For all of those here and in the media who continue to look at the Jets in some negative way, some perspective. Looking back from the 2001 season on (6 seasons including this year) -3 teams have made the playoffs 5 times (Indy, Pats, Eagles) -3 others have made it 4 times (JETS, Packers, Seahawks) -6 teams have made it to the dance 3 times (Steelers, Bears, Ravens, Bucs, Rams, Giants) Obviously, championships are the goal, but as we all know when you get into a single elimination tournament, strange things happen (see the tuck rule). To win you have to get to the dance, and that is something the Jets do as well as any franchise in the league. Take pride, we have a great organization.
Playoffs without the championship is the same as banging the prom queens fat friend... it's not the same
Truth be told the Jets have been more like a three-way with the prom queen and her fat friend lately, but that's neither here nor there... And yes, to the OP, the Jets have been a solid franchise since 1997 at this point and if they continue though next season, which I expect they will, they will be one of the top 5 or so franchises in football at that time.
How many SB's have we won? Until we bring home the Lombardi tophy everything else is meaningless. The fact that the team has been competetive is great but as Al Davis use to say " Just win baby"
Indy hasn't won one in that tiem(they havemn't even been to one), Den has 1 playoff win since #7 retired, Seatle has 2 playoff wins and a SB berth b/c they play in the weak NFC. We have been one of the elite teams this decade and probably going back to '97 or '98.
While this may be true, for some reason respect is never bestowed upon us. However, the announcers yesterday did a good job in calling the game. Gumble and Dierdorf. A lot of people can't stand Dierdorf, but at least he was fair with what he said about Chad and the Jets. Infact, I am not really sure if they said anything truly bad. They were infinitely more pleasureable to listen to than the MNF, Kornhole, Joe T., and company. Happy New Year nyjunc
You don't have to go to 2001 to look for positives. Look at it this way. We have had ONLY 2 losing seasons since 1997. We have been to the playoffs 5 times in that span.
i think its fair to say that we've been top tier for a while now. The raiders of the 70s were an amazing team, but they had to go through the steelers or the dolphins. So they only got one SB win, even though they were always up there. I think we have played that role with the Pats and Steelers. I agree its not good enough without the big one, but I give the franchise credit after being horrible for most of the 90s (ruining my football childhood), don't know much about the 80s as i was only alive for half the decade. They're making moves in the right direction, and I think we've got a real good thing goin here. Top tier, but not champions yet, give it time.
There is something to be said about consistently putting a winner on the field. This era is totally different. It is extremely hard to win a title. You have to get hot at the right time.
No matter how you look at it, teams are measured by how many championships they have won. Take the Steelers and the Vikings of the 70's. When you think of the most domiant team of that time, you think of the Steelers and their 'Steel Curtain' defense. But, the Vikings of the 70's were a top tier team also. They made it to the Super Bowl 3 times (we havn't made it once) and lost all three. How do we percieve the Vikings? As a losing franchise. Once we win it all (and we will win it all soon) we can then establish ourselves as a top tier team. We are close, but not there yet.
We've been fairly consistent at having mediocre seasons. I don't think that qualifies us as top tier or elite. I would think to be elite, you would at least need to win a SB during your string of quality seasons. We've sniffed it, but haven't even been to it in a looooooong time.
no, it made them one of the top franchises in the 90's. having to exagerate that to a dynasty to make your point is dishonest. dynasty and great franchise are two entirely different things.
As JETS fans we all realize that we could go to the Playoffs 10 straight years and not get respect or recognition. Travel and talk football around the country most people view the Jets in the same light as being a Cardnals or Lions Fan. When we get to the Big one (this year , next year or 20 years form now) I will be there as I realize it does not come around everyday but as a Fan all you can ask for is to be competitve consistently and make the playoffs as the Jets have done so more often than not this past decade.
I'm not looking to rain on anyone's parade, but that list actually explains why the Jets are not considered an elite team. First, every team on the list won at least 12 games in a season over the last six years other than the Giants (11) and the Jets (10). Second, you deliberately started at 2001 because the Jets didn't make the playoffs in 2000 or 1999. Third, if you look on that list and include 2000, the only three teams to have not appeared in a conference championship game are the Jets, the Packers, and the Bears. IMO to be considered elite, at a minimum you need to have either run roughshod over the league in the regular season, or get to at least a conference championship game, and the Jets have done neither. You also need to do that more than once, so I certainly don't consider the Giants or Packers in the running as being elite teams of this century either. The Jets have put together a nice run of success recently, but IMO they have not been an elite team doing it.
great stuff as usual. but I think the difference is you have exibited why the Jets are not considered very dominant over the period of time. that I think is different from being a top tier franchise - which I think is simply a franchise that is able to consistently put together a winning team, which the Jets have done for nearly a decade, a feet better than most teams. yes, the Jets have failed to take that next step and become a dominant or elite franchise, but outside of the few teams that are, the Jets are on the next tier down, which is one of the top tiers. Elite is the peak, then you have a smaller group of top tier teams, which it can be argued the Jets are.
I was going to post the same thing Jetblue The original poster did not claim ELITE status but mentioned we are much closer to an upper level team than a bottom dweller as the media seems to always portray us as. We reall got no respect back in 2004 either when we were a FG away from the Championship game.
my point was being that with no championships you are not an elite team/franchise. I don't care how good a team is in the regular season, ten years later nobody will remember if you don't win it all.
I agree with you, and to be fair the original poster didn't use the word "elite" (although starting at 2001 does pump up the figures unfairly). I think it is absolutely fair to say that the Jets have been a successful franchise for the past 9 years or so, but the long sad history of the franchise means that unless there is top-level success, they are going to be undervalued a bit. I guess my point is that I view the undervaluing as fairly minor, because until a team wins 11 or 12 games in a season and/or make a Super Bowl, I don't think anyone takes them very seriously.
