Rex Ryan To Be More Active In Playcalling

TOJ would like to welcome our newest writer Matt Fritz, who currently attends Juniata College in Pennsylvania. We are particularly happy to employ individuals from Centennial Conference schools like myself and especially from schools who I scored a touchdown against (what are you mad about this shameless self promotion? Give me a break, I just suffered through a Giants/Patriots Super Bowl)

Okay enough about me…we are happy to have Matt on board. He can be followed on Twitter (@MTFritz5)

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During Super Bowl festivities, Jet coach Rex Ryan told reporters that he will be more invovled in the play-calling next year, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

This is music to my ears. This past season was the first time in Rex’s three years as Jet head coach where we really saw him take a back seat in the play-calling. Rex will now once again share duties with Defensive Coordinator Mike Pettine, as he did in his first two seasons when the Jet defense was arguably one of the best in the league.

I really like Mike Pettine, and I think he did a decent job at calling the defensive plays for the Jets this past year, but I do think the Jets are at their best defensively when Rex has the majority say in what is called. I have always thought that at times Rex has more of a coordinator’s mentality then a head coach’s, so I think this will only help the Jets defense next season. I thought the Jet defense overall this past year was slower than in year’s past, and I think they will ultimately address this issue in the upcoming draft. This didn’t work in Pettine’s favor throughout the course of the season, and when Jim Leonhard went down it just made matters worse. The Jet defense gave up 30 points or more in four games this year…very uncharacteristic for a Rex Ryan defense.

I would say if Schotty were still around, I would like to see Rex have more of a say as to what is called on offense as well, but with Sparano now coming on board as OC and having a philosophy more in line with Rex’s, I think he will allow Sparano a good amount of autonomy.

What Is It With Jets Fans and Braylon Edwards?

Ever since it became apparent Braylon Edwards wasn’t coming back to the New York Jets this past off-season, fans have been clamoring for his return to the team. I am consistently surprised by how frequently Edwards is mentioned by so many different fans on Twitter or Facebook, or in different articles mentioning the Jets needs on offense.

Many people who don’t follow the Jets are perplexed by a desire to have Edwards on their team. The common thought process on him is that he is an overhyped bust, who can’t catch. His brief tenure in San Francisco this past season did nothing to help change that stereotype.

However, Edwards was a very good player for the Jets in 2010. Arguably a better one than Santonio Holmes and one of the few receivers who ever demonstrated any type of chemistry with Mark Sanchez. Who else do you recall Sanchez ever connecting with on deep passes with besides Edwards? He also provided the necessary threat on the opposite side of the field to keep Holmes in single coverage most of the time. As we saw this past year, Holmes struggles when there isn’t a legitimate threat opposite him.

Is Edwards coming back to the Jets? I wouldn’t put it out of the realm of possibility. Nobody is signing him to anything but a veteran’s minimum deal so financially it wouldn’t be a problem. The question is if Edwards could swallow his pride and come back to New York after the low amount of interest they showed in bringing him back prior to this season.

The Jets need a new split end and if they could get 2010 type production from Edwards this year on a veteran’s minimum deal, they are successfully filling a need in the cheapest way possible so they could focus their financial assets on other problem areas.

As for fan’s ongoing interest…think about it. We just spent a year watching the Jets have 2, yes 2 pass plays of 40 yards or longer. Fans remember this -

New York Jets: The Art Of Exaggeration

Perhaps the market makes the New York Jets conducive to exceptional amounts of exaggeration surrounding their team. Maybe it is their coach. Their history. The media. Or their fans. Most likely it is a combination of all the above.

Whatever it is, there is no middle ground with this team. They are either world beaters or the sky is falling. You would swear from the conversations this past week that they went 3-13 this past season, not 8-8 and a handful of plays away from a playoff spot.

This season was a disappointment, without question. Yet, everybody is ready with the punchline that Rex Ryan will be on Inside The NFL instead of a NFL sideline by this time next year instead of a sideline as a head coach, when they forget a year ago he was being lauded for completely undressing Bill Belichick in a playoff game.

You have heard it all: Mark Sanchez is a hopeless failure the Jets can’t win with as a starter. By the way, his career record as a starter is 27-20. The defense is old and slow. The offensive line is awful. The receivers can’t get open and are plagued with the cancer of Santonio Holmes. The running backs are average. There is no depth throughout the entire roster.

All of the above concerns are very valid but they are frequently overstated. This isn’t the St. Louis Rams or the Jacksonville Jaguars. There is a quality base of talent on this team and they are a productive off-season away from being one of the AFC’s elite teams, which isn’t saying much these days in a conference that is suddenly watered down and wide open.

How about looking at the 2011 New York Jets like this? They underachieved and despite a toxic locker room, erratic quarterback play and playcalling, along with let-down seasons from about half the starters, they still managed to win 8 games. Imagine a little chemistry comes back to that locker room? Imagine a group of the starters respond with better seasons and the rest who struggled last year are replaced?

The Jets have money to spend this off-season and finally have a draft pick in every single round. They have already made the right choice by letting go of Brian Schottenheimer and bringing in a new offensive staff, led by Tony Sparano. Mike Tannenbaum is in need of a bounce-back year and if he could respond with a solid off-season there is a good chance Rex Ryan will be back to being adored by the same media members who tear him to pieces right now. The criticism of Mark Sanchez will subside and all of the sudden the roster, which still has players like Darrelle Revis, David Harris, Nick Mangold, D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Dustin Keller, and Brandon Moore won’t suddenly be so pathetic and talentless.

Step back from the cliff Jets fans, the Giants and Patriots season will hopefully soon be over and you will have an active off-season to look forward to. This team isn’t rebuilding and is closer to 11-5 than 5-11. And if that can’t cheer you up, remember this was only a year ago…

Thoughts On New York Jets New Offensive Staff

A collection of thoughts on the New York Jets decision to officially make former Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano their new offensive coordinator -

1. You could have replaced Brian Schottenheimer with Paul Hackett and Jets fans would have been happy. Yet, I have to say that my initial reaction is positive to the decision to hire Sparano. Why? The Jets went outside the organization. They didn’t make the easy choice and hand the job to Bill Callahan. Rex is taking on a different kind of personality than himself but one that has the potential to mesh very well with him. What is important about Sparano is that he a disciplinarian and believes in running the football, which fits the identity this team has been successful with. The discipline is badly needed on offense as well.

2. This hiring will feel better if the Jets officially lock down Todd Haley to handle the quarterbacks/passing game. Haley and Sparano have worked together before and both come from the Parcells coaching tree. Haley will be the necessary in the face presence to Mark Sanchez that Brian Schottenheimer wasn’t. You won’t catch Haley and Sanchez playing grade school pranks on each other like we saw Schotty and Sanchez do on Hard Knocks.

3. It shouldn’t be all rainbows and sunshine when discussing these moves. There are reasons Sparano and Haley were fired and both have question marks surrounding how well they could work together in this capacity. It could be a dangerous situation to have one coach focused on the run and another focused on the pass. There needs to be one unified voice and plan. If Haley doesn’t come on board, the Jets need to find somebody else to work on developing Mark Sanchez.

4. Sparano hasn’t called plays since 2006 with the Dallas Cowboys, a season in which he was very successful at it. Obviously, many fans are clamoring about the use of the Wildcat. I am sure we will see some of it next season, particularly as Jeremy Kerley becomes a bigger part of the offense. However, the real question is what the backfield will look like next season. Is the 1-2 punch of Shonn Greene and Joe McKnight going to be enough, or will they look to add somebody in free agency? Beyond that, blocking tight end and right tackle also remain a big priority.

5. Sanchez is getting a new system. There is no more Schottenheimer scapegoat. I will get more into the criticism of him tomorrow. Yet, it is hard to deny that this will be a make or break season for him.

Cooler Heads Must Prevail for the Jets

Right now, the world of the New York Jets is spiraling out of control in ways that couldn’t have been imagined in the Rex Ryan era; purported to be one of continued success and stability for an organization that has seriously lacked both of those things for the better part of 50 years.

Driven by a dysfunctional locker room and a bloodthirsty New York tabloid media, the perception of the Jets is such that everything is in flux and no one’s job is safe.  Outside of Rex Ryan being the team’s head coach, what can be counted on for this team as 2012 get underway?  It appears as though Tony Sparano and perhaps Todd Haley will be brought in to revamp the offense, while fans and – if the suddenly unprofessional and irresponsible Manish Mehta of the Daily News is to be believed – some players have called for Mark Sanchez to be replaced by Peyton Manning.

What really needs to happen?  Cooler heads must prevail.

It’s time for Rex Ryan to call a press conference, diffuse some of this media-driven chaos, and most importantly get his players in line.  Credit should go to Jim Leonhard and Nick Mangold, who have already come to Mark Sanchez’s defense on Twitter.

The Jets were a flawed bunch on both sides of the ball and their record reflected that. Rightfully, much of the blame fell on the quarterback because of the offense’s struggles at key moments during the season. But remember, the Jets were 8-8, not 2-14.  Mark Sanchez threw 26 touchdowns and 18 interceptions, not 5 and 24.

The point is, things are bad for the Jets right now, but they’re not as catastrophic as they seem.  Changes, particularly in offensive philosophy, needed to be made, and are being made (whether or not Sparano is the right move is another debate for another day).

Perhaps more importantly, a new leadership group must emerge for the Jets amongst the players themselves.  Rex Ryan, Brian Schottenheimer and the rest of the coaches can only take so much blame for the Jets’ dysfunction. Players must police themselves, and guys like Nick Mangold, Darrelle Revis, Sione Pouha, and most importantly, Mark Sanchez must become the ones who keep order, especially when things don’t go right.

Beware The Tide: Why Rex Ryan Should Pray At The Altar Of Saban

Enough. Enough whining from everyone associated with Oklahoma State about how they should have been in the BCS Championship game, not because they deserved to be in the Championship game, but because it would have been more entertaining. Sure, and watching the Broncos play the Packers in the Super Bowl would be the most watched game in the history of the NFL and/or the ugliest blow out ever put on a green field.

When did things reach their most insane in the aftermath of last nights game? When the unanimous whine from the OK State crew and others trickled onto the radio waves today, where people were proclaiming that Oklahoma State would have beat LSU. By 40. Really? OK. Theoretically Oregon could have beaten LSU if we are to just take the game as LSU’s lack of execution. That’s an open ended theory/excuse that falls on deaf ears for anyone who hasn’t been smashing pint glasses over their head for the past 36 hours. Which is in many ways similar to my one trip to New Orleans, but that’s between me, god, and the sheriff. Even now, as I am writing this, Mike Wilbon is proclaiming that CAM NEWTON WOULD HAVE BEAT LSU!!! OR ALABAMA!!!!

So what happened to the war painted Tigers? Fear. You want to see fear in the NFL? Watch the game tape from when the Jets played the Ravens this year. Mark Sanchez had the same fear Jordan Jefferson had last night. Blind side hits from behind, receivers getting blasted over the middle, fumbles, delays in handoffs, and general skittishness all made more evident by 10 on field cameras and the screaming, half crazy crowd of drunks, freaks and fools in the stands.

Simply put, the front 7 of Alabama may be some of the scariest set of college football players to ever step foot on the field. But it’s not fear of simply getting picked off or losing a fumble that turned the voodoo daddies into porcelain dolls, it’s the combination of experience, retribution and pure rage. (There are 8 seniors on defense). Translation? Ray Lewis. Imagine 4 Ray Lewis clones (actually bigger and faster as the average height of the linebacking core is 6’4 and around 265lbs) lining up in a 3-4, waiting on every play, knowing every gap to shoot, and not just getting to your quarterback or running back, but exactly how to line him up and inflict the most damage. Every time someone from LSU tried to go down the field on a toss or a read option, there were not 3, but usually 4 linebackers waiting to break them in half.

For all the magic around the LSU Tigers, the honey badger, the free for all defense that logistically relies on mostly it’s edge rushers and secondary to lock down receivers, there was too much reliance on their ability to get turnovers, opponent plays for a loss, and kicking domination. Alabama wiped the floor with LSU on special teams, case in point being the honey badger’s attempt at a kickoff return that got him knocked back about 15 yards and Marquis Maze running his first attempt back about 42 yards before pulling up lame with a hamstring injury. Oh yes, and Maze, the number one receiver for Alabama, DIDN’T EVEN COME BACK TO PLAY IN THE GAME.

What no one will state, because it is theoretically impossible, is that every defensive coaches ultimate desire is to play in base packages for an entire game. That is, a 3-4 base, a nickel and a dime. If you had an All Madden defensive squad, there would be no need to switch from base defenses. You make your adjustments pre snap, and shut the play down before it even starts, and if it does start, don’t let it finish. Alabama didn’t blitz, they didn’t come overloaded to one side, and they didn’t get into exotic personnel packages. Perfection needs no decoration.

In the era of teams averaging 45 points a game, Alabama gave up 9 touchdowns in 13 games. They averaged 8.2 points per game allowed, and didn’t let the Tigers cross the 50 yard line until 8 minutes left in the game. Mind you, if AJ McCarron didn’t get sacked on a third down play, the Tigers might not have crossed the 50 yard line at all. THE LSU TIGERS – who wiped the floor with almost all competition between the SEC, the Pac 12, and the ACC, couldn’t score a point the entire game. Even if they had Sebastian Janikowski lining up kicks, they wouldn’t have even been close. Roll tide. Oh yes, and Michigan, who happens to play Alabama in the season opener next year, should start looking for another backup QB. Denard doesn’t stand a chance.

PS – If the Jets don’t draft Courtney Upshaw I’m giving up on them for good.

The New York Jets: A Failure From The Top Down

The New York Jets failed from the top down this year.

It started in the off-season with a handful of perplexing and ultimately season killing decisions.

First off, Mike Tannenabum evaluated Wayne Hunter capable of starting at right tackle and cut ties with Damien Woody. Tannenbaum failed to learn from a previous mistake of undervaluing a veteran lineman, when he did the same thing with Pete Kendall prior to the 2007 season and nearly got both Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens killed. Nevermind in that same year, Tannenbaum underestimated the value of a right tackle by starting Anthony Clement all season, who combined with Kendall’s replacement, Adrien Clarke, to add to the quarterback’s pain.

Second, the Jets got caught up in “names” instead of “needs” in free agency. They didn’t need Nnamdi Asomugha but they chased him to the last second anyway because it sounded exciting to pair him with Darrelle Revis. This failed chase cost the Jets valuable time and assets in the free agency period. They settled to stand pat at safety by bringing Eric Smith back, despite him coming off an average at best season. Then, even after his market value had made him affordable, they replaced Braylon Edwards with Plaxico Burress.

Burress provided a better story. Edwards provided better production. I don’t give a damn what anybody says about Edwards after his disappointing year in San Francisco, he had chemistry with Mark Sanchez and produced in the Jets offense as a downfield threat. You build continuity with your young quarterback, you don’t switch his starting receivers every single year.

Later the Jets exacerbated this mistake by replacing Jerricho Cotchery with Derrick Mason. Cotchery should have been handed the starting job opposite Santonio Holmes, while Burress should have came in as a role player who needed to earn more time. Yet, the Jets went the opposite route and isolated themselves from one of their most respected players in the locker room and instead brought in a known trouble maker in Mason.

The New York Jets then got cheap on defense and shuttled off one of the last respected veterans in the locker room, Shaun Ellis. No Woody. A retired Tony Richardson. No Cotchery and now no Ellis, there went four of your key leaders from the year before.

Finally, Rex Ryan clumsily threw around captaincies instead of letting members of the team vote on it. He made Santonio Holmes his pet project and Holmes failed him and the team miserably. It is easy to be a good locker room guy when you are winning, not so much when the team is struggling and needs you to set an example.

Putting Holmes as a captain started out a disappointing and mismanaged year by Ryan, who admittedly never had the pulse of his team and remained too entrenched on one side of the ball. Can you imagine Bill Belichick expressing confusion over why his team threw 59 times when they are supposed to run first, or not knowing why his number one receiver was pulled off the field?

The days of being a defensive coordinator are over Rex. It is time to coach your entire team and know every detail of what is going on with every unit. I don’t buy the caricature people want to paint of Rex as a bumbling clown because those two AFC Championship appearances in his first two years mean something, but he played into the stereotype this year and needs to earn some credibility now in 2012.

The failures of Tannenabum and Ryan were matched by the players they assembled on this year’s roster, starting with quarterback Mark Sanchez. I spent a good chunk of this season, even up to the previous few weeks defending the Jets often unfairly criticized quarterback. Yes, Sanchez progressed in a number of statistical categories, despite playing behind a weak offensive line, wit underachieving wide receivers, and an awful offensive coordinator but if you want to sweep Sanchez’s statistical shortcomings from previous years under the rug because of his ability to win the big game and play big in clutch spots, you better be ready to rip him for failing in all those spots this year. The quarterback turned in three of his worst performances in the three must win games to end the season. He also clearly hasn’t asserted enough leadership in the offensive huddle yet. Do you think Saints or Packers players would be bickering on the field in their huddle?

Sanchez isn’t the only one who underachieved on offense. Holmes couldn’t handle the double teams and pressures that come with being a true number one receiver. Burress couldn’t get any separation between the 20s. Mason was a disaster on and off the field. Shonn Greene looked very ordinary in the lead back role and never broke any big plays. D’Brickashaw Ferguson had a down year. Wayne Hunter was awful at right tackle. Matthew Mulligan caused more problems than any number two tight end should be able to.

The defense wasn’t without their letdowns. Bart Scott fell from being a very good run stopping inside linebacker, to a below average situational player. Calvin Pace was paid to sack the quarterback and he never did that. All of the safeties, namely Eric Smith, had abysmal seasons. Special teams chipped in too by muffing an uncountably high number of kicks and having Nick Folk always come up with untimely misses.

This was a team wide failure that started at the top and has no carried into the off-season. Santonio Holmes quitting performance at the end of the Miami game led to a chain reaction of criticism of both him and a cancerous locker room that was likely spearheaded by his actions. When your third string rookie quarterback is talking about how selfish and disastrous your locker room is, the problems likely go past one guy.

The Jets failed all the way from the top, Woody Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum, down to the bottom, Greg McElroy, who has no business throwing his teammates under the bus to the press. They failed and so did just about everybody in-between.

So what now?

That is what the off-season is for and is an article for another day. It will start with a long look at the organizational culture around this team and it will end with some much needed releases and an infusion of not just youth, speed, and talent but also character. Some of that character will have to come from players on the team growing up and asserting their presence over the locker room to prevent a situation like this from ever happening again, I am looking at you Mark Sanchez and Darrelle Revis, and some of it will have to come from new individuals being brought on the roster.

The grace period is over Rex, Mike T and Mark. This is New York and the seat is hot in 2012.

New York Jets Need To Worry About Themselves

If you need any window into why it meant so much for Rex Ryan to tell the world on Monday that the Jets “were better” than the Giants a week before losing to them, look no further than in his book “Play Like you Mean It.”

It was released prior to training camp this past summer. Somewhere in it he notes that it meant so much to him to have changed the culture of the Jets around during his first two years — to have people talking “Jets” in a positive light in the world of pro football.

The Ryan family wears their hearts and heads on their sleeves, but what the Jets organization must now do going forward, once this season DOES officially end, is keep the focus in Florham Park. Rex can keep his essence, but it’s time for the organization to forget about which local team has more fans.

It’s also time to stop worrying about New England, which is going to win 12 games every season anyway.

The Giants were here first, plain and simple. Born during the Prohibition era, they played the game that first ushered in pro football on television – the 1958 NFL Championship game. To many it is known as “The Greatest Game Ever Played.” The Colts won the game, but the Giants were part of sudden death overtime thriller captured the nation, and made them household names.

And it happened just as the NFL began to compete with baseball for the sports fans’ hearts and minds.

The Jets were the laughable Titans in 1960, while those Giants were among the first famous faces of the league. It took until 1969 before the Jets and the entire AFL gained any respect.

We all know that story.

Like the Giants, the Jets ushered in their own era — that of the NFL-AFL merger in 1970. Having beaten the Colts in Super Bowl III, the Jets proved that the leagues were on par with each other talent-wise. In Week 1 of that ’70 season came the initial broadcast of Monday Night Football, and you guessed it, Joe Namath’s Jets were in the game, against the Cleveland Browns. Namath gave the AFL club’s admittance into the NFL a stamp of approval. He was a huge star, especially after his Miami poolside guarantee before Super Bowl III. He became the perfect centerpiece for the new night time experiment on Mondays.

So the history is there for both teams. It’s just that the Jets have had only sporadic moments over the last 40 years, while the Giants have been by and large a model of consistency – and, at times, championship consistency.

The joke used to be that people who couldn’t get tickets to Giants games became Jets fans. Maybe part of that was true in the early ‘60s but Ryan doesn’t need to carry that all of that ‘60s era weight with him anymore. He doesn’t have to wear the pain that Jets fans held as second-class home owners in “Giants Stadium,” either.

Rex’s first association with the Jets came as a kid as his dad, Buddy, became the defensive game planner of that upset over the Colts on Weeb Ewbank’s staff.

That’s why when Rex closed out the Meadowlands in 2009 in its final game ever by beating the Bengals to clinch a playoff berth in his first season, it may have meant more to him than just the playoff entry. After all, to Ryan the Jets were family. The fans felt the same way about him.

Finally, the other team of New York via the Garden State had a head coach who wanted to be here and cared like they did about the team. Rex was one of the fans. He got it. He understood the plight. He totally got what it was like to be laughed at and mocked for years, especially by fans of the cross-town team.

Therefore, it was no surprise when he boldly got out in front of the new stadium opening by declaring that it was the Jets’ house and town this time around. He was speaking for the fans.

But though he might think he still has to, Rex really doesn’t need to stand up for the franchise anymore.

The ones who truly live and die with the team know that the Jets have been as successful at reaching the playoffs as the Giants have been since 1998, with each team getting there six times since in that span.

The Giants’ tremendous playoff run and subsequent Super Bowl win over the undefeated Patriots in 2008 skews this fact, but in the grand scheme of things has not lessened what the Jets have accomplished.

Ryan has nothing to prove anymore to Jets loyalists, and especially when it comes to comparing their team to the Giants. Big Blue has been here longer and may have more fans in pure numbers, but as long as the new Jets continue to strive for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, unlike the Leon Hess-owned Jets of the late ‘70’s through the late ‘90s seemed incapable of doing, then Jets fans should be happy.

On Saturday, the “Battle for New York” became a distraction to the very guy who raised the temperature of it. After the humbling 29-14 loss, Ryan admitted that quarterback Mark Sanchez throwing the ball 59 times was not the recipe to success.

Perhaps had Ryan been more attentive to the run-pass ratio, and not so revved up in the emotion of beating the Giants and claiming the “Big Brother” status he had boasted about for more than a year, he might have piloted the ship in the final quarter to his satisfaction.

If you can, try to forget this season, one that seems stuck in mediocrity for Gang Green. No matter what happens during what will almost surely be a wild Week 17, the Jets have no choice but to be what they are in the Tri-State Area now – a very good franchise that should remain as such for the foreseeable future. They’ve earned the right to do so with their own die-hard fans. They should respect the Giants as co-tenants of the building and leave the Jets-Giants talk alone from this point forward.

Their real nemesis will continue to be the Patriots. The Jets have to lessen the self doubt that any failure to catch them in the standings creates. Too often under Ryan, the club has measured its self worth heading into matchups with New England, only to leave with hangover losses.

Last year the affect of a defeat to Robert Kraft’s club was the Sal Alosi-fueled “Trip Gate” loss to putrid Miami, at home no less. This year after the Jets again lost to the Pats in the battle for first place back in November they got “Tebowed” days later, mostly because they were still punch drunk from falling yet again in a big game against Tom Brady. The nightmare in Denver left them at a very pedestrian 5-5 and on their way down in the AFC pecking order, ultimately into a position in the wild card pecking order.

The Jets’ need to over take the Pats in the AFC East is not worth the havoc it perennially wreaks when they fall short. In addition, the Jets should not lose sleep over any scenario that may include a three-game road run to the playoffs.

This isn’t 1980 when Jim Plunkett led the Raiders to the first Super Bowl win for a wildcard entry. It’s 2011, an era featuring touchdown dances and teams that can display flaws, yet still go deep into the playoffs.

Back in the ‘80s it wasn’t just playing the extra postseason game that made it tough on wild-card teams. It was who they had to deal with coming off of one week’s rest. From the Super Bowl’s first matchup in 1967 to 1980, teams that earned the bye week often included the “Purple People” eating Minnesota Vikings, the “No Name” Miami Dolphins, the “Steel Curtain” Pittsburgh Steelers, John Madden’s Raiders and Tom Landry’s Dallas Cowboys, a team still dubbed “America’s Team” despite more failures than successes.

Teams built for the long haul with the core of players in tact for years don’t exist anymore. Aside from the current long-time Steelers and Ravens defensive units and the Brady and Bill Belichick up in New England, dominant units on either side of the ball are few and far between. That’s why having to play an extra game against these new quickly formed clubs en route to the Super Bowl is no longer a death sentence. The extra game is sometimes an advantage for teams who get hot late in the year.

The 2010 champion Green Bay Packers were once 3-3. The Super Bowl Giants of 2007 started out 0-2. The 2005 Steelers were playoff road dogs, too. All three had to win three away from home before earning a trip to the big game. This route is without a doubt daunting, but next to an impossible task? No longer.

By lessening the obsession with becoming more popular than the Giants and altering this goal of having to overtake the dynastic Patriots during the regular season, the Jets can develop a clear and healthy outlook to go alongside a solid foundation that now includes an owner who is willing to spend money and make moves needed to win; a general manager in Mike Tannenbaum who has put together a solid core and a head coach who is loved by his team and fan base and bleeds green and white, even if it is to a fault sometimes.

This offseason, whenever it officially arrives, will be the perfect time to replace tabloid talk about the Giants and Patriots with the following: Determining where and how Sanchez fits now and in the future, improving the offensive line, figuring out a solid concept for the offense that can stay true to for an entire season and gaining a few closers on defense – primarily at safety and defensive end.

This way when Rex tells us that he will “play anyone, anywhere, on any given day” it will pack more of a viable punch.

Can Rex And The Jets Get Off The Mat?

I don’t know if this is truly the low point in the Rex Ryan era but it certainly feels like it. We all know change is coming this off-season, in some shape or form, but that is a discussion for another day. Right now, the question is how much pride will the Jets show this Sunday against their division rival Miami Dolphins?

First off, there is still a chance, an extremely low but not as low as some people make it out to be chance that the Jets can still get into the playoffs that should be motivation enough for this team. Second, they have embarrassed themselves the past two weeks, most notably last week. Their coach, quarterback, and entire offense is currently a punchline. Third, you don’t want to end the season losing to division rival like Miami.

Miami has been a better team than the Jets since their previous meeting. Matt Moore has been better than Mark Sanchez. Reggie Bush has been better than Shonn Greene. Brandon Marshall has been better than Santonio Holmes. Miami’s defense has been better than the Jets.

Can this team regain some type of confidence and play to their ability this week? Ryan said it best yesterday, the last thing you want to do is have everything fall in place and then not take care of your own business.

If Ryan doesn’t want that to occur he will be in every offensive meeting this week, making sure his team runs the ball 30-35 times this Sunday and he will find some way to generate a pass rush and slow Reggie Bush down on the edges.

This team has been embarrassed enough this season, by Baltimore, New England twice, Philadelphia, and now the Giants…they don’t need another one under their belt.

New York Jets: Assessing The Situation After Yesterday’s Nightmare

Third and ten from the 1 yard line. The New York Jets held a 7-3 lead and had put together an encouraging performance so far. One ten yard out route, two missed tackles, a poor angle, and 99 yards later. The game was over. If you have watched the Jets this season, you knew at that moment they didn’t have the character or the team this year to overcome that type of play.

I remember from the Oakland game when they couldn’t bounce back from a muffed kick. I remember from the New England game when they were ripping down the field on the opening drive but had to settle for a short field goal, which they missed and couldn’t bounce back from it. I remember defenders purposely staying on blocks to avoid tackling Tim Tebow on Denver’s game winning drive. I remember last week when a Santonio Holmes fumble gave the Eagles a quick 7-0 lead and the Jets didn’t have an answer.

The 2011 New York Jets don’t have the fight they did last year. They don’t have that irrational confidence that made them such a dangerous team in Rex Ryan’s first two years. The problems started in the off-season, which we will look back on as one of Mike Tannenbaum’s worst and it has carried through with a disappointing defense and a perplexing awful offense led by the perpetually incompetent Brian Schottenheimer.

Yesterday was the final nail in Schottenheimer’s coffin. Rex Ryan can lavish all the false praise on him that he wants but this team can’t be managed through his rose colored glasses. Change is needed and the first move this off-season must be letting Schottenheimer go and putting a competent NFL offense together.

Mark Sanchez was bad yesterday…very bad, yet we need to see him with a new offensive coordinator in a system that plays to his strengths. The strategy to drop him back 65+ times and only throw 6 yard passes inside the hash marks doesn’t work. Get the guy a NFL quality right tackle and help at the skill positions, where the Jets are good but lack explosion. Forget about the Peyton Manning pipe dream rumors, you want to focus on a big move the Jets should make? Go get Maurice Jones-Drew or Matt Forte. I like Shonn Greene but can you think of one game changing play he has made all season?

The Jets offense doesn’t make big plays. Part of that is on Schottenheimer. Part of that is on Sanchez. Part of it is on their receivers not getting the necessary separation, breaking the necessary tackles and their running backs never ripping off big runs. Everything seems so hard for this offense. It is time to rebuild it.

The defense is solid but not spectacular and they won’t be until they improve at safety and linebacker. As you could imagine this will be a huge off-season for Mike Tannenbaum who needs to sit down and honestly assess the talent level on this roster, which is that of a borderline .500 team not that of a team who will win a division and host a playoff game.

It is easy to be down and throw around hysterics about Sanchez and Rex Ryan being on the hot seat. Even his biggest supporter can admit Rex came off like like an idiot yesterday and his words are starting to ring hollow. Ultimately, he is who he is but that kind of embarrassment is hard to shake off. Can Rex and his team rise off the mat? Only time will tell but you are kidding yourself if you think both Rex and Sanchez won’t be back next year and yes the year after.

Think about how awful you feel like the Jets are right now and then remember they are 8-7 and not 3-12. They aren’t that far away. Some years aren’t going to end in playoff berths and two upset playoff wins. This year hurts more because they were swept by New England and lost to the Giants and because just like it is more enjoyable to watch the Jets win because of Rex Ryan and his antics, it is more painful to watch them them lose because of Rex Ryan and his antics.