Namath: Ryan Has Jets Thinking They're Better Than They Are

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So were we overvonfident at NE last year? Are teams and units not allowed to have bad games?

 

No one is talking about the end of their careers. At their peaks, Vinnie didn't come within miles of the amount of talent Namath had, and I'd be very surprised if anyone who saw him play from 1965-1970 would disagree with me.

 

Not teams that are supposed to be the "best". Rex said some bold things, and that is his way. If you say these outrageous claims and predictions, be prepared to feel the wrath if things start to go bad.

“I wouldn’t trade this defense for anybody’s in the league,” Ryan said today. “You’re not going to be perfect, but will we end up being the best defense in football? I think so. Believe me, the least concern I have is about our defense. I think our defense is going to be outstanding. I’ve always said that. I challenge everybody: Put your negative comments out there and we’ll see what happens at the end.”

There was nothing that even hinted at the best other then #24 on the D side of the ball.

 

The offense isn't overconfident, the offensive line is shit, and that will ruin any offense no matter how many playmakers you have, look at the Eagles. The defense is definitely under performing, but I think the game plan is more at fault, and Cromartie, well to me it looks like last year he played for a contract and now he has one and doesnt give a fuck, you can see he is no where near the level he was playing last year. Hopefully I'm wrong and he's just in a funk.

 

My point there is I only saw the end of Namath's career, so I can't help you with 1965-70, started watching the Jets in 1974.

But again, look at their entire careers, physical abilities, that's what I'm going by. Both had million dollar arms and ten cent heads a lot of the time, even the old Namath that I saw took chances and threw passes that we'd cringe at if Sanchez threw them now at 24. Vinny could at least stand in the pocket, young or old and throw the ball with anyone.

Don't get me wrong, I loved Namath, he's one of the reasons I'm a Jet fan, but the case can be made the wasn't even the most talented QB we ever had. He had the best stretch, won the biggest game, but all things considered maybe he wasn't. What hurts Vinny's case is that he played until age 35 for other teams.

 

Vinny had his issues but I'm not sure there has ever been a more physically gifted QB than Vinny Testaverde. i'm sure Joe is right upt here w/ him but Vinny had everything you want in a QB physically.

So what is the problem? Do you think he's telling his team how great they are all week and tha is affecting preparation?

 

I saw Vinny at his "best" I agree with you that Vinny wasn't nearly as talented as Namath was (obviously). Vinny was a serviceable NFL QB with great physical gifts and some significant limitations mentally. Namath before his multiple knee operations was far more talented physically and mentally. The entire discussion is absurd. LOL.

 

I love Rex's bravado and think it has played a big part in changing our team's culture and moving away from SOJ. Unfortunately, when you say shit like that, you're bound to get criticized when the team lays a turd against an inferior team because you've set yourself up to be a target.

Namath is the most recognizable icon the Jets have, and he might be the only icon we have. Of course the press will want his take on the present team and run with whatever he says - they certainly aren't flocking to Ray Lucas' door. Joe's entitled to be critical after a pathetic display like Sunday - we all are. Just because he chooses to make his criticisms known, that doesn't mean he is the King of the SOJFs trying to protect his legacy. His legacy is what it is. Joe Namath will always be a Jet.

 

Agreed on all counts, especially the bolded part. Football (sports in general) is as much mental as physical, when can you remember the Jets pulling out so many late games instead of the other way around? It's because of Rex and the attitude he instills in the players.

 

Someone earlier here said that the #1 characteristic of a leader is getting others to believe that they are better than they really are. This is patently false. Almost everyone believes they are better than they really are. The #1 characteristic of a leader is to inspire those around you to sacrifice their personal interests for the good of the team. Rex can certainly do this, but so can any halfway decent coach in the NFL.

To be fair, Namath has a point. It's all well and good for Rex to tell everyone how great he thinks the team is, and how talented his players are. But if he is going be very public about these opinions then he most certainly needs to call out those same players when they shit the bed. Rex has on numerous occassions proclaimed the Jets to be the best team in the league, and continues to do so even when the results on the field prove otherwise. What kind of motivation is he providing to his players when he continues to tell the team that they are the class of the NFL even after falling short the last 2 years and being fortunate to start this year 2-1 rather than 1-2.

Look, I think Rex is a great coach. He is probably the best the Jets have ever had. But enough talk has been done already and it's time now to see results. I'm sure some here will respond by bringing up the fact that he will get the team to the playoffs for 3 consecutive seasons for the first time ever. Big deal. Simply making it to the playoffs would be something to brag about if we want to be content with the SOJ. I for one am not willing to settle for merely making the playoffs. I want a SB win. Rex has made me a believer, but this year he HAS to deliver.

 

I just don't understand why this is such a huge deal? We lost the 3rd game of the season. Our defense looked terrible and the offensive line looked terrible. We had a terrible game. We move on. I mean, do you expect a team to never have an off day? Revis even mentioned this in his interview today. I don't recall the exact words, but it was to the extent that they had an off day, they will put it behind them and move on. The Jets have had a top defense for a few years now, you think that this one game is going to turn that into a terrible defense? I don't understand why there are so many threads and posts with people questioning things.

This is a tough league. It is not an easy thing to go undefeated, hence why it has happened once. Teams will have their off days and teams will look incredible on others. Look at Tom Brady and the Patriots this past weekend. They had a 21 point lead, and lost to the Bills. Who would have thought that was going to happen? Who would have thought that Brady would throw 4 interceptions? You think their worried that their offense is going to fall apart? Come on.

The Jets will do what they always do. They will pick themselves up, dust themselves off, and come back with a vengeance. Will they make it to the Super Bowl this year, who knows and who cares right now. We need to win the important games now. Rex knows to take it game by game, he just helps motivate his players and look at the bigger picture, the trophy.

I have a feeling many people will be surprised come Sunday this week. We will shock many, but then the headlines will still read "Jets Come Back Fighting.....But Are They Blooming To Soon?" LMAO

Fuckin' haters haha

 

Joe's got every right to make a comment about the Jets. That being said, he is a little off base here. Rex's style got them this far. Either you think its a style that can win the Super Bowl or you don't. You can't support it when we beat the Pats or the Colts in the play-offs and then be against it because we lost one regular game.

 

I agree with most of your post.

However, I just want to point out that the 1985 Bears and 2000 Ravens were not perfect and did have "game(s) like that." Each of those defenses had a couple of clunkers.


The 1985 Bears, for some reason, struggled a bit against the Buccaneers in both meetings. In the season opener, the Buccaneers were winning by double digits at halftime at Soldier Field. While watching the Giants game, I remember CBS studio updates of some Tampa Bay touchdowns and I was amazed. I was eight at the time but remembered the 1984 NFC Championship Game. I knew the Bears were good and the Bucs were stinky.

The second meeting was close too. Maybe the Bears didn't go all out vs the crummy Bucs? Maybe there was a matchup problem. I don't know. (The Bucs finished the season 2-14.)

Then there was the Monday night game at Miami. The Dolphins won 38-24 but they didn't actually have a particularly great statistical game.

There was also a Thursday night game at Minnesota in the late summer. The Vikings were leading the game when I went to bed. I can recall reading the game summary and the boxscore the next afternoon on my front lawn after school. The Bears had a huge 3rd quarter and won 33-24. Tommy Kramer threw for over 400 yards.

The 2000 Ravens were involved in a barnburner vs Jacksonville early in the season. That was the game where Jimmy Smith had 291 receiving yards. There was also the season finale where the Ravens allowed Vinny Testaverde to throw for almost 500 yards.

Of the six games I mentioned above, three were in September or one in early October. Two were later in the season and can be truly considered as blips on the radar screen. When the weather started to get cold, the 1985 Bears and 2000 Ravens defenses really got going.

Maybe, just maybe, the Jets defense is getting its clunkers out of the way early.

Problem is, the 1985 Bears and 2000 Ravens defenses had better personnel than do the 2011 Jets. The way I see it, the 2011 Jets are going to need great coaching to become an all-time great defense.

 

We are better than we are! Who the hell does Joe Namath think he is...


In all seriousness, a coach's confidence in his players is not going to change who those players are. There are still going to be the players that give it there all every minute of the season and those that take shortcuts as long as they can still pick up their game checks. Rex's method of making believers out of his players has worked thus far and has probably had at least some impact on some of our bigger wins. You could say the same thing about some of our losses but that doesn't change the fact that Rex has gotten us to back-to-back AFC championship games. Guy deserves respect for that and Joe Namath was completely out of line on his comments. You don't hear any of Rex's players criticizing Rex because they have faith in him, not because they know they're going to be punished if they speak up (Mangini) or patronized if they make a mistake (Herm) but because they believe what Rex is preaching. People need to remember what the culture around here was like before Rex took over. No one can question that it's now a winning vibe in Jet Nation. If it wasn't, we wouldn't be hearing criticism for losing by 10 points to a solid team on the road and still ending up with a 2-1 record. This team has recovered from bigger losses and bigger holes than the one we're in now (to even call it a hole is a stretch), and when we win against the Ravens everyone's going to be back on Rex's bandwagon (including Joe Namath). That's just the way it is with this team and this fanbase. It's about time for us to realize that good teams lose and sometimes they lose badly. That doesn't mean they can't recover and that doesn't mean they can't win the division or win the Super Bowl or whatever. All it means is that it was one game in week 3 in a 16 game season. Newsflash, the Patriots lost too and the Bills are in first place in the division. Do you really think that's how the standings are going to end up at the end of the season? The truth is that weird shit happens early in the season. Everything always evens out in the end.

 

Here's what Don Maynard had to say about when Namath joined the Jets (page 167 of his book): "You had to be blind to not see that Namath was the total package. He had terrific arm strength. His release was lightning quick. He could read defenses like a seasoned veteran. And he was deadly accurate." On page 52 of Art Shamsky's book he's quoted as saying "Joe was able to see everything ... Joe had the great release with great strength in his arm, but his greatest ability was was his anticipation of what to do in the passing game." Sounds like he wouldn't agree that Namath had "no laser-arm, that's for sure," besides all of the other things he said.

Bill Walsh said of Namath "he was the most beautiful, accurate, stylish passer with the quickest release I've ever seen."

Don Shula stated that Namath was "one of the 3 smartest quarterbacks of all time."

Dave Anderson of the New York Times reported that Vince Lombardi told him that "Joe Namath is almost the perfect passer." Paul Brown said that "With Joe Namath, the Jets can beat anybody" (as reported on page 41 of Art Shamsky's book).

I'd be interested to hear if anyone ever said anything remotely similar to that about Vinnie, let alone five Hall of Famers. Somehow I doubt it.

 

^ great post Jeff.

Namath says a lot of great stuff about the Jets all of the time- should we disagree with that too?

Seriously, there are about 3 different threads here about some 'bad person said something bad about the Jets'.

Are we shocked by this?