So let me get this straight. Not only did the New York Jets experience a late season collapse and miss the playoffs, but the team’s two biggest rivals (the Giants and Patriots) are one win away from going to the Super Bowl. Are you kidding me? And to make matters worse the Jets have become a laughingstock for the way the team handled their late season meltdown i.e.bickering in the locker room, finger pointing on and off the field with a solid mix of anonymous quotes bashing the quarterback.
It is times like these where it is excruciating to be a fan of the New York Jets. The team itself has several issues to address in order to return to contender status, while an organization like New England just continues to flex their muscles. An argument can be made that the Jets window of opportunity closed when the team lost in the AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh. The football stars were aligned for the Jets to make the Super Bowl that season but for whatever reason Gang Green forgot how to play football for the first 30 minutes of the game.
So where do Jets fans go from here? Well the first step is to prepare for all of the trash talking from the Giants and Patriots fans. And lets be honest we deserve it especially after the way we acted the last two years during the Jets playoff runs. The next step is to hope that the Super Bowl somehow gets cancelled. Just kidding. The next step is to hope that general Mike Tannenbaum and head coach Rex Ryan have truly learned from their mistakes and from the accomplishments of the final four teams remaining in the playoffs. The Jets have some glaring holes (like overall team speed for example) that need to be addressed prior to next season. Other than that there is nothing a Jets fan can do but to sit back and watch the remainder of the postseason play out. I will be watching with my Jets hat on and my beer mug full.
40+ years and counting since the last Jets Super Bowl victory….. “It ain’t easy being green”