Not The Same Ole Jets ?

From 10/1/2005:

It's fourth down. There are a handful of seconds in the game. The Chargers are a few feet from tying the Wild Card Game. We get a great pass rush. Brees realizes he is going to get sacked. With Eric Barton in his face, Brees throws up a prayer in the endzone. The ball gets batted down. The Jets Win. The Jets Win. Wait. There was a flag on the play? Huh? Everything looked okay watching the live feed. It's can't be. You can't be serious. Eric Barton roughed the Quarterback? What was he thinking? The game was over. I already celebrated. After a tantrum on my part of epic proportion, the gift was officially delivered with the Chargers tying up the game.

Could this be a jinx? The Red Sox had the Curse of the Bambino for 86 years. Maybe we have our own curse...the curse of Joe Namath. Watching this team for 34 years, I didn't think it was possible to blow this game until they came up with a new way with Barton's late hit. The Ghosts of Mark Gastineau's late hit of 18 years ago came to mind.

We were now in Overtime. The home crowed was pumped. The Jets defense was exhausted. I had NO confidence that the Jets were going to pull out this game. Barton's hit was gong to lead to one of the top 3 sports blunders of all time up there with Bill Buckner and Leon Lett. Based on Jets' history, this was another game we were going to let get away.

All I could do was sit there in disbelief and recall all of the horrible things that have happend to this team over the years. It had to be a jinx. Things like this don't happen to other teams. The horrible mememories just kept on popping in my head: Lou Holtz quits on the team; John Riggins gets a mohawk; we lose both games in 1987 with the replacement players; we make horrible Free Agent signings of Ronnie Lott; Leonard Marshall; Art Monk; Dexter Carter; and Jeff Graham; Dick Steinberg dies of Cancer; Parcells cuts Hugh Douglas; we trade down from 1st overall pick to the 11th pick and and only pick up the Ram's 3rd, 4th, and 7th picks and the player chosen 11th of James Farrior was let go 4 years later, we moved to Giants Stadium; they played on Astro Turf leading to the early retirement of Al Toon to concussions; they inserted REAL grass in Giants Stadium which was like a sand box; we had the 2 trick plays (Ray Lucas & Leon Johnson) in Detroit that failed with a Playoff Spot on the line and lose in the season finale; we had a 524 yard offensive performance in Baltimore for the season finale with a Playoff Spot on the line and lose; the Bubby Brister Flea Flicker right to the other team; the Eric Allen interception; Quarterbacks of Brister, Glenn Foley, Boomer Esiason, Ray Lucas, Rick Mirer, Browing Nagle, Neil O'Donnell, Frank Reich, Tony Eason, and Jack Trudeau; Keyshawn writes a book; John Abraham barfing on the sideline of a Raiders playoff game; the drafting of Johnny "Lam" Jones, Roger Vick, and Blair Thomas, Jets blowing a 10 point lead in the AFC Championship vs. Denver; Vinny Testervede blowing out his achillies in the following Season Opener, a Generation Jets cartoon, Damien Robinson brining guns to the stadium parking lot; offensive linemen beating up lino drivers in Santa outfits, Shrek and the Green Lantern becoming unofficial mascots; the Rick Mirer / Ray Lucas QB Controversary; the Mud Bowl; the Heidi Game, the Fake Spike Game; Rich Kotite's 2 seasons; Pete Carroll's end of season losing streak; losing 5 straight after a 10-1 start; the paralysis of Dennis Byrd; Bill Belechick's 1 day reign and then quitting as the H.C. of the N.Y. Jets; the ghosts of Leon Hess saying "Just Win Now"; and yes, the Gastineau late hit. In between all of this mayhem, was numerous other painful and frustrating seasons and loses and signings and draft picks and coaching changes. Being a fan of the Jets is like watching a crazy soap opera. Only, this is reality. You coudn't have scripted a more crazy history. And Eric Barton's hit was sure to be icing on the cake.

Overtime started and we each had the ball but the Chargers started driving on their 2nd possession. All I could think was "Here we go again." However, something happened. The opposition was coaching a game WORSE than us. Instead of continuing to get the ball closer for a Field Goal, they just kept running into a pile and playing way too conservative. A rookie was about to kick the field goal to win the game for them. WIDE RIGHT. There was still hope. In the past, the kick would have been good and another Jets frustrating off season would have begun. Maybe the Ghost of Leon Hess helped us out or maybe our luck is changing. I'll never forget what Eric Barton but by winning the game, you can't put him at the top of the list of horrible loses. By winning this miracle game that we would have never won in prior years, maybe out luck is indeed changing. Maybe these aren't the Same Ole Jets.