Rodgers, after which Justin Fields. And so it goes.
The Seahawks are Darnold’s fourth group for the reason that Jets. The Jets? They’ve had two coaches since Adam Gase, two normal managers since Maccagnan. They’re no higher than an enlargement franchise. The participant they thought may very well be a franchise quarterback – earlier than they discovered one other one they preferred higher –simply performed the sport of his life within the NFC championship recreation towards the Rams. At the beginning of that recreation, you questioned if Darnold may very well be higher than Matthew Stafford with the cash on the desk. It turned out he certain was.
“I’m happy for Sam Darnold,” the Seahawks star receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba (10 catches) mentioned when it was over.
How may you not be joyful for Sam Darnold? For certain, the Patriots group he can be dealing with in Santa Clara isn’t the one which made him see ghosts. Belichick is gone. Brady was within the broadcast sales space on Sunday evening watching Darnold put it on the Rams. However the Patriots are again within the massive recreation. Sam Darnold has lastly made it there himself. Jets followers will watch all of it, figuring out their group sadly stays the identical. Tremendous Bowl 60: Them vs. Him.
