New York Jets - Superbowl Contenders?

 (Pic reproduced from ctnews.com blogs under Fair Use)

Where There's A Will

Down 27-23 against Houston with the ball and 50 seconds remaining, only two factors prevented this viewer from sympathising with the home fans who began to leave their seats at the Meadowlands to commence the trip home;

1)  They were playing the Texans

2)  They are the New York Jets

There is no overstating how rotten the Texans have been when defending a lead this year (fluke or not, they still allowed that TD from David Garrard to Mike Thomas with the last play of regulation in Jacksonville last week), and they rank dead last in seemingly every defensive category, a far cry from last season where Brian Cushing was named Defensive ROY and Mario Williams was showing why he was the right pick in 2006.  But put the Jets up against even an elite defensive team like Pittsburgh, and you'd still feel like Gang Green would have a shot.

To put it in simple terms - if this year, Houston have been finding ways to lose, then the Jets have been finding ways to win.

 Rex Ryan as DC for the Ravens (Pic from NY Daily News reproduced under Fair Use)

 Rex Everything

Rex Ryan and his crew certainly raised eyebrows this offseason, not least for their bravado on "Hard Knocks", NFL Network's fly-on-the-wall documentary series following one NFL team each year through the offseason and training camp.  Foul-mouthed tirades and bombastic predictions of a Superbowl tilt led many (including yours truly) to enquire;

"Has any 9-7 team ever talked so much smack?"

Sure enough, the Jets entered the season as the team everyone wanted to fail, Ryan's brash personality rubbing neutrals the wrong way, and their season-opening 10-9 defeat to the Baltimore Ravens at the Meadowlands had the haters licking their lips at the prospect of Gang Green's impending downfall.  However, skip forward 10 weeks, and you'll see that Mark Sanchez and company sit atop the AFC East (and, indeed, the AFC itself) with an 8-2 record, a shutout loss to Green Bay off their bye week the only blemish on their record.  3-0 in their division, and 5-0 on the road (2-0 division), there can now be little question that this Jets unit is for real.

Santonio Holmes takes it to the house against Cleveland in Week 10 (picture reproduced from www.sportsfanlive.com under Fair Use)

Rough Diamonds

One contributing factor to the Jets' success that has been largely ignored is their excellent off-season acquisitions, although even then, eyebrows were raised over certain deals.  For instance, Jason Taylor, released by Miami aged 36, was picked up quickly and has played well, contributing a team-high 4 sacks and 2 forced fumbles through 10 games.  Or, how about Santonio Holmes?  The MVP of Superbowl XLIII joined the Jets for a mere 6th-round pick from Pittsburgh, albeit carrying a 4-game ban after falling foul of the League's substance abuse policy.  Still the same football player, though, and through his 6 games, Holmes has an impressive 27 catches for 447 yards and 3 TDs, including last-gasp game-winners the last two weeks.  Cornerback Antonio Cromartie came in from San Diego saddled with character and coverage concerns, but has shown none of the lax tendencies he was known for, even outshining the incredible Darrelle Revis on occasion.

But the biggest surprise of all has been LaDainian Tomlinson, who looked to be finished in San Diego after two mediocre seasons.  The future Hall-of-Famer was expected to back up Shonn Greene, the sophomore halfback who was so impressive in their playoff run last year.  Not so.  After a couple of uninspiring and fumble-prone performances in the first two games, Greene was benched and Tomlinson made the feature back.  He has 692 rushing yards and 5 TDs at 4.5 YPC to date, putting him on pace for 1100 for the year, and has caught more balls than any other Jet (43 for 315 yds).  Not only that, but in the 6 games leading up to Gang Green's bye-week, he was the leading rusher for both teams in every single one.  Not bad for a guy who was considered "done" just 4 months ago.

Sanchez hits early-season BFF Dustin Keller (pic reproduced from www.newyorkjets.com under Fair Use)

Smooth Sailing?

That's not to say that the Jets are home and hosed.  Barring a total collapse, they should be a lock for the post-season, but the Patriots share top spot in the division and conference at 8-2 (behind due to a worse divisional record) and will be out to avenge their week 2 loss when they host the Jets on the first Monday Night Football of December.  On top of this, the running game that was so impressive before the bye has petered out somewhat, Tomlinson looking less dangerous and losing an increasing number of carries to the young stud Greene.  And as this team found out last year, making the playoffs is one thing; getting to the big show quite another.

However, thanks in no small part to Coach Ryan and his outspoken off-season media tactics, the Jets are playing with true fighting spirit;  a never-say-die attitude that demonstrates their determination to prove the doubters wrong.  Throughout the middle part of last season, then-rookie QB Mark Sanchez, dubbed the "Sanchise" during a roaring start which quickly fizzled away, struggled mightily, at times looking lost and nothing like an NFL-standard QB.  Ryan changed tactics, and turned Sanchez into a game manager, playing around a monstrous running game led by the now-departed Thomas Jones and, latterly, Greene, protecting the youngster from having to go out and win games himself.

The first six quarters of this season seemed to point to little improvement for Sanchez, as he looked woefully out of place against Baltimore and New England.  And then, all of a sudden, it clicked.  Ryan was still trying to protect his sophomore QB, but decided instead to open up the playbook and let Sanchez stretch the field.  It worked.  On course for 3700 passing yards and 25 TDs, Sanchez is clearly the real deal.  Third-year tight end Dustin Keller stepped up admirably to become Sanchez's go-to-guy during Holmes' absence at the start of the season, and this all epitomises the attitude Ryan has gone out of his way to instill in this team.

So when Sanchez found Holmes in the back-left corner of the end-zone with 23 seconds left this past Sunday, the only people surprised were the fans who left early, when they checked out the box score on arriving home.