With a record of just 3-7, the New York Jets are in the midst of yet another poor season. Worse yet, they are coming off a downright embarrassing 41-10 loss to the lowly Buffalo Bills last week. With seemingly little hope of turning their season around, the Jets are reportedly considering a change at the coaching position -- but not until the end of the year.
According to a report from NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, Jets coach Todd Bowles "has an uphill battle" to keep his job, but is safe through the end of the 2018 season.
Bowles is expected to be safe throughout this season, in part because the Jets are now a team that embraces patient and prudent decisions and in part because there is no obvious successor in the building. GM Mike Maccagnan is believed to be much safer than Bowles, sources say.
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In a situation like the Browns had, there was reason to fire Hue Jackson. Dysfunction reigned. It's not like that with the Jets. It just isn't working.
The Jets went 10-6 behind a shocking season from Ryan Fitzpatrick in Bowles' first year with the team, but have gone just 13-29 since then. Their offenses have routinely ranked near the bottom of the league and their defenses -- Bowles' specialty -- have not been much better, ranking 28th, 22nd, and 21st in points allowed.
It makes sense for the Jets to pursue an offensive-minded head coach in order to facilitate the development of No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold, on whose right shoulder the short and long-term future of the franchise rests. Darnold had a spectacular debut game against the Detroit Lions but has largely struggled since then, completing just 53 percent of his passes at 6.5 yards per attempt while sporting a 9-to-13 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
It would be one thing if Bowles' defenses were fantastic and routinely giving the Jets chances to win games while Darnold developed, but that is simply not the case. A move makes sense, whether it comes now or at the end of the year.
