Defense of Geno Smith's poor play beginning to sound more like "politics" than about football

After another performance in which he looked like he was just dropped onto the South Pole wearing nothing but his skivvies, New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith announced that "Everybody always wants a new quarterback in there. I just keep trying to improve and work on myself. I know I can lead this team to the playoffs." 

The problem, of course, is that Smith not only has not displayed any signs of improvement, but he is playing like a lost boy among men. In the last 4 games—the latest an embarrassing 19-3 loss against a down Baltimore Ravens team—Smith has completed just 45 of 94 passes for 504 yards, 0 TD passes and 7 interceptions, for a 33.3 QB rating. His 62.1 rating overall is now the worst in the NFL, now that Josh Freeman has dropped out for lack of qualifying passes thrown.

Most Jets fans are starting to tire of him, but the diehards keep pressing on. One commentator on ESPN’s Gamecast still could see no wrong with Smith—only in everyone else on the team. No reason to consider another option. “Sanchez is what he is”—and that makes Smith what? Last season Sanchez played with the same poor offensive line and second class receiving corps, but “he is what he is”? The plain fact is that Smith is not only not better, he’s worse than Sanchez—and that is saying a lot.

But why stop there? Crazy is as crazy does. This guy went on to compare Smith with Joe Namath??? I’m not Namath’s biggest fan, and although he was exciting to watch when he wasn’t limping around, all that meant was that you were never precisely certain where that cannonball he threw was going to land. But Namath certainly had intangibles that Smith clearly does not: Poise, charisma, and an intuitive “feel” for the game of football, the kind that I thought Brett Favre had. Oh, Smith does have arrogance and self-delusion; that’s about it. 

No doubt many of Smith’s teammates are starting to question the wisdom of tolerating Smith’s poor play, which has been the occasion of simplifying the offensive schemes to the point that opposing defenses know them in their sleep. But some teammates—like offensive lineman Willie Colon and wide receiver Santonio Holmes, who last season was openly critical of Sanchez, and was accused being a head case and frequently quitting on plays—have been combative in their support of Smith. 

The problem is that Smith has been so awful that their defense of him now sounds like the “brothers” staying “tight” no matter what. To admit that Smith is a mistake would be personally diminishing. The problem with that  is that politics doesn’t win you games—unless, of course, “winning” isn’t that important, so long as the political “point” is made.