It’s amazing how perception can change in just the span of 12 months. Around this time last year, there were a lot of unknowns regarding the Giants and Jets. People just wanted to see meaningful football being played after Halloween.
Now as they prepare for the 2023 regular season, expectations are to reach the playoffs. That means the Jets will be expected to end the NFL’s longest active playoff drought. And with a four-time NFL MVP lining up under center, they’ll be expected to do more than “just” make the playoffs.
Some analysts have recently favored the Jets over the Giants. Especially when it comes to who is the better quarterback between Aaron Rodgers and Daniel Jones. However, former defensive end J.J. Watt wasn’t having any of that. During a recent interview with Sports Illustrated, he picked Big Blue to have a better season than Gang Green.
I know I’m going to piss off half of New York — which is not what I want — but I’m going to have to go with the team that had success last year. I’ll go with the Giants again.
This bit was put into a YouTube Short. So, there wasn’t much time for Watt to give detailed thoughts as to why he thinks this. But from the little time he did have, it seemed to mostly boil down to the job Brian Daboll did in his first year as head coach and the Giants unexpectedly making the playoffs in 2022.
Time will tell who ends up being right. But regardless of what happens, having these kinds of expectations and anticipation for the upcoming season is much better than what it’s been in recent years. The next step will be to have both squads qualify for the playoffs in the same season. It’s been a while since that’s happened, too.
You can reach Matt Musico at matt.musico@xlmedia.com. You can follow him on Twitter: @mmusico8.