Rex Ryan wore a look of exasperation when he entered the postgame press conference last night after the Texans outlasted the Jets 23-17 on Monday Night Football at MetLife Stadium.
No, the Jets coach didn’t find any triumph in defeat. There was no suggestion the glass was half full, only that it was empty. Losing not as badly as many had predicted coming into the nationally televised game was still losing.
“It’s a win business,” Ryan said. “We knew we’d be in the game. We thought we’d find a way to win it. That’s was our message the whole week.”
Still there was message within the defeat, a message that will tell you how Ryan plans to play the remainder of the season regardless of the win-loss record or the opponent.
Forget the ground-and-pound and the old school values Ryan talked about leading into the season. It’s clear by how the Jets (2-3) played last night against the Texans that all bets are off now. The only way they’re going to turn this season around is to be creative and unpredictable.
Ryan dipped into his bag of tricks, trying to treat his team to an upset of the unbeaten Texans (5-0). There was a fake-punt on fourth down that featured Tim Tebow catching the snap from center and gaining a first down on the first play of the second quarter. There was cornerback Antonio Cromartie lined up at wide receiver later in the same quarter, catching a deep pass from quarterback Mark Sanchez only to be ruled out of bounds when he made the grab. There was Tebow throwing a pass, a perfect pass at that, to wide receiver Jason Hill, who somehow didn’t make the catch. And there was that on-side kick in the third quarter that the Jets nearly pulled off to the surprise of everyone in the building.
“That was all me all the way,” Ryan said of the on-side kick, called after Joe McKnight returned a kickoff 100 yards to cut Houston’s lead to 20-14 with 4:38 left in the third quarter. “I came here to win. Whatever it took. When you ask your players to lay it out there and do whatever it takes to win, that’s me included.”
The Jets nearly pulled off the surprise. Wide receiver Chaz Schilens looked like he was first to the ball, but when the pile cleared Houston had possession at the Jets 46. It led to a 22-yard field goal that gave the Texans a 23-14 lead with 13 seconds left in the quarter.
It was a questionable call considering the Jets already had the momentum after McKnight’s brilliant return. As it was, the Jets had the ball with 3:28 left in the game, trailing by less than a touchdown.
If the Jets were a proven team they would have taken the ball down the field and scored. But they are injured and flawed, which is why Ryan has to be creative and gamble. There are no medals for trying in the NFL, but the Jets will keep trying.
“I’m never going to look back and regret going for something, I’ll promise you that,” Ryan said.
The Jets need a cleaner game from quarterback Mark Sanchez, who completed 14 of 31 for 230 and two interceptions off batted balls. The defense must tighten after allowing Arian Foster 152 yards rushing with 100 coming in the first half. And there were also substitutions issues that caused confusion. But at least there was no give-up in the Jets last night.
“This loss stings but we know we haven’t played to our potential yet,” said safety Eric Smith. “We know we still can improve. We’re kind of confident we can get this team going in the right direction.”
That’s all that will matter in this win business.