It is a run of football futility rarely seen around here, a collective era of mediocrity from the Jets and Giants that reminds us just how good things used to be.
Newsday colleague Neil Best, who has been busy chronicling the resurgent Islanders during their playoff run, provided the reminder in a tweet Tuesday morning while prepping for Tuesday night's Islanders-Lightning Game 5 of the Stanley Cup semifinals:
"Since Giants won SB46 after 2011 season, #NYGiants and #NYJets have combined to appear in one playoff game. That is nuts."
Yes, it is.
In fact, the last time things were so bad with both teams simultaneously, there was no such thing as a hashtag or Twitter or Facebook or TikTok. ESPN was in its infancy toward the latter stages of the gridiron drought, and neither CNN nor Fox News had been launched. Ronald Reagan was about to begin his first term as President just as a light emerged after more than a decade's worth of football misery.
History is repeating itself in a bad way, as anyone who lived through New York football in the 1970's will remember: There were zero playoff appearances between the two teams.
And if the Week 1 performances by the Jets and Giants are any indication, this is what it might stay like for a while longer. Especially for the Jets, who started off with a 27-17 clunker in Buffalo that lay bare all the vulnerabilities we knew they had coming into the season. The Giants put up a good figh tagainst the Steelers but a critical Daniel Jones turnover led to a 26-16 loss.
Look, it can be a fool's errand to make any sweeping judgements after one game.
That said, this will be a heavy lift for both of them, particularly the Jets.
Sam Darnold looked miserable Sunday, missing what should have been easy throws and looking rushed on many of his dropbacks and progressions. He acknowledged that he was out of sorts and vowed to work through his issues and be better.
But the deck is stacked against him in so many ways. He's playing behind a rebuilt offensive line. He doesn't have the luxury of a No. 1 receiver. And now that running back Le'Veon Bell is out a couple weeks with a hamstring injury, the Jets are left with 37-year-old Frank Gore and, with any luck, rookie La'Mical Perine, who missed the Buffalo game with an ankle injury, and newly signed Kalen Ballage.
Defense isn't much better. No Jamal Adams, although Marcus Maye did an admirable job assuming Adams' multifaceted role. No, what's really missing from this team is a capable pass rush, which allowed Josh Allen to have a career day on Sunday.
This is simply an undermanned roster at far too many positions, and continued floundering at the bottom of the AFC East is the likely outcome.
For the Giants, there were at least some glimmers of optimism. Daniel Jones had that horrendous interception in the end zone in the third quarter that was a killer, but he did look poised in other areas, and there's reason to believe he can improve. Saquon Barkley had an awful game, mostly because he didn't get much blocking, but he'll be OK long term. And the pass rush was at least viable, with Leonard Williams finally getting a sack But the secondary is a mess, and Ben Roethlisberger easily solved the defense in throwing for three touchdowns.
I think the Giants are a well-coached team that will get better, but it's still very much a work in progress.
For New York football, it's back to the future.
Unfortunately.
