Football Jets

WOOHOO! Jets Nation we are now going to be playing meaningful December football games.

A month ago we were 4-6 and lamenting our bad luck as lifelong Jets fans all the while enduring being once again the butt of jokes from those not bleeding the green.

Guess who’s laughing now.

At 7-6 the Jets are in the playoff hunt. Wildcard and Division titles are within our sights, with only 3 games to play. The Dolphins join us at 7-6 and we are both only 1 game behind the 8-5 Patriots for the AFC East division. FYI the Dolphins would hold the tiebreaker over us if it came down to that.  The Wildcard is certainly wild after both the 7-6 Jaguars and 8-5 Broncos lost this week. The 7-6 Ravens big win put them in the wild mix as well. So 5 teams, four at 7-6 and one at 8-5, are fighting for two wildcard playoff spots.

Compared to the other four teams, the Jets have the biggest hill to climb because they pretty much don’t hold any tie breakers and have arguably the toughest schedule going forward. Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati is not going to be any kind of piece of cake.  The chance of winning all three is a daunting task, but the Jets momentum from their dominating 26-3 victory on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers could be helpful. On the bright side, Atlanta is reeling and have a back up quarterback, Indianapolis has clinched home field advantage and could be resting players (Peyton Manning) and the Bengals offense can be shut down.

The 26-3 win in Tampa was a mix of Kellen Clemens managing a game as Mark Sanchez’s replacement, Thomas Jones running wild and The NUMBER 1 DEFENSE in the NFL doing what The NUMBER 1 DEFENSE in the NFL do shutting down opponents. In fact, the admittedly pathetic Tampa Bay offense didn’t get their first first down until the third quarter, and even that was after a personal foul penalty against the Jets defense.

OK, I hope I am not getting my hopes up to high, but I like our chances. The best defense in the league and a running game, that definitely spells possibilities. Let’s take this one game at a time.

Go Jets.

We have to keep telling ourselves Mark Sanchez is just a rookie.

The problem is we were so caught up in the USC quarterback hype, the out of the gate 3 game win streak and the Sanchise that we seemed to have forgotten that Mark was just a rookie. Sanchez started just one season at USC. Basically he lacks experience and his learning on the job is giving him the experience he needs.

But wow, after that third game the defense and the running game made all of Jets Nation think that maybe, just maybe the stars were aligned and the Jets were going to do something special this season. Amazing things happen in sports all the time, and it just seemed like this was the Jets time.

At 4-6 and with Mark throwing 4 more interceptions against the New England Patriots this is obvious not the Jets time.

A two score lead was not enough for the New England Patriots to beat the upstart Denver Broncos. The ex-assistant coach under Belichick made his old master his bitch by winning the game. Broncos Coach Josh McDaniel then proceeded to celebrate by Incredible Hulk style ripping off his shirt and jubilantly giving high-fives to the entire locker room. Almost Jets Coach Rex Ryan-esque energy, enthusiasm, cockiness, and trash talking abilities. This was obviously not just another game.

Josh McDaniel Celebrates Beating Bill Belichick

Meanwhile, the old Bill Belichick put on that usual scour as he ran off the field after the overtime field goal by the Broncos sailed through the upright to the delight of a huge crowd in Colorado. You know he was pissed that Quarterback Kyle Orton outplayed Tom Brady. You know he was pissed his one time prodigy Coach McDaniel just beat him on national television. You know he was pissed the Jets can take a lead in the AFC East Division by beating the Miami Dolphins on Monday Night Football.

In other related news of AFC East foes struggling: The Buffalo Bills lost a game 6-3. Three points is a pretty piss poor performance, expect Terrell Owens not to be smiling anytime soon and his mouth to begin singing at any moment.

The much anticipated match up between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets gets underway at the Meadowlands in New Jersey on Sunday. New England barely beat the Buffalo Bills at home thanks mostly to the Bills blundering a two score lead in the last two minutes of the game. On the other hand, the New York Jets impressively shut down the third highest scoring offense from last season the Houston Texans en route to a dominating win which showcased highlight reel plays from rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, powerful running from Thomas Jones, and the Rex Ryan defense playing better then even an optimist expected.

Of note in this matchup is the fact Rex Ryan called out the fans, asking them for their best cheering effort. Loud and proud he wants us behind our team especially on defense. Make it loud and make it difficult for Tom Brady to converse with his offensive weapons. The only issue I have with Rex Ryan voicemail to all season ticket holders was the part where he claimed he wasn’t as good a coach as Bill Belichick. Okay, Belichick has rings, but all that is washed away after he was caught cheating. His super team has not been so super ever since he was caught cheating. Point being all of those championships are tainted, the same way the Boston Red Sox last two Championships are tainted because Manny Ramirez and Big Pappi were caught using performance enhancing drugs. So Rex Ryan is 1-0, but that is an honorable 1-0 because it was earned the right way.

Hopefully Rex you’ll be 2-0 after this weekend. Get Loud. J – E – T – S JETS! JETS! JETS!