It doesn't take a Mangenius to see Eric's shortcomings as Jets' coach

It doesn't take a Mangenius to see Eric's shortcomings as Jets' coach
December 23
New York Daily News columnist Filip Bondy
"All season long, Eric Mangini has flatly drummed home his message about consistency and closing. Those are two of his big words, and they soon may be used to condemn the coach whose job is very much hanging in the balance on Sunday.

Mangini will be coaching for his own future at Giants Stadium, because he did a lousy job of coaching last Sunday in Seattle. He needs to beat a tough Miami team, because he didn't beat the dead-end clubs like the 49ers and Seahawks.

That's life, when you were once 8-3 and you're now calculating far-fetched tiebreakers. Mangini left potential points all over Qwest Field, on a snowy day when they were going to be very tough to get. And the problems go well beyond this one game. The Jets are 1-3 down the stretch against some very beatable sides, Brett Favre looks 50 years old and Chad Pennington comes to town to remind everyone that Mangini couldn't win with him, either.

Where is the consistency? How can a coach call his offense from the field on a fourth-and-1 on the Seattle 2-yard line, then later claim it is important to pin the Seahawks down near their goal line on a punt instead of attempting a 50-yard field goal attempt? Even if the Jets had failed to convert on that earlier fourth down, Seattle would have been in horrible field position under dreadful conditions - Mangini's own argument for punting later.

Where is the closing? Certainly not at the tail end of the schedule, or the final minutes of these defeats. We again saw no evidence that Mangini or his coaches have a good feel for Favre's strengths or weaknesses in the waning minutes of a tight game. If you can't engineer a late drive against the Seahawks' 25th-ranked passing defense, with a Hall of Fame quarterback, then it might be time to throw the baby out with the bathwater.

If the Jets don't win this game against the Dolphins, maybe it's time to start anew yet again for these cursed Jets. Maybe they chase Matt Cassel - not Tom Brady! - or draft a quarterback in the offseason. Maybe they find a coach who can run an offense when it matters.

They can't be sure they have one of those right now. Mangini didn't demonstrate faith in his guys until he was desperate late in the game, on fourth-and-2 from his own 20. Too late. Now we get to see if those players he didn't trust still have enough gumption and desire to rescue their coach, or whether they'll quit on Mangini against the Dolphins.

"That isn't a focal point of mine at all," Mangini said Monday, about his own job status. "I'm looking to give the players a good plan to beat Miami.""
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