SMELL TEST: Despite a 3-5 record, Jets coach Rex Ryan has convinced his team it is playoff-worthy. “We’re not sniffing the playoffs,” he said. “We’re not sniffing anything, but I want to get there, man.” (N.Y. Post: Charles Wenzelberg)
Cue the Jim Mora soundtrack. The Jets are talking about the playoffs.
Playoffs! Playoffs?
The team returned from its bye week yesterday and head coach Rex Ryan delivered a “blunt force trauma” speech to the team, pointing out the areas it needs to improve in.
Ryan also showed the team the AFC standings, according to a source, making it clear it is not out of the playoff race at 3-5. The Jets are two games behind the Steelers and Colts in the AFC wild-card race.
“I know we’re not where we want to be,” Ryan said. “We’re not even close. We’re not sniffing the playoffs. We’re not sniffing anything, but I want to get there, man. I’m excited about the prospects in front of us.”
Ryan laid out to his team the areas in which it has been lacking — specifically rushing defense, rushing offense, special teams and winning the turnover battle. All of these are fundamentals stressed by every football coach from Pee Wee to the NFL, but they have been failings of the Jets.
The team’s players believe they can improve enough to get back into the playoff race after listening to Ryan’s speech.
“I feel confident that we will do our best to get into the playoffs,” safety LaRon Landry said. “That’s what it’s all about. [Bleep], man. If we don’t get into the playoffs it’s a boring-ass season. You know? [Bleep] that.”
Other Jets were not as colorful as Landry, but Ryan’s message appears to have gotten through to the team.
“We definitely have the resources to get back in this thing,” safety Yeremiah Bell said. “We’ve got the players, we’ve got the coaches and we’ve got the want-to. The thing is going to be just us on Sunday going out there and executing. We can’t help teams get a shot here or a shot there and stretch the game a little bit. We’re going to have to be a lot more disciplined in that area.”
Before the bye week, Ryan said he and his coaching staff would examine everything, and he was hoping for suggestions from them. Ryan would not reveal what changes the team will make this week when it faces the Seahawks in Seattle.
“I don’t want to get into the specifics of it,” Ryan said. “If there’s an advantage to be gained, then I want to gain that advantage without letting our opponent know.”
Will the changes be radical?
“I’m not going to say they’re radical,” Ryan said. “It’s not like we’re going to come out and run the polecat … or maybe we will.”
At 3-5, the Jets are 10th in the AFC, but they do have reason to hope. Their schedule in the second half of the season is much easier than the first. They face only two teams that currently have a winning record — the Seahawks this week and the Patriots on Thanksgiving.
“I don’t think we’re too far away,” wide receiver Chaz Schilens said. “We have some work to do, definitely. We can improve and we can get better. I don’t think we’re as far away as maybe it seems.”
Ryan pointed out the Jets’ running game and run defense have improved. They are averaging 4.48 yards per carry over their last 100 rushing attempts and are allowing just 3.01 yards per carry over their opponents’ last 100 rushing attempts. Those two areas are the foundation of Ryan’s system.
“He told us exactly what we’ve not been good at and where we need to improve,” Schilens said. “As a coach, it’s great for him because it doesn’t leave any areas of doubt for us. We know exactly what we need to do. We’ll try to fix those this week.”
Landry went to the playoffs in 2007 as a rookie with the Redskins, losing in the first round in Seattle. That was the last time he tasted the postseason.
“Ever since then I’ve just been playing football and it’s been over in December,” Landry said. “It’s tough not getting into the playoffs. That’s my mindset: Just do everything in my power to get there.”