Yeah.

Andre Sisco whiffs on a tackle.

He gets 40 plus yards.

I think they score a touchdown at the end of that drive.

It's getting penalties on third down.

On two different occasions, they get a penalty on third down, third and long, and it gets a first down, and they score at the end of that drive.

You know, it's, you know, the defensive line, you could say, yes, they were banged up.

You know what I mean?

But, you know, they say we want to pair him, that quarterback with a young offensive mind, similar to what the Raiders did when they got the number one overall pick and they paired Clint Kubiak with Fernando Mendoza.

Yeah, like, if I was going to predict right now, I think that would be the outcome that would make the most sense and that I could see them doing.

I think even if you look at, you know, Jets owner Woody Johnson's history, he tends to go the opposite, both in terms of, like, personality and, like, style from coach to coach.

So, you know, you go from Adam Gates, who was an offensive coach, to Robert Sala, who was a defensive coach, really friendly with the media.

you know, a little softer on his players.

Then you switch Aaron Glenn, who, you know, does not really like the media, especially, and is a little harder on his players.

And so I think the next one is young offensive mind, and it's just a matter of who they can get.

But what are your thoughts on Geno? What has he done so far this year for this Jets team as a starting QB? Yeah,

I don't know how you can believe in that in any way, shape, or form right now.

Hey, good to see you too, man.

You know, I mean, I've, I've, I've joked on this podcast that we need the jets to win so I can feed my family.

So I guess I'm going to have to find another way to get Maggie and some food.

Maybe Mike will hire me for his, his T-ball team or whatever that he's coaching.

But yeah, man, this is, this is as bad as it gets.

Like it's, there's not really any way to positively spin it.

which...

But, like, there is just mounting evidence, growing and growing and growing, pointing to the opposite.

Yeah, I mean, I think the frustrating thing for me is, you know, if you look at the Patriots quotes, even from yesterday, like Mike Rabel and some of the players are basically like, we are lucky that we won that game.

So when the other team is saying that, like, so the Jets are having this moment since it's been happening all season where you do the plays that get you into the opponent's territory and then... whether it's Frank Reich and or the players.

The players hold some responsibility here, too.

It's not just the coaches not putting in the right spots.

The players also have to execute.

But the scheme has been a concern.

Let the young guys around him go through their growing pains and know that you're not going to get that from your quarterback.

But I guess what I'm asking, Zach, is why? Why is it different this year? Is it play calling? Is it route running by his wide receivers? What is the difference?

Yeah, I mean, I think he's been pretty protective of the football in general in terms of throwing it.

He hasn't taken as many risks outside of the, um, I'm blanking on the game.

The Lions game is, is when he was kinda airing it out more.

Um, he's been a little more risk-averse, generally speaking.

But, you know, he...

I think the difference between the version of Geno you're seeing now and the one in, in Vegas last year is just a better infrastructure.

Uh, does that statement apply to you?

This is a very big game for him to potentially get back to 500 as well, right?

Yeah, I mean, like I said, like I, you know, I think he's very week to week with this fan base.

There's a large chunk of them that were out on him extremely after how badly last season went and he was a big part of that.

A lot of his in-game decisions weren't great and he wasn't calling plays on the defense.

So, you know, this season they were competitive against the Lions, competitive against the Packers.

They beat the Titans and then they get killed by the Bears.

Then you're having a lot of people wondering when he's going to get fired.

They were almost flawless a week ago that I feel like there will be some regression this week.

Uh, [laughs] we, uh, it, it was, it was a good win for the Jets, and one they absolutely needed.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, I mean look, this isn't a great stat, but it's the first win Aaron Glenn has had against a team with a winning record, and so that's notable.

And, um, you know, look, like, we'll, we'll get into the nitty-gritty and all that stuff, and you could say, like, if this, this, and this go the Browns way, then the Browns win that game, but the Jets have been on the other side of that so often, so you, you take any win you can get in this league, especially with how badly they need this one.

I, you know, I think Aaron Glenn, for as much as he tried to downplay and say it's 1 and 0 this week, 1 and 0 this week, like, this was the whole, the whole lead to my story.

But he, he walked into the press conference room and he's like, "How you guys doing?" We're all like, "Good." And then he's like, "Me too." And he's like just smiling for, like, three seconds.

[laughs] Like, he, he, it's like he, he knew he needed that, I think.

Span Barrett Wilson.

Mm-hmm

... barely got...

I mean, Garrett Wilson had four targets in an NFL game, and the fact that that's happened, I think, twice this season [chuckles] is inexcusable.

Um, I think Kenyan Sadiq is a really dynamic player that's hard to defend.

He's kind of the X factor.

I think they're g- they might get Mason Taylor back, but, like, the receiver room is, is in dire straits right now outside of Garrett Wilson.

[chuckles] And so to your point, like, the, the biggest thing for the Jets is when they are not able to run the ball, their offense is not scary at all, and they have not been able to run the ball for, for three weeks.

... your thought or, or doesn't?

bad against Detroit.

In the second half, yeah, they were good in the first half.

But, yeah, I mean, this was really bad.

They were running it.

They just ran the ball over and over again.

I don't even think – I think Ben Johnson – took his foot off the gas a little bit, I think because he respects Aaron Glenn maybe more than, like, if he was going against Matt LaFleur.

Because I think at the end of that game, they could have scored some more and they didn't.

I think that the wheels start to fall off for this team if they lose this one.

What happened there, Zach? Tell me.

I mean, I think they ultimately were not getting a pass rush up front.

I think that was the biggest issue they had.

They had trouble containing Jameer Gibbs, which it's hard to kill them too much for that.

But ultimately, the Lions offense is going to get some.

They have a really good offensive line.

They have elite weapons.

So I don't think the pleasantries and the love that you saw this past week, I don't think you're seeing that again anymore.

It's just it's my head spinning because they're playing both ways and it's like they don't know what they want to be.

I mean, yeah, I mean, we're kind of repeating the same refrain, but it's what we're saying.

It's he says earlier that like we're playing to win, like with the Braylon Allen go for it on fourth.

I don't regret that at all.

And then he's turning around and saying, well, we don't want to get pinned back too deep, because if you make a mistake, then that's going to really, you know, then they're going to be in scoring position.

Well, why are you planning for a mistake like that's that's not how you should be operating.

And so I don't know, I, he has a team of people who advise him on the analytics and things like that.

think

Do you expect a Jets defense to ramp it up, and how much do you think the ramp-up can happen for this defense in terms of staying efficient and staying successful, kind of not getting out of their own way?

Yeah, I mean, I think the game's going to be won or lost up front for this defense because I do think their defense has some talent.

They looked really good last week.

They have David Bailey, the number two overall pick.

Will McDonald had a really good game, and they have Kingsley Anagmare, who you guys know from Green Bay, and some really big dudes in the middle at defensive line.

But the back end is the question mark because, as I alluded to earlier, you lose Minkah Fitzpatrick.

And I think their secondary without their best player does not look particularly scary on paper.

It's just sports fever in New York, but also the locker room, right? Is there a different feel, different vibe year two, Aaron Glenn? It felt like it was a little bit of a slog last year.

What was that locker room like in there with that culture that Glenn's trying to instill?

Yeah, you know, I think it was an interesting mix.

I think one of the things that stuck out to me was one, like Garrett Wilson, like he was asked about, because we heard, you know, some of these press conference rooms, they're like adjacent to the locker room.

So you can get balls.

It was really loud in there.

Somebody asked Garrett Wilson about the vibe in the locker room.

He's like, you know, when you have a game plan that works out, you're going to celebrate it.

And I know the Titans aren't very good offensively, but it's still a legitimate step in the right direction because still in the past, these weren't games that the Jets won.

I'm, dude, I'm gonna be at MetLife Stadium literally at 12:30 for an 8:30 game because I'm gonna be in my seat in the press box watching this game on my computer, so I'm very fascinated to see how this plays out.

You know, Robert, I think he's learned some lessons from his time here in that he doesn't go to the microphone and make bold declarations anymore or talk trash or things like that, but, like, you know that he saw the comments that Aaron Glenn was making in training camp last year.

Like, you know, all the stuff about the difference is coaching.

Like, all, all the things he was saying about discipline and the penalties and taking, like, kind of subtle shots at the previous coaching staff.

Like, Robert Sala saw that stuff and you know that it's on his mind as he goes in.

And you know Robert Sala wants to beat Woody Johnson's butt, if we're being honest.

So I, I think there is more motivation from that side than I think Robert will let on publicly and...

Dude, you did a great job if you wanna plug that a bit.

Depth signing, center guard flexibility, get somebody else in there because we do know, Zach, I think we agree in this statement, if the Jets' front five starting five offensive linemen they look good if they were to lose one of those dudes i think the entire outlook of the line changes considerably and quickly and this is kind of a stabilizing force you hope if you have to break glass in case of emergency

yeah a couple things i you know i think the season reference where he was really good two years ago he was playing guard he was left and right guard whereas last year he was mostly center i think it was his first year as a full-time center um you know It's kind of a little bit funny how often we talk about how Gino was in an impossible spot last year with a terrible line, and they've now added two-fifths of that starting offensive line.

I think the fact that Meredith is a reserve kind of doesn't make it exactly one-to-one.

I think Meredith you can be happy with as a backup, but clearly...

The Raiders were probably going to cut him anyway.

You don't trade a starting center away for a sixth-round pick if you're going to keep him.

So the Jets badly needed a backup center.

Or as Aaron Glenn said, he believes that he's going to do a pretty good job.

Like, but yeah, like what, uh, what, what makes you think here with Frank that it's different, that it, that it truly is different this time for the Jets' offensive coordinator?

Yeah, you know, I'll, I'll say, like I, so I, I talked to Garrett one on one on Monday and I, I simply asked like, "What do you like about playing for Frank Reich?" And he started to go into this whole story and kind of like recollection of like, you know, "When I was younger, I used to watch NFL offenses where coaches weren't trying to over scheme or overcomplicate things.

If you had Terrell Owens, you, and you had man coverage, you threw a fade to Terrell Owens and let him do his thing." And he said, "You know, what I'm seeing from Frank is like going back to those old days, where it's l- simplifying things and making it so you're getting the ball to your best players." Now, whether that actually pans out, to your point, like we've seen people talk about that and all that, but I do think Frank, at the very least, like he, there's fair things to criticize him about from his history and, you know, it was bad in Carolina I don't know how much of that was his fault 'cause the owner was so involved.

It, it was bad at the end in Indie, but before that, they were like a top 10 offense most of the time.

He got Jonathan Taylor the ball, he got T.Y. Hilton the ball back in the day, he got all these receivers the ball.

So I think Garrett's optimism is rooted around a coach who wants to build around what he's good at.

He wants to let Garrett improvise within the offense, which, you know, as we've talked about plenty, and how you have even before we had a podcast together, like him and Aaron Rodgers didn't get along because Aaron's whole thing is like, "You be where you're s- you're supposed to be, 'cause that's where I'm throwing the ball, and if you're not there, then it throws everything off." Whereas now Frank with Garrett is like, "Okay, we wanna run this within the offense, but like within that, like if you see a, a corner showing you a certain coverage, like I want you to be able to break off in a different direction if that's what's best."

Yeah.

Like, are you relevant going into the month of November? Just from your vantage point covering this team, knowing the owner a little bit and how he thinks, what does, like, an Aaron Glenn successful year two look like if he's here for a third year?

Well, to, to your point about you can't have a, like, Adam Gase type thing, what I would say to that is if, if they are, whatever, one and seven and he does not get fired and they do finish with seven wins, I, I think Woody would probably buy into the momentum.

So [laughs] like, I, I think he would survive that scenario.

Like, I, I get to your point.

Like, I agree with you.

The, the hard part, like it, it's really interesting because it, it's an interesting conversation.

Like, is it better to start off fast or to end fat? Like, end with momentum.

So what's his future? Do you think at this point it's still tied to the head coach or do you think Darren Moogey could be here and Glenn maybe wouldn't be here if they have this nightmare season we were just discussing?

You know, what do you see as potential strengths with him, even potential weaknesses? And then I think what a lot of people know is, you know, how does his arrival impact Mason Taylor? What do you expect scheme-wise with the two of them? And just what do you see, how do you see this tight end room playing out this year?

Yeah, I mean, he's, he's a unique player.

Um, so, like, just in terms of starting with his skill set, like, he's, he's a little undersized for, like, a modern tight end.

He's, like, 6'3", uh, I think, like, 250.

But he plays bigger than his size.

He's a freak athlete.

He ran, like, a 4.3-something 40, had, like, a 40-inch vertical.

Could be positive, negative, wherever you wanna take this, Zach.