http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...ffs-playoffs-time-talk-jets-article-1.1467922 NY Jets can't be ignored if they beat Tennessee Titans on Sunday If Gang Green can move to 3-1 - no layup against the improved Titans - it may be time to start taking them seriously as a contender for an AFC playoff spot. Rex Ryan is four quarters away from having a team that you can’t ignore. Sure, it’d be premature to call the Jets legitimate playoff contenders a month into the season, but it would be just as foolish to disregard Ryan’s team if it beats the Titans on the road on Sunday to improve to 3-1. Ryan breaks every season into quarters. His long-standing philosophy is simple: Win more games than you lose each quarter and you’ll be right where you need to be. “You want to get out of the blocks (fast),” Ryan said on Wednesday. “There’s no question about that.” The Jets were marginalized by many (including me) before the season opener. On paper, Ryan’s roster simply didn’t look like it matched up with the competition. However, as Santonio Holmes and his foot know better than anyone, looks can be deceiving. The Titans (2-1) are not a layup. You can’t expect rookie quarterback Geno Smith to win on the road. Tennessee running back Chris Johnson has proven plenty of times that he can flat-out stink 99% of the time only to rip off one game-breaking carry that will beat you (see: 94-yard touchdown run vs. the Jets last season). Ryan knows that the second quarter of his season is downright brutal even if he refused to go down that daunting road on Wednesday. The four games after the Titans: A road Monday night matchup against the Falcons, back-to-back home games against the Steelers and Patriots, and a visit to Cincinnati. Ryan’s team squares off against the high-powered Saints before its Week 9 bye. “You’re playing Monday night at Atlanta, which is as tough as it gets,” a candid Ryan said the night the NFL schedule was released in April. “You get Pittsburgh, New England at home, then the Bengals, a bunch of playoff teams, and the Saints marching into town. That’s certainly not an easy task. There’s a bunch of them right in a row there. Every game is tough, but when you look at that on paper it’s like ‘Oh, man.’” Oh, man, indeed. “We got some dogfights ahead of us,” veteran right guard Willie Colon said. “There’s no qualms about it. But what’s helping the team is our confidence. The defense is playing well. Our offense is starting to pick up a little bit.” Ryan, prone to hyperbole since he came out of the womb, may have nailed his preseason prediction about a defense that looks every bit as good as it did in 2009. The Jets rank third in total defense, third in sacks and second in third-down efficiency. The unpredictability across the league could give the Jets more than a puncher’s chance to be in the playoff hunt if they can successfully navigate through this challenging month-long stretch. The NFL is sprinkled with oddities this season. The Chiefs (3-0) have already eclipsed their win total from a year ago. The Giants and Steelers, perennial winners, are a combined 0-6. The 49ers, a fashionable Super Bowl pick, have only one win. “It doesn’t matter what’s happened in the past,” Ryan said. Quarterback Geno Smith has his team in position to possibly start 3-1 this season. Quarterback Geno Smith has his team in position to possibly start 3-1 this season. Keeping in the spirit of the strange, let’s examine the next six games through a positive prism. Titans: Ryan’s defense should be able to handle Jake Locker and the Titans’ 29th-ranked offense. Avoid a major breakdown at the line of scrimmage when Johnson has the ball and the Jets should win. (Last season, Johnson had 20 carries for 28 yards excluding his 94-yard TD run). At Falcons: It’s a tall order winning on the road in prime time, but this isn’t a slam dunk for Atlanta, which has been ravaged by injuries. Wide receiver Roddy White hasn’t missed any games, but he’s been a shell of his dominating self playing on a high ankle sprain. Running back Stephen Jackson (thigh) may be out. The Falcons’ 25th-ranked pass defense has allowed the fourth-most touchdown passes (seven) this season. Besides, the Dolphins just beat Atlanta. Let’s be honest: the Dolphins aren’t world beaters even at 3-0. Steelers: Big Ben and Co. are a mess. That offensive line will be overmatched by an emerging Jets defensive front that is becoming more frightening by the week. Patriots: Bill Belichick and Tom Brady escaped with a three-point win in Week 2. The likely returns of Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola will make even the most optimistic Jets fan wonder if an upset is possible. Ryan confuses Brady more than most, so you never know. At Bengals: Andy Dalton is far from elite, but this will be a stiff road test. Saints: Only the Chiefs allow more rushing yards per attempt, but Rob Ryan has seemingly plugged most of the holes from a leaky defense a year ago. The Saints are 9-8 on the road since 2011. The Jets must have at least five wins entering the Week 10 bye to keep any realistic playoff conversation alive. If Ryan’s team wins on Sunday, it’ll be impossible to dismiss the possibility. :metal:
do people understand that writers aren't fans/cheerleaders. the fact is we have stunk since the last 3 games of 2011, did everyone want him to say we were great? We are playing better now, you win you get good press and when you lose you get bad press. It's pretty simple.
Yup, I don't read him much because of his rep as a hack but as far as writing style, he's not untalented. I thought he made a good point about the upcoming game and it's relevance to having 5 wins by the bye.
Just for laughs.... As you can see in these photos, Wilkerson is trying to teach Tone the 'proper' Jet Technique.....Tone don't seem too impressed!!!!
let's take care of Tennessee ... after that then i may allow my heart to have a little free reign with where we may go this year.
Classic NY press. Hammer the dog shit out of everyone when things go bad and start dry humping everyone's legs after a few wins. I wonder what Manish's story will be if we lose on a last second FG .... The Return of Manish the Douche! After three close games, we could be 0-3 and we could be 3-0. To call us a contender if we beat ... gulp ... Tennessee is moronic, but it sets up his next story. The Jets will be either heroes or goats - there is no in between with these guys. He can't write that they are a young team experiencing growing pains.
Picking apart the follies and problems of a team is one thing. When the Jets lose (or win) they are open to criticism. When a writer starts to have an agenda and produces negatively written, sensationalist articles every chance he gets, then that writer loses the respect he once carries. Other writers were plenty critical of the Jets and avoided using terms like Circus and buttfumble in their rhetoric. Fuck Manish. He wants to climb on the bandwagon again now that the team is the only talk in the town. Kick him off by not clicking his articles.
Manish is not trying to jump on the bandwagon. He is just setting himself up to be able to ridicule the Jets if they fail to secure the playoff spot that he will be able to claim they should have made if they win the fourth game of the season. Nothing more than that.
He is the ultimate bandwagoner. When it's cool to hate on the Jets, he was THE Jets hater. Now that the Jets are the exciting NY team, he loves the Jets.
I have no doubt Manish was told to tone his drivel down by his bosses..especially after other writers started calling him a fucking idiot. That was very unusual to see.
Not hating but how do you miss the playoffs 4 out of the last 5 years and be considered a "perennial winner"?
because they haven't missed the playoffs 4 of the last 5 years. they have missed in 3 out of the last 5, and have made it 3 out of the last 6. that alone isn't enough to be considered a perennial winner, except they have won the Super Bowl 2 of the 3 times they have made it in the last 6 years. that makes them winners.
It's "only" 3 out of 4, this year will make it 4 out of 5 if they miss. Perception that they are winners just like the perception that they are a classy organization.
it is quite funny to me that Womanish is now including playoff discussion in the daily Manish Manure report he writes for the News
Most us (real jet fans) on this site already know Rex is a good coach. He had nothing to work with last 2 years and Mo was a guy that was gonna take a year or 2 to blow up. Sheldon was a hidden gem in the draft.
A good reporter would have been able to see this Jets team coming, not had to wait to see it on the field in technicolor. Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk 4
