If you listened to Woody Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum’s press conference, you must be asking the same this question I am and that is, Why did head coach Eric Mangini get fired? From listening to the presser all I heard was complements about the former Patriots defensive coordinator.

“Eric’s been our coach for three years, he’s done some amazing things. Nobody’s worked harder. He knows his X’s and he knows his O’s, he’s a good teacher,” said the Jets owner. “We respect Eric for what he’s done, but we want to build on the successful foundation that he’s laid.”

“Having a winning season in two out of three seasons is really a remarkable accomplishment. No one has worked harder than Eric and no one has been more loyal than Eric,” added Tannenbaum.

Sounds like complements to me! Even later in the day during an interview with WFAN’s Mike Francesa, Tannenbaum still complemented and praised Mangini for his work with the Jets.

For those people who cannot speak the Jets lingo, the following is why the Jets fired Mangini. And, Woody if I am wrong about anything please let know because I wouldn’t want to misinterpret what you danced around saying.

First off, Mangini was fired because he started the season 8-3 with wins over New England and Tennessee and then his team managed to lose five straight (I am counting the Buffalo game as a loss, because that was complete and utter luck) in what was considered a weak schedule. With many people believing that the Jets were a Super Bowl contender, Woody Johnson thought his team was at least good enough to make the playoffs.

And he should have thought that way after he dealt out over $140 million this off-season to bring in free agents such as G Alan Faneca and LB Calvin Pace.

The second reason why Mangini was relieved is because of his stoic and non-emotional personality. Mangini showed no emotion at anytime during his three year tenure and you started to see that in the way his players performed down the stretch. NFL Films cameras caught QB Brett Favre saying to his offensive team members “If it works out, it works out. If it don’t, If it don’t.” And for me that is a direct vision of the job the coach has done to prepare his team.

Thirdly and most important was his relationship with Brett Favre. Tannenbaum has said publicly that Eric got along with Brett real well and vice versa, but how else were you expecting Tannenbaum (who never directly answers a question in a press conference) to answer the question. The bottom line was that the ESPN report about Mangini calling out Favre in front of the team is probably correct. But Johnson fully understands that Favre is the one that sells his PSL’s and brings in revenue because of jersey sales.

People ain’t buying PSL’s for Mangini. And since Johnson is a smart businessman, he knows the only thing Favre is good for is business. 

So to recap why Mangini got fired

1) His team played themselves out of the playoffs.

2) The man showed no emotion and it could be seen in how the players played.

3) Because Mangini tried to do his job by controlling his quarterback but it interfered with Woody Johnson’s financial wants.

So Woody am I right?

Even though the book on the 2008 Jets season is not closed and the final chapter has not yet been written, their is one thing that must happen at the season’s end even if the Jets somehow make it to the playoffs and that is fire defensive coordinator Bob Sutton.

While head coach Eric Mangini should be on the hot seat as well, I could see GM Mike Tannenbaum giving Mangini his fourth year of a four year contract, but Sutton has to go as his defense has been terrible during the Jets losing streak.

While I personally thought Sutton would be on the hot seat at season’s end, his defense’s performance at Seattle might have cost him his job. The Jets defensive did not lay a finger on Seahawks QB Seneca Wallace and they made RB Maurice Morris look like former Dolphins RB Mercury Morris. Even in the lucky win against Buffalo the Jets defense played poorly (for evidence look at the touchdown run by Bills RB Fred Jackson)

The Jets are showing signs that Sutton’s Jets tenure is ending. Like last season, Mangini is starting to take charge of the defense play-calling.

And with Mangini’s good friend Romeo Crennel most likely to let go by the Cleveland Browns after season, he seems like a logical replacement for Sutton. Both Crennel and Mangini coached together in New England under Bill Belichick.

I don’t think Jets fans will mind trading Sutton for Crennel, who brings five Super Bowl rings as a defensive coordinator to Florham Park, New Jersey

If the Jets do play in the Giants in this year’s Super Bowl, the appropriate title should be the New Jersey Bowl. And for obvious reasons.

Before I get started with this blog, I would like to apologize to JI blog readers for not being around since week 5. I have been very busy with two jobs. But now because I got laidoff from my second job, you will probably hear from me more often.

Now to the Jets!

How ’bout them Jets? What a difference a year, $140 million and a Hall of Fame quarterback make! Now since they beat their arch rival New England Patriots and the Tennessee Titans (then the league’s only undefeated team), can we now make the Jets contenders?

Appearently so! In today’s Newsday, NFL columnist Bob Glauber did a piece on what would happen if the Jets and Giants make it to the Super Bowl. And sport talks shows are all making Gang Green seem like a lock to make it to Tampa. But before I crown the Jets the new Beast of the East, I want to see a little more out of Gang Green.

What a couple days in the NFL! First on Monday, Rams head coach Scott Linehan gets fired and today the Raiders let go of second-year head coach Lane Kiffin. While Linehan and Kiffin both deserved to lose their jobs (because the Rams and Raiders, who both play the Jets this season, are having horrible seasons), but the way Kiffin lost his job was in a way I really didn’t like.

Their is no arguing that he shouldn’t have been fired (because he probably was going to be at seasons’ end) but his situation got worse everyday. Owner Al Davis didn’t help “the man he thought he hired”, instead of firing Kiffin and keeping private anything that the media still doesn’t know, Davis decided to spill guts in a 45-min press conference Tuesday night. It was the first time in 14-months Davis had a press conference according to the Associated Press.

And even if Davis had a problem with how Kiffin handled certain situations in Oakland, he should have just let bigons be bigons, let it go and not make this a media war. For Davis not only did he fire his head coach, he made it very difficult on himself when he starts looking for a head coach next season.

Kiffin was the Raiders 4th head coach since 2002. If you are a head coach looking for a job would want to take a job where coaches get thrown away every couple of years? Probably not!

And another thing I didn’t understand. Davis he said he is firing Kiffin with “cause”. Isn’t everybody fired for a reason. The Rams fired Linehan because they were not playing well and he lost control of his players. Mets manager Willie Randolph was fired be”cause” the Mets were not playing well. The bottom line is for everyone who is fired, their is a cause for why they are being fired.

Side note, I will be in Florham Park tomorrow covering for Mark. Tomorrow is the Jets last day of practice before they are off for the next four days.

What a half for Gang Green. Head coach Eric Mangini must be smiling as everything went the Jets way in the first half. Defensively, after being owned by San Diego, the Jets defense is playing the perfect game. Five turnovers, 2 INT’s and countless number of sacks have Arizona rattled going into the dressing room. If you are Jets fan you have like the way that everyone on the defensive side of the ball (including newly resigned CB Hank Poteat) is getting into the action.

Offensively, WR Laveranues Coles and QB Brett Favre look like they have been together 18 years. With the help of some luck on the 34-yard touchdown pass those two haven’t missed a beat. The thing that I like the most about that half is that Mangini and offensive coordinator Brian Scottenheimer have worked RB Leon Washington more into offense.

What to look for in the second half: 1) The Jets should start milking the clock. That’s means Arizona will get a healthy dose of RB Thomas Jones. 2) Shaun Ellis- he left the game limping in the first half, it would be a big loss if he can’t do much 3) The reserves -  In this half look for some second teamers to see some action especially defensively. We know CB Ahmad Carroll and LB Cody Spencer can play specials teams, but can they play defense. We will probably see in the second half.

Throughout the afternoon (as I watch the Mets close Shea and hopefully clinch the wild card and the J-E-T-S), I will be sharing my insights on Gang Green and Sunday’s game against the Cardinals. So log on to www.jetsinsider.com/blogs for coverage all day.

While many people think that their is no such thing as a must win game in September, for the Jets this Sunday when the Cardinals visit the Meadowlands it is a must win! After a poor showing on Monday Night Football last week, the Jets and their secondary will be put to the test on Sunday.

To me whether the Jets win or lose, falls into the hands of rookie CB Dwight Lowery. In his first year of duty CB Darrelle Revis has shown he has answered every challenge thrown his way. But after Lowery received his official welcoming to the NFL, how he rebounds from last week is important. Lowery, who will probably be on Cardinals WR Larry Fitzgerald, will have his hands full as Fitzgerald is four catches away from 350 for his career.

If Lowery and Revis can contain Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin (who tweaked his hamstring in practice on Friday) and NT Kris Jenkins plays like he did the first two weeks the Jets should go into the bye week at 2-2. I see the final score being Jets 27, Cardinals 20.

P.S. My sources told me that QB Brett Favre will play and keep his iron-man streak alive.

Hey Jets Fans, I want to start this blog by apologizing for my absence. The reason why I have been gone from the Blog for the past week is because I was away celebrating my 23rd birthday at Atlantic City. But now I am back (with less money), so back on with the football talk.

Boy am I disappointed with Gang Green. After playing a terrible game at home against the longtime rival New England Patriots, the Jets followed that up with an embarrassing loss against San Diego on Monday Night Football. But as bad as the Jets have played over the past two weeks, they are still in good position for a possible run at the AFC East title.

But if Gang Green can even think about an AFC title run, they MUST win their next six games, starting Sunday when they host the Arizona Cardinals. After starting 2-0, the Cardinals dropped a tough one to Washington last Sunday. And now having to spend their second consecutive week in the Eastern time zone, Sunday’s game is very winable for Gang Green.

Now after the Cardinals comes a string of games against some of the leagues weaker opponents. After the Cardinals (then a week 5 bye) the Jets face Cincinnati, at Oakland, Kansas City, at Buffalo and St. Louis. In that five game stretch the Jets face four teams at the bottom of the NFL. The Cincinnati, Oakland, Kansas City and St. Louis games should all be wins for the Jets. And if the Jets can find ways to beat Arizona and Buffalo, their could be a good possiblity that they could 7-2 when they travel to Foxborough for their annual visit.

According to an ESPN Chris Mortensen report the Jets have officially signed placekicker Jay Feely. Feely, a journeyman kicker, spent training camp with the Miami Dolphins before losing his job to rookie kicker Dan Carpenter. It is still unknown the severity of Nugent’s injury, but the signing of Feely probably means that Nugent won’t be ready in time for Sunday’s game against New England.

It is not known who the Jets cut to make room for Feely. (I am thinking OL Wayne Hunter but time will tell)