Okay, so we've had a day to mourn. But here's why Base10 thinks that the Jet's devastating loss on Sunday to the Chiefs may be a good thing.

First, let's deal with some common criticism of Herm Edwards. Historically, he's been called a "players coach" that is relatively soft on the boys in camp. There is a trade-off here. Tired players stall when you start to get deep in the season. (This was the knock on Al Groh). Fresh players may be good in the stretch, but are not going to be in game shape at the beginning. I have to say, I don't think Chad Pennington or Curtis Martin got enough game play in the preseason.

That being said, Edwards brought us to the playoffs three years out of four. Sure, we stumbled a couple of times. But last year we were a missed field goal away from advancing. You have to let the guy do it his way unless the L's start piling up.

The other knock on Edwards is that he seems, at times, not to know that much about football. Examples abound: dopey clock management, or the failure to rush before the fateful kick last year to get the ball centered between the hashmarks. This is exacerbated by the often puzzled look Edwards wears on the sidelines.

This again, is unfair. Everyone know Edwards is not an X's and O's kind of coach. He's a motivator instead. I think you can be successful that way if you are surrounded by good coordinators. Edwards is. Westoff, Henderson, and Heimmerdinger are among the best in the business at their respective jobs. You also can't fault Edwards work ethic. He is reportedly the first guy at Hofstra in the morning and the last guy to leave at night.

So why is it good to get blown out in your first game? Lets assume that there is a fundamental flaw in the Jets game preparation or game plan. Let's further assume that this flaw is repairable, but it requires a lot of hard work and study among players and coaches. Now suppose the Jets won or lost the game in a squeaker. Would that flaw have been exposed? Would there have been the motivation for investing in the hard work to correct it? Now the stakes are higher. Players and coaches are under pressure to get a win this coming Sunday and are spending every waking hour trying to identify that flaw. What the results will be is anyone's guess, but I'll bet the coaches and staff are not going to be sitting around in the hot tub this week sipping pina coladas.

In other sports news, if anyone really cares, the Mets start a six game homestand today. Three games against Washington followed by three against Atlanta.

- posted by Base10 @ 12:01 PM