Photo: Jeff Zelevansky - Getty Images
- Troy Ballard
I thought it would be a cold-cold-cold day in Hell before I ever agreed with Skip Bayless on something.
Go ahead and pull out the skis.
After reading through Bayless' piece featured on ESPN, I realized two things. I had a series of epiphanies, if you will.
The first — Bayless never stops gloating. Never-ever. He's the king of it. If there hasn't been an official ceremony yet, there needs to be.
The second — he is damn right about Tebow with the New York Jets.
Basically, Bayless makes the point that Tebow was in this exact same position in Denver last season, and he managed to rally that team to the playoffs. The current starter (Kyle Orton, remember him?) wasn't getting it done, and the Broncos bit the bullet and gave #15 a shot. And the rest doesn't need a recap.
The situation with the Jets is almost exactly the same. The only difference being that because the team is based in New York, the entire controversy is blown-up to the proportion of an international crisis. But really, at this point, as Bayless pointed out, there shouldn't be a controversy at all.
Mark Sanchez isn't winning. It's that simple.
I don't care about how he has the potential or how the pressure from Tebow has put him in an unfair position. That doesn't matter. The NFL is about winning games. And Sanchez is losing New York games. That point was underlined in the Jets' latest loss to the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football.
Looking over his numbers, it's not that bad. Outside of a low touchdown total, it's about on-par with Sanchez's other three seasons in New York. But it's about much more than that. The things that numbers don't show.
The stuff that Tebow does.
Such as rallying the team, leading an emotionally charged unit and having the ability to take over a game. Being unafraid to take chances. Having trust and faith in teammates. Winning games.
This random injection of Tebow throughout games for one or two plays ins't going to cut it. As soon as the kid gets some momentum going, the Jets pull him out of the game and the offense goes dead. A two quarterback system rarely, if ever, works.
Bayless talks about how Rex Ryan needs to have the stones to start Tebow. This is where I disagree with Bayless — as I don't think it's a matter of fear. I think that it's a pride issue.
Ryan is a proud coach. He doesn't like admitting he's wrong. He doesn't like to lose. And by placing Tebow as the starter, that means that he was dead-wrong in his adamant support of Sanchez. That's a tough pill to swallow, especially in a media-frenzied city like New York.
My advice for Rex?
Give John Fox a call and ask him how Tebow turned out for him. Put your pride aside and take the risk. Because, Sexy-Rexy, I have some news for you — don't think your job is safe. This team is looking down the barrel of another losing playoff-missing season, and coaches don't last long in New York with that sort of production.
Ask Tom Coughlin about the hot-seat.
The Jets have nothing to lose and everything to gain from Tebow. This is the time that Ryan needs to make the switch and avoid this team falling even further out of contention. Unleash Tebow-Time in New York City.
It's that time. And Skip Bayless called it.
