Critical Game for the Tannenbaum/Ryan Regime?

pucela · Jan 6, 2011

DeathByJets said: ↑

Today, while thinking about this weekend's game, it struck me that this game is more important than it appears to be on the surface. Before I begin, I want to be clear that I believe reaching the post-season in consecutive seasons is a great achievement. Both Rex and Mike T deserve a lot of credit for that.

Last season expectations for the Jets were low, and they certainly experienced a few rough patches throughout the season. However, they overcame that adversity, caught a couple of breaks, and made it to the playoffs. What caught most by surprise though, was how they took advantage of the opportunity to get 2 big road playoff wins and scare the crap out of the Colts, before running out of magic in the second half of the AFC Championship Game.

From that point on, everything the Tanny and Ryan have done is to get this team into a position to improve on 2009 and win the Super Bowl. They brought in high-profile veteran talent in the form of Ladainian Tomlinson, Antonio Cromartie, Jason Taylor, and Santonio Holmes. They put their boisterous head coach in the national media spotlight via Hard Knocks. And they told anyone who asked (and even those who didn't) that they are the favorites to win the Super Bowl.

And up until 5 weeks ago, it looked like they had done everything right. The team was winning. Mark Sanchez had shown marked improvement and the team was winning games with clutch performances at the end of games. Then with the national spotlight at it's brightest, they stumbled in an embarrassing MNF game against the team and coach that have been the thorns in this teams side for the last 10 years. Following that loss, the team appeared to lose some of its mojo with a couple of disappointing losses sandwiching a gutty win in Pittsburgh.

The 11 win season was an accomplishment for sure....but it certainly fell short of Rex Ryan's goal to "lead the league in f*cking wins." And it put the team in the difficult position of having to win 3 road games to improve on the previous season.

Given where they are right now, it seems unlikely that they can navigate the extremely tough road to the Super Bowl in the AFC. And considering how well the Patriots are playing right now, any rationale Jets fan can't be too confident that they can even reach the AFC Championship Game again (I'm not saying it is impossible....just a very tall order as the Pats at home present a tough matchup for the Jets).

But before we can start thinking about the Patriots, a formidable opponent awaits this weekend in Payton Manning and the Colts. If the Jets go to Indy and lose, what does that say about all that Tannenbaum and Ryan have done since their last meeting? Regardless of how they have played during the regular season, this team has been built to compete against teams like the Colts. The hired guns that have been brought in MUST come up big in this game.

Rex and Mike have gone "all-in" with this team. In my opinion a road win against the Colts validates the Jets moves (regardless of how the rest of the post-season plays out). A loss will have a lot of people questioning the personnel moves and the job Rex has done preparing this team. Now, I don't think this would put either Tannenbaum or Ryan in any jeopardy, but I do think it would ratchet up the pressure for next season in a big way. I hate to overstate the importance of any one game, but this is a game that will have a huge impact on which way the pendulum swings for this team.
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I think it all depends. If the Jets win then it helps define the regime, especially if it's part of a longer run in the playoffs. If the Jets lose, it probably doesn't say much unless the ownership starts to lose patience because of the off-the-field issues.

Critical Game for the Tannenbaum/Ryan Regime?

pucela New Member

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Critical Game for the Tannenbaum/Ryan Regime?

pucela New Member

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