Many things occur in cycles. This is evident in nature, planetary orbits, seasons and days. The phenomena also occurs in sports. Teams will excel, decline, rebuild and hopefully excel again. As a New Jerseyan, I took a look at the local NFL teams. The Giants and the Jets share a common cyclic pattern that if continued should kick-in to an excel phase over the next couple of seasons.
Going back to the 60s both teams excelled. The Jets, in the late 60s, won Super Bowl III with quarterback Joe Namath, coach Weeb Ewbank, receivers Don Maynard and George Sauer, and defensive end Gerry Philbin. Meanwhile in the early 60s the Giants had three straight seasons of double digit wins and were in three Championship games. This was with Giants such as quarterback Y.A. Tittle, receiver Del Shofner and defensive lineman Jim Katcavage. This was followed by a drought of decline and rebuild.
Forward 20 years to the 80s and again both teams excelled. In the early 80s the Jets made the playoffs four of the first seven years. Once going to the division game and one to the Conference game. This team was nicknamed the New York Sack Exchange. The front four defensive line consisted of Mark Gastineau, Joe Klecko, Marty Lyons and Abdul Salaam. The prowess of the New York Sack Exchange, and New York Giants rookie linebacker Lawrence Taylor, caused the NFL to start counting quarterback sacks as a statistic. Gastineau is fourth on the season sack list with 22 sacks in 1984. Meanwhile in the latter part of the 80’s the Giants won the Super Bowl. The team featured coach Bill Parcells, linebacker Lawrence Taylor, quarterback Phil Simms, defensive end Leonard Marshall, running back Joe Morris, tight end Mark Bavaro and linebacker Harry Carson. The Giants went on to win another Super Bowl in the 1990 season.
Though staggered by a few years both the Giants and Jets went through roughly a decade of decline and rebuild followed with their success in 2000s. The Jets in 1998-2010 and the Giants in 2000-2010 both enjoyed a period of excelling. Over that period the Jets made it to three Conference Championship games and had four other seasons in the playoffs. They had good coaches such as Bill Parcells, Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini and Rex Ryan. They featured such players as Curtis Martin (RB), Darrelle Revis (CB), Chad Pennington (QB), Kevin Mawae (C), Nick Mangold (C), John Abraham (DE), Shaun Ellis (DE), Laveranues Coles (WR) and Wayne Chrebet (WR). The Giants during this timeperiod lost one Super Bowl and won two. They made the playoffs four other seasons. They featured key players such as Eli Manning (QB), Michael Strahan (DE), Tiki Barber (RB), Justin Tuck (DE), Osi Umenyiora (DE), Amani Toomer (WR), Chris Snee (OG), Victor Cruz (WR) and Jason Pierre-Paul (DE).
Following this decade of success both franchises entered a long decade and a half of decline and rebuild. That brings us to the present 2026 season. If the 20 year trend for these two franchises is to continue there is but a four season window to turnaround. Even more so for the Giants, who can continue their streak of winning a Super Bowl in every one of the last four decades. Things do look bright for both teams.
I recommend this article by NFL analyst Bucky Brooks on why these two franchises are looking up – Three reasons each downtrodden New York team is on the rise. It sums up all the reasons and I could do no better by reiterating it.
This season marks exactly 20 years since both the Giants and Jets made the playoffs together. Since the teams play in different conferences and only play in the regular season every four years, a team rivalry is more personal than actual. The all-time regular season win-loss record is pretty close. It is Giants 8-7 with the next game in the 2027 season.
As a Giants fan, I have developed an interest in the Jets and plan to start watching their games this season. Like the Giants they have built a good defensive line and have solid linebackers. Their running back, Breece Hall, should be fun to watch. Combined with the rookie slot receiver, Omar Cooper, and rookie tight end, Kenyon Sadiq, they should provide for an explosive offense. As for the Jets’ rivals, I have no love lost for the Patriots and I would rather see Jaxson Dart win a Super Bowl before Bills’ Josh Allen. The only one I could tolerate is Miami.
Ast for Jets fans, as mentioned both teams share strong defesnsive lines and now linebackers. The second year development of Jaxson Dart combined with the return of Malik Nabers and draft pick Malachi Fields, running backs Tyrone Tracy (former receiver) and Cam Skattebo and ex-Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy should also generate interesting and explosive offensive plays.
Every 20 years Jupiter and Saturn align in the night sky, Japan’s Shinto Shrine is torn down and rebuilt, and per a sociological theory a new generation transitions into young adulthood, shifting the cultural and institutional mood of a society. Perhaps New York football enters a peak period can be added to the list. I was too young to witnss the 60’s peak, experienced the 80’s peak in my young adulthood, and the 00’s peak with my grown children.
So lets Go Big Blue and J-E-T-S!!!! Is a Subway Super Bowl a term?