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Things did not end well in 2011 for the Jets or Tim Tebow. Now, they get a fresh start together.
The Jets are trying to forget the 8-8 campaign that ended with finger pointing, the benching of Santonio Holmes and the firing of offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. Tebow ended his magical year as Broncos quarterback with a 45-10 beatdown by the Patriots.
Today against the Bills, the Tebow chapter in Jets history begins. Will it be a brief one? No one knows. But everyone is anxious to see how the popular quarterback is used.
“I’m excited,” Tebow said. “I’m excited to just play a real game. It’s been a long time coming here, getting ready for Buffalo. We’re excited. They’re a great opponent. It’ll be a fun game.”
The unveiling of Tebow is the main attraction today, but there is a football game to be played, too. The Jets, a slight favorite today, enter the season as underdogs for the first time since Rex Ryan’s first year as head coach.
This is a key divisional test for both teams. No one expects either to unseat the Patriots atop the AFC East, but these two are expected to fight it out for second place.
The Bills have bolstered their defense with the free agent signing of defensive end Mario Williams to a $100 million deal. The Bills have gone 12 seasons without appearing in the playoffs. Buffalo hopes this is the year they finally return to glory.
Since Ryan became the Jets head coach, the team has owned the Bills, winning five of six. But Ryan said that means nothing now.
“Buffalo is a different team defensively, and they probably needed to be,” Ryan said. “When you add Mario Williams, you draft [Marcell] Dareus and you have Kyle Williams coming back, that is a big start. You draft a corner [Stephon Gilmore] who I think is going to be a good player, so that is a different defense right now.”
The Jets makeover occurred on offense, where the team hopes new coordinator Tony Sparano can help fourth-year quarterback Mark Sanchez take the next step while also regaining their run-first roots.
Here is how The Post sees today’s game breaking down:
MARQUEE MATCHUP
Jets CB Darrelle Revis vs. Bills WR Stevie Johnson
Johnson missed some practice this week with a groin injury, but is expected to play. He had 11 catches for 159 yards last year against the Jets, with many of those coming against Revis. The best cornerback in football has heard the talk that Johnson has his kryptonite. Expect him to respond.
CHECK OUT THIS ’CAT
Since the March 21 trade for Tebow, the speculation about how exactly the Jets would use Tebow has been non-stop. Today, we get to see whether he will run true Wildcat plays, zone-read option, a blend or something completely different. The Bills don’t know what to expect, so preparing for it has been tough, exactly what Ryan wanted.
“When you look at it, it’s a body blow,” Ryan said. “It’s preparation time and maybe instead of spending your time defending this, you’re really having to defend this. I think because you don’t know how many times we’re going to run it, (or) how many times they’re going to run it. You really don’t know. So it does take a lot of preparation time and it may take even more than 15 percent [of the time preparing] because I’ve had to defend it.”
FIERCE FRONT
The Bills defense was abysmal last season, finishing 26th in the NFL overall and 28th against the run. But they now have Williams and his $100 million contract along with a healthy Kyle Williams, who missed a lot of time last year with a foot injury. They also added defensive end Mark Anderson, who had 2 ½ sacks against the Jets last year as a Patriot. And don’t forget Marcel Dareus, last year’s first-round pick.
“Their defensive line has always been the strength of their defense,” Jets guard Matt Slauson said. “We’re approaching it the same way. Obviously, he’s a great player but we feel like they’ve always had great players up front. The challenge is still on us.”
The most challenging assignment is for new right tackle Austin Howard to try to slow down Super Mario.
HOT CORNER
The Bills are young at cornerback with rookie Stephon Gilmore on one side and Aaron Williams, who is in his second year. Can Sanchez take advantage of this? Sparano has talked about using play-action and trying to hit some big plays, something the Jets failed to do last year. The Jets have a lot of question marks at wide receiver. Maybe they can find some answers today.
FEEL THE RUSH
The Jets expect the Bills offense to spread them out today and run a lot of no-huddle, keeping the Jets from substituting as much as they would like and forcing them to stay in their “sub package” instead of their base defense. The question for the Jets is can they pressure QB Ryan Fitzpatrick out of the sub package? The Jets tied for 15th last year with 35 sacks, an area they feel they have upgraded. First-round pick Quinton Coples along with a more experienced Aaron Maybin should lead the charge.
brian.costello@nypost.com