This is not about Rex Ryan giving another Saturday night special emotional speech. This is not about Brian Schottenheimer mixing it up and getting the offense into a winning rhythm. This is not about Mark Sanchez growing up and not giving away games.
This is about getting it done, now.
That seems to be a lost art, taking care of business. The Giants suffered a loss of historic proportions Sunday, letting a monster fourth-quarter lead get away at home against the Eagles because they lost their focus, from Tom Coughlin on down, and then capped it off by punting the football directly to DeSean Jackson. They paid the price, once again torturing their fans.
The Jets know that feeling, but they showed their bounce-back ability with a gritty 22-17 win in Pittsburgh. First, though, they had to sink to the depths of despair and desperation.
Rex’s Jets need to follow that complete-game performance with another win on the road Sunday in Chicago, not only to lock in a playoff spot, but to build momentum going into the playoffs, which promises to be a long road again because of the Jets’ inability to win the AFC East.
Just for the record, Ryan said yesterday he would have punted it out of bounds just as Coughlin wanted Matt Dodge to do.
“If we have to we will punt it out of bounds,” Ryan said. “The kid made an unbelievable play. He’s scary. We face a similar situation this week with [Devin] Hester back there.”
Asked if he had compassion for Coughlin, Ryan said: “To be honest with you, I thought about it for like two seconds. I’ve really been focused on us, but yeah, of course.”
A win Sunday would give the Jets a breather before going to Kansas City or other points west when the real season kicks off. The win against the Steelers kept the Jets in the hunt. Now it’s time to control what destiny they can control.
That is really the first step of showing you are a championship caliber team.
“We know what we have to do,” Ryan said. “The great thing is all we have to do is win. That’s all I know, that’s all I’m concerned with right now.”
In Pittsburgh, the Jets crossed a threshold. They played fearless football.
“We played like Jets,” Ryan said. “We played like the team I think we are — a team that is physical, prideful, has a lot of talent and a team that expects to go out and win. That’s exactly how we know how to play and we know what we have to do.”
Sanchez, who has a sore right shoulder as a result of the win, was not afraid to fail. He was not aiming his passes. Ryan said he took some practice reps away from Sanchez last week to get his attention and the attention of his team.
“Really just to tick him off,” Ryan explained with a smile. “You send a message, ‘You’re my guy. Everybody knows you’re my guy.’ If I make him accountable, I’ll make everybody accountable.”
That was a much better coaching move than burying a game ball like after the New England disaster. Holding players accountable, especially stars, is the way to get everyone’s attention and should be done more often.
Ryan also was not afraid to admit the Jets were a desperate team, and that produced the kind of team effort that was needed to win in a place where the Jets had never won before. Schottenheimer was not afraid to use all his weapons in a creative fashion and, don’t forget the special teams came up huge after the ridiculous tripping incident the previous week.
When the Jets take themselves seriously, they are a pretty good football team.
Ryan said it wasn’t about his speech, in which he called out the offensive line. He’s right. It was about coaching. He coached right to the end. His players responded.
Now he has to do it all over again this week in Chicago for it to really matter.