December 18, 2006 Sports of The Times In the N.F.L., Just Being Good Can Be Enough By WILLIAM C. RHODEN MINNEAPOLIS Things change in an instant in the National Football League. This is not your father?s N.F.L.; it?s not even mine, though I?m starting to wrap my mind around it. In the new, salary-cap N.F.L., you don?t have to be great to win the Super Bowl. You have to be hot, and right now the Jets are hot. This isn?t solely a reaction to Sunday?s 26-13 victory against the hapless Minnesota Vikings. I?m reacting more to the mercurial nature of the N.F.L. The foundation of the league?s popularity is a fragile, week-to-week competitive balance in which you really are only as good as your last game. The up-and-down Jets are symbolic of this era. We?ve seen them lose to Cleveland at Cleveland, then beat New England at New England. They routed Green Bay on the road, then lost last week to Buffalo at home. Their fate is not in their own hands, but if luck is on their side and they sneak in ? watch out. You don?t have to be great, just hot. ? After yesterday?s game, receiver Laveranues Coles put the victory in the context of a playoff race. ?The great thing about it is that we bounced back and won a football game,? he said. In fact, the Jets have won three of their past four games. I don?t know what to make of salary-cap football. The talent certainly isn?t mediocre, but the teams certainly can be. In the days of old, a handful of teams controlled most of the victories: the Green Bay Packers and the Cleveland Browns, then the Dallas Cowboys and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Dominance was gauged decade to decade. Today, dominance is week to week. There has to be something between unmitigated parity and widespread mediocrity. Last year at this time, Pittsburgh was gaining momentum, but no one was calling the Steelers a Super Bowl team. They lost five regular-season games and reached the Super Bowl and won. Pittsburgh wasn?t a great team; the Steelers had a great run and had a good day when it mattered. The standard for greatness in the contemporary era is the 1972 Miami Dolphins team, which went undefeated. There will not be another undefeated team any time soon. The Indianapolis Colts came close last year, but the Colts were not built defensively to go undefeated. The Baltimore Ravens of 2000 were not built offensively to go undefeated, yet they won the Super Bowl on the strength of a great defense and a hot streak. In fact, there is no traditional greatness any more. In this era, greatness is compartmentalized ? you have an outstanding offense or a great defense. Usually not both. A great offensive line or a great secondary. Not both. New England was balanced, not great. The fans can make the case that the Jets have balance. Coles is having a Pro Bowl season at wide receiver, and the Jets? other starting wide receiver, Jerricho Cotchery, is having a solid complementary season. Chad Pennington, the quarterback, is playing intelligently and intuitively ? not forcing things, not trying to be anyone?s hero. Why the Jets? Why not? Really. The Jets have defeated the Patriots at New England. And who really scares you? Does Dallas?s Tony Romo scare you? I know he entertains you, but does he scare you? Does Eli Manning? Does Jeff Garcia make you shiver in your shoes? Do the Eagles? The only team that has played well from wire to wire is New Orleans ? America?s team ? even though the Saints lost to Washington yesterday. ?I think this is a fun time of year to play football,? Eric Mangini, the Jets? coach, said yesterday. The Jets have had an intriguing six-year period of success and failure with Herman Edwards, currently the coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, and Mangini, who succeeded Edwards. Edwards, in his first season as the Jets? coach, reached the playoffs in 2001. In 2002, the Jets reached the playoffs again but missed them in 2003. They reached the playoffs in 2004 ? in fact, they came within an overtime of reaching the American Football Conference championship game. Then came last year?s debacle, when the Jets, playing without their first- and second-string quarterbacks, finished 4-12. ? Today, the Jets are 8-6 and Mangini has a smile on his face. ?Winning always makes me smile,? he said. ?It?s fun to win, and the way the guys worked throughout the week, they way they?ve worked throughout the season, to come out and execute after that adversity initially and play team football, play complete football, that makes me happy. But the way we played as a team makes me even happier.? Last season, a good, not great Pittsburgh team caught fire and won the Super Bowl. The Jets are good ? not great. But they?re hot. The Jets in the Super Bowl? Don?t laugh. In this N.F.L., heat wins. E-mail: wcr@nytimes.com
Uh, hot? We beat the Vikings nicely, yes, but we got our asses handed to us by Buffalo. Let's not even worry about other teams getting us into the playoffs; let us worry about Miami.
Fun article and seemed to really be written for fans like us. With that said, I wouldnt call the Jets hot. Hey, its been a fun season..and we have a huge Christmas night game..after all the toys are open..and all the fake kisses to the relatives...we get to sitback and watch our team play the biggest game of the season. On national TV. We have even had some nice hype and Im sure by Christmas night, the rest of the country will be in on our little secret season. For a regular season game, for a team that was predicted to be in the bottom 3 in the NFL, it doesnt get much better than this. Personally, I have been posting about this game since August. Wouldnt it be incredible if this game on Christmas night meant something for not only the Dolphins..but the Jets. Never believed it...and having the roles reversed on why the Networks chose this game is even better.
It's a lot of fluff, but what he's saying is, "On any given Sunday." And this is especially true in today's NFL. Importing guys like Poteat and others at mid-season increases parity, so does remaining injury-free. So does a growing and jelling head-coaching staff that seems to be maturing right before our very eyes, trying different things and gaining confidence with every passing game that perhaps they really can game-plan against the best of them. Other teams, like the Patriots or Eagles, lose major players and lose their momentum (just like we did last year). And still further, you've got teams like the Colts with their defense, which who TF knows what's going on there and the reason for that slide. For whatever reason they're not "hot." The article has merit and gives us hope if you're a Jets fan, but I've been disappointed so many times, I'm just not sure we're really "hot" yet. We'll see Tuesday morning. This team needs to play under the lights in a major game with a lot on the line. Then we'll see how "hot" we are.
I think we are a better team right now than we were in the beginning of the year, but we aren't hot, we aren't winning a lot more games now than we did then. Anything can happen once you get in, but there isn't much of a logical reason why we can win the superbowl except "why not us?" which you could say about any team.
I was thinking, after the Bills game, that we're not hot. But then, looking at the way the Bills played last Sunday, I'm thinking, "Maybe we are getting hot and the Bills are just getting a little hotter." I had no idea how hot the Bills were until I sat in the stands and watched them stand toe-to-toe with us. Thank God that team didn't win more games in the beginning of the season, because they'd be on topp of the AFC East right now, that's how hot they've gotten. So, I disagree. I think the Jets are hot and getting hotter. It just remains to be seen how hot, especially if we have to run up against another emerging "hot" team. The Dolphins have exhibitied signs of that of late, which is why I'm very anxious to see how we perform against them, under the lights and in front of millions of viewers across the country.
True, the Bills are playing really well right now. We didn't play well 2 weeks ago, but it wasn't us just laying an egg, the Bills are a tough team to beat. At the same time though, ever since the 2nd half of the Browns game, our defense had been playing really well, and it seemed like we were really hot. Then in the Bills game we couldn't stop the run again, and we gave up a ton of big plays. But like you said, we'll see how we do next week. If we win our last 2, we are definitley one of the hotter teams heading into the playoffs.
What's really wierd is that some of the hottest teams (like the Bills) won't be in the playoffs. Then you've got the Patriots, who I think suck right now. They're like a prize-fighter on the last round, with no legs left, just hoping for the bell. Thank God the one thing we still have is our health. We have that and an emerging CS that believes they can game-plan effectively. And what's great is, the whole team believes it now too. Jets 20 Dolphins 16
I don't even really think the Bills are that hot. They will probably lose their last 2 and finish 7-9. Now the Titans, that team is hot right now. I don't think anyone wants to play them. I'll take my chances against JP Losman any day. I was pretty sickened when we lost last week. What kind of playoff team loses to JP Losman? Man, even the Texans get embarassed when they lose to him, and they stink.
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A playoff team with a very weak schedule. I'll take it even if it means one win at best and out. We got the extra 2nd rounder already for 2007 so drafting in the mid 20's ain't gonna kill us.
I don't get this "one win at best and out" stuff? What is there in football that's better than a playoff win on the road in January? Just one of those is such an emotional high that it makes the whole year worthwhile - sure we'd love four of them, but only one team (at best) manages that. It could still be us! That's what they play for!! PS: Not saying the limit of my ambition is winning a playoff game, etc, etc.
He actually makes some very good points as far as the Jets being a dangerous team to play. I don't think any team that has anything to play for wants to play the Jets right now. I would have to say the same thing for Buffalo too. Both teams are hitting their stride right now. And for the record, that Vikings team has given some very good teams fits this year. Don't forget they were in the same place we were coming into that game. We out played the Vikings and beat them hands down. I will agree though that we need to focus on Monday's game in Miami. If we beat Miami and sneak into the Playoffs then I will be talking more about post season possibilities. Jets in the post season? Very scary for other teams IMO. Marty Schotts, Belicheck? I am sure they know that playing the Jets right now is going to create problems no other team can give them I would think.
wtf is this about being "hot"? less than 2 weeks ago we were completely DOMINATED by the bills. to say we're hot is ridiculous at best. We won 3 of the last 4 games against teams we were "supposed" to beat. Even before the season started and expectations were low, how many people had us winning 3 of those games? I know I did. The only good team we've beat so far is the Pats in a slop fest. I'm excited about where we're at and our playoff chances and love the direction we're heading, but anyone who thinks we're hot is maybe a little high.
