From the start of training camp on scorching August afternoons, the chirping could already be heard from players and fans alike wearing Jet green. Rex Ryan had successfully pulled the wool over Jet Nation's eyes and had every single one of us suckered in to witness a championship. His bold preseason predictions became solidified when gang green started 9-2 and appeared top dog in the AFC. The drastic progression of Mark Sanchez was evident with his 16 Td's and 8 Ints through 11 regular season games. Emphatic comebacks, last minute drives, big plays, all became the face and personality of a ball club that began looking more and more like a super bowl contender with each W continuing to stack up. Not so fast though....Jim Leonhard goes down with a season ending injury in practice with 5 games left in the regular season. Rex is forced to change the defensive scheme, this is when the Jets BIGGEST weakness, their ability to cover Tight Ends and short passes in the middle of the field becomes VERY exposed. Long story short, The Jets lose 3 of their last 5, fail to win the division and hobble into the playoffs at 11-5 and become holder of the 6th and final seed in the AFC playoffs.
Returning to the scene of the crime of last years AFC Championship game the Jets walked into Indianpolis to face Peyton Manning and the injury decimated Colts. In the biggest game of the year so far for the Jets , Rex's recently woeful defense showed up against one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, allowing 16 total points with only one passing td for Peyton. Reggie Wayne became the latest victim to be stranded on Revis Island with 1 catch for 1 yard. The game however was won on the Jets ability to stifle the Colts on 3rd downs leaving them 6-13 on the day, as well as the late game heroics by Mark Sanchez, something we've all come to expect from Mark, this set up the game winning field goal by extremely inconsistent kicker Nick Folk that barely squeezed through the uprights.
Probably the greatest win in Jets franchise history next to Super Bowl III had occured the following week against..yes...the New England Patriots. Never had their been such trash talk between two teams prior to game in the history of the nfl, back and forth all week long, from Cromartie's profanity laced rant about Tom Brady, to Wes Welkers snake like subtle comments about Rex Ryans foot fetish. This meeting was nasty before it even started. From opening kickoff it looked like the Patriots were set to dominate as they had in the last meeting with Jets December 6th. Brady took the pats up and down the field, yet after the first quarter New England only led 3-0, thanks to a huge Interception by David Harris. New York settled down in the second quarter scoring two td's thanks in part to a CRUCIAL botched fake punt by patriots DB Patrick Chung. This gave the Jets excellent field position and allowed them to take a double digit lead into halftime where they never let their foot off the gas. Again Sanchez produced a clutch performance of 3 tds and no picks with a qb rating of 127.3, Greene and tomlinson also had huge games, both averaging over 4 yards a carry, Santonino Holmes perhaps made the best td catch of his career, possibly better than the "Super Bowl XLIII catch" to stun a bostonian crowd in Foxboro, baffled as they watched their top seeded 14-2 Patriots, fall to the Jets and become one and done in the Playoffs.
Just as in 2009-2010, The Jets were one step away from the Super Bowl. This time the road went through Heinz Field and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It appeared the Jets left their inspired football back in New England as the fell down 24-0 late in the 2nd quarter. The game appeared over before halftime and dissapointment alrady began to set in for most Jet fans. Scratching out a late field goal before the half the Jets trailed 24-3. After this point The Jets showed true championship character and began to claw back into the game starting with a 45 yard bomb from Sanchez to holmes to pull the Jets within 14. However, poor time management and digusting lack of communication between the coaches and players ultimately did the Jets in, as they milked 8 precious minutes off the clock in the 4th quarter only to be stopped 4 straight times inside the steeler two yard line. NY wouldn't die though as a Steeler safety on the next play gave the Jets hope with 7 minutes to go. Followed by another calm, cool, collective playoff drive by Mark Sanchez, that again took just a little bit too much time off the clock, ended in another Jet touchdown as they now trailed 24-19 with 3 minutes to play. Gang Green wouldn't recieve the ball again though as Big Ben iced the Jets Super Bowl hopes with two HUGE first down conversions that would go on to prolong Jet fans misery that already sat on 42 years of pain. Add this as the latest chapter of Jets failure, along with the possibility of a lockout next year, coupled with the uncertainty of many Jet free agents this offseason including Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, David Harris, and Antonio Cromartie. The Jets window for success appears small and closing. What else would you expect from the Jets though? Different year , same result.
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