The preseason was not over for more than 20 minutes Thursday night when the Super Bowl talk began in the Jets locker room.
The Jets open the season Sept. 11 against the Cowboys. They feel that will be the first step toward a trip to the Super Bowl in February.
“Everybody knows it’s time,” outside linebacker Calvin Pace said. “It’s time to . . . take it a step further, and that’s to get to Indianapolis [the site of Super Bowl XLVI]. It’s going to start next Sunday. We’ve got to take it one week at a time and we understand that. Everybody’s excited to get everything rolling and play Dallas.”
After two consecutive losses in the AFC Championship Game, the Jets enter the 2011 season motivated to clear that hurdle.
“Those losses are always in the back of your mind,” cornerback Darrelle Revis said. “I’m sure other people have different definitions of how they think of those two losses. Mine is failure. It basically is. You set your goals before the season and you try to reach them. If you don’t, it’s failure.”
With coach Rex Ryan, it always starts with defense. This year will be no different. The Jets return 10 of 11 starters from last year’s squad. The lone new starter is first-round draft pick Muhammad Wilkerson, who replaces longtime Jet Shaun Ellis.
“I think we’re very positive,” Revis said. “We have most of the guys back. There’s only a few new faces. We think of ourselves as a veteran team. The new faces that have come in have to know our identity and how we play football here. I feel great about the team and I’m sure everybody else does, too.”
Pace was clear when asked how good this defense can be.
“No. 1 again,” Pace said. “That’s our goal every year to be No. 1. Anything else is not acceptable here because that’s the way this team is built. It’s going to start with stopping the run so we can have the ability to get after the quarterback.”
It is easy to have confidence in the Jets defense after the last two seasons. The offense remains more of a mystery. With quarterback Mark Sanchez in his third season, Plaxico Burress on board and Santonio Holmes in uniform for a full season, they have reason for optimism.
“One thing I’m going to say is it starts with Mark,” Revis said. “He’s come along very well, even his rookie year and then coming into his second year. In his third year right now, yes, we feel very confident in him. I think he’s one of the premier quarterbacks, one of the top quarterbacks in the league. We feel very confident in him and bringing Plax in and [Derrick Mason] as well to help us win games.”
The other issue for the Jets is getting past the Patriots in the AFC East and securing a home playoff game. The Jets have played six road playoff games in the last two seasons because they have not won the division. This year, they are intent on being division champs. They know taking the AFC East will not be easy, though.
“That would be great, even though it’s a tough task because they’re an unbelievable team,” Revis said. “They really are. You guys know the rivalry and how it goes back and forth. It would be great. It would be great to win the division and have home-field advantage.”