Jets eliminated from playoffs: Where do they go from here?

After a yet another pitiful performance against yet another terrible team, the New York Jets have officially eliminated themselves from the playoffs. It was a terrible season, to say the least, for the Jets. In times of sorrow, it is within the scope of human nature to find the silver lining. There are many silver linings to this situation.

Not making the playoffs two seasons in a row should be a wake-up call for team owner Woody Johnson. He must now realize that drastic measures must be made regarding team management in order to change the toxic issues that have taken over this team.

The following points are what I would do if I was in charge of the Jets’ universe. They are quite logical. Logic, or course, has been largely missing from this organization.

Fire Mike Tannenbaum, Hire Someone Competent

Mike Tannenbaum is an accountant masquerading as a general manager. He is a numbers man. He has absolutely no business being in charge of evaluating players. It’s why the majority of recent draft picks have turned out to be disappointments. It’s why good players like Danny Woodhead were waived and are now playing at a high level on other teams when they could be playing for the Jets.

After Tannenbaum’s firing, a real general manager that is actually qualified will be hired in his place. There are high hopes amongst Jets fans that Eric Mangini (of all people) will be hired for this position. After all, it was Mangini who brought in all those great players that contributed to the Jets having so much success during Rex Ryan’s first two seasons with the Jets. Hopefully the Jets will acquire players that deserve to play on a professional level in the New York market.

Fire Rex Ryan

There are many reasons why Rex Ryan needs to lose his job. The biggest reason would be his stubbornness in keeping Mark Sanchez as starting quarterback. Then when Rex finally did bench him in favor of Greg McElroy, he made McElroy inactive the following game. If that’s not punishing success and rewarding failure, I don’t know what is.

Who would be his replacement? The Jets haven’t had an offensive-minded coach during my lifetime. My ideal head coach would be Sean Peyton, but unfortunately the chances of that actually happening are just as good as seeing Greg McElroy start a game this season.

Rex Ryan was a great defensive coordinator and I would not mind seeing him as our new defensive coordinator. He should not have made the switch to a head coach. He doesn’t know what it means to be a head coach. He thinks that being a head coach means micromanaging the defense and checking-in with the offense sporadically.

Fire Tony Sparano

This many should never call another play again in the NFL. The wildcat mastermind is given the best wildcat quarterback in the league, yet the wildcat is a disaster. During the Tennessee game, where it was necessary for the Jets to win, his play calling was awful. Mark Sanchez very rarely gets into a roll, but when he did, he was substituted for Tim Tebow. Absolutely nothing about that made sense. Unfortunately, we have seen this far too often this season.

Fire Mike Pettine

He isn’t a good defensive coordinator. The first two seasons, the Jets had a top-rated defense. But I cannot give Pettine the credit for this. He had amazing players. If that crazy little monkey from The Hangover, Part II was the coach, the result would have been the same. As I previously stated, I would not mind seeing Rex Ryan in this roll. But after this season, I doubt Rex Ryan will have anything to do with a New York sports team.

Fire Matt Cavanaugh

This man deserves a lot of blame for Mark Sanchez’s decline in performance. Cavanaugh performed at a mediocre level when he played and so have the quarterbacks that he has coached. He has no business being a coach in the NFL.

Last Point: The Jets are Stuck with Sanchez

This is very unfortunate, obviously. He is extremely overpaid and has little-to-no trade value. I fear that the Jets are stuck with him for a while.

As a lifelong Jets fan, this has been one of the toughest and most frustrating seasons to watch. I for one cannot wait for the offseason. Heads will roll and it will be very satisfying.

Angie Kozak is the New York Jets writer for The Penalty Flag. Angie has had NY Jets season ticket for 13 straight seasons and counting. She graduated from Penn State University in 2010 with a degree in Communications. Although a lifelong diehard Jet fan, Angie can be outspokenly critical of her beloved Jets. Contact her on Twitter @Angie_Kozak.