A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the New York Jets were better than the New England Patriots.
The Jets haven't finished above their AFC East counterparts since 2002, when both teams went 9-7 but the Jets won the division on a tiebreaker. Since Bill Belichick's first season as the Patriots' coach in 2000, the Patriots have won 201 regular-season games. The Jets have won 132 games in that span.
Yet, just days after the Jets wrapped up a 5-11 season (the Patriots went 14-2), general manager Mike Maccagnan said that the Jets can catch up to the Patriots.
"It's not unattainable," Maccagnan said Thursday, per NJ.com.
In fairness to Maccagnan, he would've been ripped if he told the truth. No, the Jets are not going to catch up to the Patriots anytime soon, but as the general manager, he can't exactly say that.
He did, however, say that he's keeping track of Tom Brady's age.
"It's funny," Maccagnan said. "In my phone, I think I have Tom's birthday logged in there, so every time his birthday comes up, I know he's getting one year older. I'm just joking."
Unfortunately, the Jets' issues extend beyond Brady. It's not as if the Jets have the better roster and organization outside of the quarterback position. From top to bottom, they're worse than the Patriots. And it starts with Belichick. Even when the Patriots were without Brady for four games, they went 3-1. The point being, the Jets are likely to lag behind the Patriots until Brady AND Belichick step away from the game.
But that does at least give the Jets time to rebuild, because they're going to need plenty of it. As it stands, the Jets are stuck in an awful place. They don't have a quarterback, unless you think Christian Hackenberg (who might not be able to hit the ocean) is their long-term answer. They're scheduled to pay a 31-year-old Matt Forte, a 32-year-old Brandon Marshall, and a 31-year-old Darrelle Revis close to $30 million next season. And Marshall just compared the 2016 season to sitting in a used diaper.
"You can't sit there and look how high the climb is," Maccagnan said. "You just have to keep focusing on trying to make decisions that you feel will keep moving the team to the vision of where you want it. Unfortunately, it just takes time. You stay positive and you stay focused on what you want to accomplish."
Meanwhile, the Patriots are entering the postseason as the top seed in the AFC -- again. And if they win three more games, they'll capture their fifth Super Bowl since the 2001 season. The Jets haven't won a championship since 1968 -- like I said, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
