The Dallas Cowboys are known as “America’s Team” for a reason: No team’s misery provides more entertainment to the rest of the nation.
Dallas fell to 2-4 with a nationally televised multi-score loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. It was a positive experience for the New York Jets, too, as it pushed Dallas’ 2027 first-round pick, which is owed to the Jets, up to the sixth overall slot.
That wasn’t the only Jets-related news to come out of the Cowboys’ misfortune, though.
On Monday, former Jets wide receiver Braylon Edwards took to X to take a shot at Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer, who coached Edwards in New York as the Jets’ offensive coordinator from 2009-10.
“Watching the Dallas Cowboys struggle two weeks in a row reminded me of why we as a Jets offense were terrible in back to back AFC championship games in ’09 and ’10… mid OC by the name of Brian Schottenheimer,” wrote Edwards.
The Jets lost the AFC championship game in both 2009 and 2010, failing to hit the 20-point mark in each contest. In 2009, they lost 17-30 at the Indianapolis Colts, and in 2010, they fell 19-24 at the Pittsburgh Steelers. Both AFC champions went on to lose in the Super Bowl.
New York’s offense moved the ball well in the 2009 AFC championship, racking up 388 total yards, but two missed field goals by Jay Feely and a punt in Colts territory explain why the Jets only put 17 points on the board.
In 2010, the Jets’ offense had an abysmal first half, putting up only three points as they amassed 60 yards across five possessions, but they came alive in the second half, stockpiling 231 yards on just four possessions while scoring two touchdowns.
A fourth-quarter turnover on downs at the Steelers’ one-yard line was costly, but the Jets’ defense recorded a safety on the next play, and the offense drove the ball back down for a touchdown to cut the lead to 24-19 with about three minutes remaining. Unfortunately for the red-hot Jets offense, they did not get a final chance to march into the Super Bowl, as the defense failed to get them the ball back.
Edwards was a big-time downfield playmaker for the Jets across their 2009 and 2010 playoffs runs. In six games, he caught 15 of 29 targets for 320 yards and two touchdowns, averaging a massive 21.3 yards per reception.
While Edwards caught an 80-yard touchdown in the 2009 title game, the Colts quieted him otherwise, holding him to one reception for 20 yards on his four other targets. In 2010, the Steelers held Edwards to three catches on seven targets for 50 yards.
Edwards’ criticism of Schottenheimer is hardly an unpopular opinion, both among current Cowboys fans and Jets fans who are still reeling from those AFC championship losses. Sixteen seasons later, the Jets still have yet to get their next chance in the playoffs, and the offensive coordinator role is still a subject of scrutiny, as Frank Reich is under fire for the Jets’ 26-19 loss in Foxborough.
In the NFL, time is often a flat circle.
