The only reason everybody is acting like the sky is falling right now is because of the high expectations that were set for the team this year in our collective minds. We were all primed for a big season, and the team just did not perform well this year. However, that doesn't mean that there's no hope for the future. We're starting to sound like we're talking about the Mets here...I mean for Christ sake, they were 8-8. Lions, 49ers, and Texans were 6-10 last year. Bengals were 4-12. They are all playing next weekend. Have some perspective. I'm not even kidding when I say that the end of this year simply makes me more excited for next year. Ya see, the last two seasons' endings were so heartbreaking that I replayed those championship games in my head all offseason thinking "AWWW if this just happened AWWW", because those were seasons that could have realistically ended with a lombardi trophy. But thats irrelevant this offseason. They just shit the bed. It happens. They had less talent on the field than we really thought originally...They will work doubly hard this offseason to improve because now this year's performance will give them the wake-up call they need and hopefully come back stronger. It happens all the friggin time in this league. GET OVER IT!
Amen brother. We'll be able to rub it into those smug jerks that are spewing their hate. It'll make it that much more satisfying. P.S. Living well is the best revenge!
As much of a sham as today's press conference was, I did at least take away the impression that this was a cold splash of water right on Tanny's face. Build a team this off-season instead of chasing the big ticket. Your job depends on it.
history has proven that average teams in the 7-9 win area are able to rebound strong. 7 of the last 12 super bowl champions won 9 or less games the season prior to their super bowl year. after getting that close 2 years in a row and with minimal draft picks this past draft, plus all the moves made in free agency i expected a down year this season. i'm hoping they make smart well thought out moves this offseason, mainly on the defensive side of the ball. teams have down seasons though, if the jets are right back in the mix of things in 2012 then this season is just speed bump, if they underachieve next season then it's a problem. i just hope they fly under the radar going into next season and suprise people
Why did we have the high expectations? The Jets set those expectations by hyping the team beyond reality. You can't blame the fans, especially the diehard ones, for believing the hype and being furious when it turned out to be all hot air.
Good post. Congrats for remaining positive. I'm trying to be. I agree with a recent post that reminds everyone that we weren't the ones responsible for the unreasonable expectations. It's what was sold to us, and we bought it. Why wouldn't we? We've been starved of consistent success. I am very happy to have missed the press conference yesterday from what I've read and heard, it would not have cheered me up any. We all knew that once things took a turn in the other direction in the Rex era, they'd get ripped to shreds by the press. It comes with the territory. Hope they deal with it well, and I hope we do as well.
I watched the press conference and I think the press was being completely deferential to Rex and Tanny. The name Wayne Hunter did not come up once in the session, although Santonio and Schotty were every other question. They were picking on the scapegoat issues and ignoring the obvious failures on the team this year. Nobody asked about the depth. Nobody asked about Sanchez until late in the session. It was all Santonio Holmes, discipline issues, etc. Nobody talked about the talent level on the team. Nobody asked Rex about the effect his over-hyping had on the team's performance. I think the NY media recognizes that they have a gold mine in Rex and Tanny and they're going to try really hard not to knock them off too quickly. Tanny makes big moves every year that are good for lots of air-time and newsprint and every time Rex opens his mouth something printable comes out.
Good observations. I don't want to minimize the Holmes situation, and to some extent it is a systemic problem. But who here does not understand why Holmes might be frustrated? Holmes could have been a boy scout in the Miami game and the real problems with this team would still be there. It was one thing for Ryan to talk big if the team backed it up with good performances. But talking big when the team is average is not merely stupid. And lacking in cred. It also makes you wonder what Ryan, and Tanny, are really basing their thinking on going forward. It makes you wonder whether they get it enough to be running this team, to make the right decisions going foward. I get that Ryan values loyalty. Putting aside the Schotty controversy for a moment, it should be obvious by now that loyalty standing alone as a management technique has its limitations. For example, I can't say there's a clear and direct connection at work here, but it seems pretty likely that Holmes followed that crappy game in Philly and his unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, with no real discipline given him, with his bad attitude on display against Miami. Holmes paid back Ryan's loyalty to him, meaning a too soft touch in this case, with bad attitude. You know what you call giving loyalty to someone who doesn't give it back? Being a sap. It's like loving a girl so much who doesn't return the favor that you are willing to drive her and her boyfriend somewhere just to show her how much you care.
I disagree. The Jets set those expectations by being AFC runner-up two years in a row, not because Rex hyped the team. Would this season have been any less disappointing if Rex kept his mouth shut? I don't think so.
Rex and Tanny both have the same blind spot: they both think talent trumps everything else, when in fact it's a mix of talent, steadiness and leadership that makes for good teams. The Jets have repeatedly brought in cheap to acquire but talented players over the last few seasons. They've let many stable, steady, team oriented guys go in the process. What we got this year was a team full of followers and prima donnas. The talent level was higher than it might otherwise have been but the accountability levels were much lower. The reason the leadership on the team looked so unfocused as they were trying to lead, people like Brandon Moore and Mark Sanchez and Sione Pouha, was that they were suddenly thrust into leadership positions that they were not prepared for and in some cases that didn't suit them. The only leader on this team this year that held up his end in the role was LaDainian Tomlinson and by the end of the season he was looking pretty ragged trying to hold things together on the team.
Was it necessary for them to call the guy out? We all know who Wayne Hunter is, do you think they are not going to assess that this offseason? What is said to the media and what is said behind closed doors are entirely different things. Your last paragraph is dead on, and I agree mostly with the Tanny part, but you can't ask Rex to change his style. He summed it up in the postgame on sunday, he basically said "of course I'm going to chase the superbowl, I always will and whoever doesn't is a loser" What team's goal is not to make the superbowl? That is his agenda, people want to live by Rex when he is winning but then he goes and has a .500 year after two championship appearances and nobody is willing to stand by him and take the heat. Some people change with the direction of the wind. There's no doubt there are improvements to be made, so lets see if he makes them. Until then, I am glad he is the coach of the Jets.
I agree, very good post trying to stay optimistic. I also agree that this is going to be a wake up call to Tanny and Rex. You really can't attack "problems" too effectively when you are blinded by success. Granted, they should always be looking to improve even if we are winning, but winning can hide problems. Also, we have been pretty lucky the last couple years injury wise on the offensive end. Without many injuries, you cannot properly judge the depth. This year we had Mangold and Turner go down, LT and Greene banged up and we saw the lack of depth we have.
The point was that they were very deferential in not embarrassing Rex and Tanny with the worst decision they made in the offseason - that of letting Woody go and replacing him with Hunter. That's probably the thing that kept the Jets out of the playoffs for a third year in a row and yet nobody mentioned it. I think Rex has to find a different way to talk about the team's aspirations. There's a big difference between saying "I have the best team in the league and we're going to the Super Bowl" and saying "Our goal is to get to the Super Bowl and we're going to put the best players we can get out on the field to accomplish it." Rex needs to say a lot less of the former and a lot more of the latter.
After 2 AFC Championship appearances, the hype seem to be deserved though... What would you want the Jets to say before the season started? It had to be Super Bowl Appearance or bust...
He guaranteed a superbowl since day 1 he has been here. Its his thing. He didn't say it any differently this year, the only difference was their track record. I really don't understand why this has become such a big issue. Guarantees are all such bull. I think he does it mostly BECAUSE of that...kind of a "yeah, sure, i guarantee a superbowl" type of attitude. People don't realize the true purpose of Rex's act. And YES, it IS an act. You saw how he really is when he was on hard knocks...he can be tough on players. The true purpose is that because of all his talk, right now everything is coming down on him (and holmes, but thats an extenuating circumstance), and when he does that throughout the season he gets all the criticism and that takes away a lot of the burden from the players. There is a method to his madness, and there is a reason that everybody absolutely loves playing for him. Does he have flaws? YES of course. Every coach does. His main flaw is that he doesn't get involved in overseeing the offense enough, but who knows the true source of this. It could truly just be a divide in this specific coaching staff. All I know is that I really like having a football coach that has his players running through walls for him, and thats what they did for him in years 1 and 2 that they didn't do in year 3. Lets hope he can regain that next year.
We have won the off season Superbowl for 5 years now and the team went in to decline in all phases this year. The glass is not only half full, lips are coming down on the straw.
So because they declined in all phases this year, that means that they will continue the decline next year? They got a whole offseason to fix it, so just give them a chance. Jeeeesus, the thing about my fellow New York fans that gets me irked is the sense of entitlement. We're not entitled to sh*t, its football and they just weren't good enough this year. Hopefully it'll cause them to come back stronger next year. Best analogy I heard was a "cold splash of water".
I just finished my yearly tradition of tearing up my betting slip for the jets to win the Super Bowl. Only got 8-1 odds this year from The Rio in Las Vegas ... thought we had a great shot. Very disappointing - but I'll be making the same bet next year ... and every year until we finally win the goddamn thing.
We were a few plays away from being division champs and minimum wildcard team. We failed to execute when it mattered, thats the difference. It happens. We will bounce back next season.
