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The Jets will head into the offseason with more salary cap space than almost every other team in the NFL. They've vowed to be aggressive. They have an obvious need for offensive play-makers.

And they have absolutely no excuse to do whatever it takes to make sure they land free agent running back Le'Veon Bell.

It was set to be a good Week 11 matchup between two top teams in the American Football League. But, on this date 50 years ago, a game between the Jets and Raiders would change professional football forever. 

On Nov. 17, 1968, the Jets took a late 32-29 lead over the Raiders with 1:05 left to go in the fourth quarter. The game was being aired on NBC, and after cutting to a commercial following the score, the game never came back on. 

Instead, the movie "Heidi" ran at its 7 o'clock start time despite the game not being over. And, of course, the game ended in dramatic fashion with the Raiders scoring two touchdowns in the final nine seconds to win 43-32.

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This is a terrible time for New York football, with the Giants and Jets sitting on what feels like rock bottom. They are a combined 5-14 this season, and the playoffs are already out of reach. And they are a combined 13-38 (.254) since the beginning of 2018.

But while there may not be hope at the moment for either team, there is still some talent on their two rosters. If they could only somehow combine the two, they might even have the makings of a playoff team.

As the Jets enter their bye week, Ray Lucas and Bart Scott break down their midseason report cards for New York this season. And they aren't pretty...

On the latest episode of The Jet Stream podcast, Jonas Schwartz and Willie Colon face the reality that Jonas' fear of a loss to the Bills came true in the worst possible way. The guys look at the potentially very short future of the tenure of Todd Bowles, wonder if Mike Maccagnan deserves the blame as well, and hand out some hardware - that's right - the bye week means a mid-season award show on The Jet Stream!

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An online sportsbook already pegs the Jets as favorites to land Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell in free agency. And several other NFL sources reportedly believe he's headed to the Meadowlands, too.

One Steelers source told Bleacher Report's Mike Freeman, "I think it's a foregone conclusion" that Bell dons green and white next season, and several other people around the league believe the same.

Of the 10 NFL personnel sources Freeman spoke to, six believe Bell will be a Jet next season after he sit out the 2018 season with Pittsburgh.

Sam Darnold sits down with SNY's Jeane Coakley to chat rookie life in New York, including watching NBA games courtside with Josh McCown.

"I would not have been able to play professional basketball," the Jets quarterback said. "Those guys are freak athletes that can also shoot the ball and can handle it, so it's pretty incredible to watch them play up close."

See the full interview on "Jets Nation: Midseason Report," Thursday at 6:30 p.m. on SNY.

Le'Veon Bell refused to report to the Steelers by 4 p.m. on Tuesday and is officially ineligible to play the 2018 season.

This could be good news for the Jets. 

The 26-year-old running back will become an unrestricted free agent this offseason and the Jets will likely be in the market to upgrade their backfield. 

Jamal Adams told Bleacher Report during the offseason that the 2017 Jets lacked energy in the locker room and seemed as if "everybody wanted to do the bare minimum."

Now halfway into the 2018 season, the safety says it's same old, same old.

"Honestly, I can sit here and sugarcoat everything, but things have not changed," Adams said Tuesday on WFAN's "Carlin, Maggie and Bart" show. "Obviously we're still losing and I'm not saying that we have guys like that in the locker room. But at the same time it's not changing, it hasn't changed and we've been losing. At the end of the day we're going to get it fixed, and the sun will shine."

The Jets are bringing in former Lions OLB Marquis Flowers for a workout on Tuesday, according to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News.

New York could use all the help it can get on defense -- with Sunday's 41-10 loss to the Bills serving as the latest bit of evidence.

Flowers, who was taken by the Bengals in the sixth round in the 2014 NFL Draft, has played in five games with the Lions this season, including their season-opening loss to the Jets on Sept. 10. He tallied one solo tackle and one assist for Detroit before the team cut him on Oct. 10.

Ralph Vacchiano | Facebook | Twitter | Archive: Todd Bowles is on the hot seat with the Jets. Mike Maccagnan is not.

That may not seem fair, considering they came to New York together in 2015 and have had equal hands in this Jets mess ever since, but that's the way it appears to be, according to several sources familiar with the Jets' thinking. Bowles seems to be on the fast track to being fired after the season while Maccagnan's job doesn't appear to be in danger at all.

And the reason is simple: Maccagnan's job is to build for the long term, and his long-stated plan has been to compete for a playoff berth in 2019. All his moves -- including moving up in the draft to land the Jets their franchise quarterback -- have been with that goal in mind. And part of that plan was to capitalize on the $100 million-plus in salary cap space he created for them to use next offseason.

A day after the Jets were crushed by the Bills, head coach Todd Bowles was as even keeled as usual during his roughly eight-minute conversation with reporters on Monday.

Bowles, whose job status is tenuous, said he has not yet spoken with Jets owner Christopher Johnson about his future.

Johnson declined comment on Bowles after Sunday's game.

Rex Ryan is not pulling any punches when it comes to his former team. 

A day after the Jets' 41-10 loss at home to the Matt Barkley-led Bills, the former Gang Green head coach appeared on ESPN's 'Get Up' and called it "one of the most humiliating defeats' in team history. And that is coming from the man who coached the Buttfumble game. 

Click below to watch...

The Jets were humiliated by the Bills on Sunday, with calls coming after for the team to fire head coach Todd Bowles. 

Click below to see how the back pages in New York reacted...

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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- A year ago, Jets owner Christopher Johnson made it clear he won't judge Todd Bowles on wins and losses alone. He said his evaluation would be about "progression" and whether or not he saw it would "be obvious to all."

It certainly was obvious on Sunday afternoon when the Buffalo Bills humiliated Bowles' Jets 41-10. New York looked unprepared, disinterested and incredibly incompetent.

And if Johnson wasn't considering firing Bowles before that, he certainly has to be now.

Jets owner Christopher Johnson declined comment on the job status of head coach Todd Bowles after Sunday's humiliation at the hands of the Bills.

And shortly after, Bowles spoke about the 41-10 loss that sealed the Jets' fate this season and may have sealed his fate as someone who's on the way out the door. 

"We stunk it up as coaches. We stunk it up as players," Bowles said. "Everybody played bad. Everybody coached bad."

The Jets crew hands out grades after New York's humiliating 41-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Jets safety Jamal Adams and cornerback Buster Skrine were among the players who defended head coach Todd Bowles after Sunday's 41-10 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

"T-Bowles is not the problem," Adams told reporters. "I'm gonna ride with T-Bowles until the end. It doesn't matter. I don't care what the fans say. It's T-Bowles. I'm gonna support my coach."

Sunday's loss, an embarrassment in which the Jets were outgained 451-199, committed two turnovers and trailed 31-3 at halftime, was New York's fourth straight loss and dropped the Jets to 3-7 heading into their bye week. 

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The Jets head to the bye week with a 3-7 record after a humiliating 41-10 loss to the Bills. Let's review three of the best and worst performances from Sunday's game.

Losers

QB Josh McCown

In his first start since last December, McCown was disappointingly erratic. He went just 17-for-34 with two interceptions, as he had five passes batted down at the line of scrimmage. Most of his 134 yards came in garbage time, as he averaged just four yards per attempt. Moreover, the majority of those yards came after the catch as the Jets ran an uninspiring horizontal passing offense.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - A week ago the Jets threw away their playoff hopes with a loss in Miami, but at least they showed some fight in that game.

This week, against the horrible Buffalo Bills, the Jets didn't show up at all.

In what has to be one of the worst losses in a franchise history filled with terrible losses, the Jets absolutely embarrassed themselves in their 41-10 loss to the Bills on Sunday. They were down 31-0 in the first half to a team that had totaled 20 points in its last three games. They were outgained 186 yards to 1 - one! - in the first quarter and 313-68 by halftime.

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If these truly are the final games of the Todd Bowles era, the Jets have an enormous, franchise-defining decision to make. If they expect to be a contender in 2019, if they expect Sam Darnold to be their long-awaited franchise savior, the next coach they hire absolutely can't miss.

So whom could they hire to replace Bowles? Here's a look at 12 candidates that figure to be on their list:

Jets QB Sam Darnold (foot strain) will be inactive against the Bills on Sunday afternoon.

Darnold's status had been in doubt all week, and it was revealed Thursday that Josh McCown would get the start. However, head coach Todd Bowles had not ruled Darnold out as the potential backup.

However, the Jets' hand was tipped a bit on Saturday when SNY's Ralph Vacchiano confirmed that QB Davis Webb was going to be activated from the practice squad in advance of Sunday's game...

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THE GAME 

The Jets (3-6) vs. Buffalo Bills (2-7) at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Sunday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m. ET.

THE WEATHER

It'll be a chilly day, with temperatures topping out in the mid-40s and moderate winds. It should be sunny, though.

WHAT IT MEANS

The Jets pretty much took any real meaning out of this game by losing to the Dolphins a week ago. A win only gets them back to 4-6 heading into their bye week, and they'd still need a miracle against a tough schedule after Thanksgiving to even sniff a shot at the playoffs. So all a win does is make them feel a little happier heading into their week off. But a loss? Whoa, would that turn things in a bad way against the Jets. This is an awful Bills team that even the Jets should crush, especially with veteran Josh McCown taking over at quarterback for a suddenly shaky Sam Darnold. If they lose this game, they could be headed to a season worse than last year, and there may be nothing that could save Todd Bowles' job.

On the latest episode of The Jet Stream podcast, Jonas Schwartz is joined by NFL Network Analyst Brian Baldinger and ESPN's Rich Cimini to discuss the injury to Sam Darnold, who watched practice in a walking boot on Tuesday. They break down the strained foot of the rookie quarterback, the progress of his on-field development, and the state of the Jets moving forward as the season starts to splinter for Todd Bowles.

Subscribe to the show here: https://on.sny.tv/2Od2Qzt

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Jets head coach Todd Bowles wouldn't completely rule out rookie QB Sam Darnold against the Bills. But their latest roster move says otherwise.

The Jets will activate QB Davis Webb from the practice squad to the 53-man roster, SNY's Ralph Vacchiano confirmed. And while the Jets haven't officially confirmed it yet, Webb is expected to be the team's backup. 

Darnold was listed as doubtful on the Jets' injury report after being diagnosed with a foot strain earlier this week. Bowles told the media on Thursday that veteran QB Josh McCown will get the start for the Jets, with Darnold not expected to be 100 percent.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - The Jets had no intentions of sitting Sam Darnold, no matter how much he's struggled over the last few weeks. They were going to let him play through his growing pains, to find his own way out, no matter what it did to their season.

Maybe that's the right way to do it. No doubt most NFL quarterbacks would argue that it is.

But given how lost he's looked on the field for the last three weeks, it couldn't hurt for Darnold to watch a little from the sidelines. So maybe this strained foot he suffered will turn out to be a blessing in disguise.

The Bills announced QB Matt Barkley will start against the Jets on Sunday.

The 28-year-old former USC product was signed by the Bills on Oct. 30 as insurance and has not played a down in the NFL since 2016.

QB Sam Darnold (foot) was officially ruled doubtful for Sunday's game against the Bills, but there should be no concern for his 39-year-old backup stepping into his place. 

Jets head coach Todd Bowles has no worried about Josh McCown filling in. 

"He looks like a spring chicken right now," Bowles told reporters on Friday. 

Jets S Jamal Adams jokingly blamed Tuesday's 'liking' of a tweet that linked him to signing a future mega-deal with the Cowboys on an innocent case of "Twitter fingers."

That's what he told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News on Thursday, correcting his social media slip-up with a declaration of his love for the Jets.

"I would love to be a Jet for life… and finish my career here," Adams told the Daily News. "God willing, that's definitely the plan…. That would be a dream come true. There's not that many guys that have played this game who have stuck with one team. That would be an honor. I would love to."

Jets head coach Todd Bowles told the media Thursday that veteran QB Josh McCown will replace rookie QB Sam Darnold as the starter against the Bills this Sunday. 

And despite McCown last seeing game action during the preseason, WR Jermaine Kearse doesn't mind the change. In fact, he thinks the offense during practice looks a lot faster than it normally has this season.

CLICK BELOW TO HEAR KEARSE