The New York Jets saved their worst for when it counted the most, losing 45-3 to the New England Patriots yesterday on perhaps the biggest stage a regular-season game can have in a Monday Night Football telecast. As a result, the Patriots have the inside track to winning the AFC East and talk of another monumental Jets collapse has already started... among even the most die-hard fanatics of the team.
Some may argue that fans have good reason to get nervous, looking back to just 2008 when an 8-3 team went 1-4 to end the season. Now at 9-3, the team could conceivably lose the last four games of the season and end up in the same spot: out of the playoffs.
It's as though every single Jets fan, nine-year olds included, were looking forward to a second-straight victory over the Patriots (because the Jets did win by two touchdowns, 28-14, in week two in their only other match-up this season, thereby proving they're not as bad as yesterday's loss would indicate) to the point of getting a little carried away (or a lot in the case of those very same nine-year olds; see picture below) in the lead-up to the game. With the rout, the sky is clearly falling in on itself and fans can't seem to act appropriately and be just slightly disappointed in the game's result.
 |
| Someone forgot to point out to the kid that Brady's weakest point is his hair. |
Even in a nation in which people seem to take physical competition a little too seriously, does it not bother anyone else that at least one elementary-school kid is dreaming up overly violent intentions on a scrap piece of paper for a school assignment, towards someone he has never even met no less, or that the two-year old below knows the names of all the teams in the NFL, but that among students of industrialized nations Americans rank 24th in math and science? I mean, there are worse things in the world than seeing your team lose a game, or even miss the playoffs. Unfortunately, both of these kids are likely to experience that very real possibility firsthand when they decide to forego studying for their SATS in favour of watching a playoff game en route to becoming a career short-order cook at their local McDonald's.
Of course, there are several reasons why the Jets won't miss the postseason, much to the chagrin of the team's clearly masochistic fans. For starters, if everyone is so worried about history repeating itself, look back to that aforementioned 2008 season. Sure, right now, the 6-6 Indianapolis Colts are the on the outside looking in, and there's little disputing that everyone had them making the playoffs to the start the season, but good teams do miss out every now and then. In fact, back in 2008, the 11-5 Patriots did as well, just one year after reaching the Super Bowl. If the Patriots can miss the playoffs, there's no doubt that Peyton Manning and the Colts can as well. Of course, that also means that the Jets and Mark Sanchez can too, but don't forget that the Jets also have three games on them... with just four left to play.
That right there should serve as enough reassurance, especially with all the other teams that could push the Jets out of one of the last playoff spots (assuming a scenario in which they do lose out on the division) are at 6-6 or worse. Even the 8-4 Baltimore Ravens would just push them out of the first wild-card spot, for which they are currently in line. For two other reasons, the Jets play the Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills (as well as the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Chicago Bears), two teams New York should beat. And if the Jets go 2-2 the rest of the way, they're in.
And, finally, head-coach Rex Ryan isn't Eric Mangini and has an actual winning record over his career. To say Ryan believes in his team would be a gross understatement. He went so far as to predict they would soon be champions, so signing the Jets logo on the back of ESPN's tour bus during the off-season. While that's far from an actual guarantee that the Jets will win this year or at all, it does constitute a measure of confidence that seems to be sorely lacking in the the New York area right about now. Few believed in the Jets making it this far and now that they have an impressive record to match Ryan's bold prediction everyone is taking one single loss a little too seriously.
The Jets no doubt lost huge on Monday and saved their worst up to this point for the Patriots. But it could have been worse all the same. There could have been much more on the line than the peace of mind of a fragile, scorned-too-often fan base. Perhaps what scares Jets fans the most is that there soon could be, once the Jets make the playoffs... and then promptly lose their Wild Card playoff. Now no one's saying that won't happen. Hopefully Jets fans know good therapists for their kids when it does.
No comments:
Post a Comment