After the Atlanta Falcons did the improbable last year by going to the playoffs with a rookie Head Coach and a rookie QB, the Jets thought they could catch lightning in a bottle with the same formula.
The Atlanta Faclons hired one the most-respected Defensive Coordinators in the league, Mike Smith from the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then with the 3rd pick in the 2008 NFL Draft they selected Matt Ryan. The result, Matt Ryan throws a TD on his first career pass ensue to an 11-5 record with a trip to the postseason. Not bad.
The New York Jets took the exact same approach this past offseason. They hired one of the most-respected Defensive Coordinators in the league, Rex Ryan (or Rex Cryan as they now call him) from the Baltimore Ravens, his father Buddy Ryan the architect of the '85 Bears defense. And then they traded up for the 5th pick in draft which they used to select Mark Sanchez. The result thus far, a 3-0 record that had everyone (mostly the Jets and their coach) putting the Jets in the Super Bowl and having the greatest defense ever. Since that 3-0 record, the Jets are 1-6 and that highly touted defensive got shredded by little Wes Welker for 15 catches and 192 yards. They have been brought back to Earth.
The Jets with their rookie Head Coach and rookie QB stand far from the success of the Falcons last year as they are currently 4-6 and are searching for answers. Mark Sanchez is struggling like most rookies do, throwing 16 interceptions through his first 9 games, he has also become fumble prone, fumbling the ball 9 times this season, losing 3. Its hard to imagine that a rookie QB with such a good running game and defense to lean on has struggled so much.
After doing a lot of trash-talking for their first game with the Patriots, the Jets were man-handled the second time around with Sanchez throwing 4 INT's, 3 of them to one player, and no one on the defense being able to cover Wes Welker. The Jets came out with no energy and no passion from Ryan's teary eyed speech earlier in the week. The only guy from the team that showed up, Darrelle Reevis who held Randy Moss to 5 catches 43 yards and 1 TD, seems to be the only guy who shows up to play week in and week out. They played like a team with no heart, which is one of the problems.
I think that the bigger problem lies with the Rex Ryan. He is who is and I'm not asking him to change, nor should he. But his demeanor and swagger may have had his team and himself believing that they were better than they really are. I mean he is in his first year as a Head Coach, he does have a rookie QB, and most of the guys are playing in the defense for the first time. Not to mention they play in the same division as Tom Brady and the Patriots, the same Conference and Peyton Manning and the Colts, along with teams like the Chargers, Ravens, Steelers, and this year the surprise Bengals.
With all that said and the playoffs out of reach unless by some miracle the Jets run the table and the 6 teams ahead of them for the remaining 2 Wild Card spots all collapse, highly unlikely, they should concentrate on having fun for the remainder of the season. Ryan talked his team into a corner with his big-chested blabbering and the team's 3-0 start. They have failed to live up to the self-hype, and now there are no expectations to fulfill this season. So relax and go have fun, there is not much else to do. They Jets can't play any worse.
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