Here is who and what Rex Ryan and the Jets need their rookie quarterback to be to prevail in the latest Ryan Bowl Sunday at MetLife Stadium:
Saint Geno.
Geno Smith must be the poised, error-free battlefield commander who can make magic in the fourth quarter and bring his team back if necessary. The resilient dual threat who can torment Rob Ryan and his disruptive defense with his nuclear-strike arm and resourceful legs. The efficient game manager who resists the temptation to play the part of hero and simply honors the old Phil Simms mantra: Just win the game.
The polar opposite of Ain’t Geno.
Of course, unlike Drew Brees, Smith doesn’t get to throw to Jimmy Graham in the red zone, he doesn’t get to check down to Darren Sproles. He gets to get after Rob Ryan and the Saints with Zach Sudfeld instead of Jeff Cumberland, and David Nelson and Jeremy Kerley and Stephen Hill, and check down to Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell.
It is Marty Mornhinweg’s job to keep him in a comfort zone early, and it is Rex Ryan’s job to prevent another blowout he won’t want his team watching Monday.
The stakes are high for everyone involved. Smith, for all his promise, has yet to offer irrefutable evidence he is and will be the successor to Mark Sanchez. It would behoove him to begin making his move now, over these final eight games.
Rex Ryan, for all the love he has commanded from his disrespected players, has yet to close the door on his lame-duck status and make it a slam dunk for general manager John Idzik to offer him that contract extension he so badly wants. Mornhinweg, who mostly has been a godsend, likely would be swept away by a new regime at worst, offered a second head-coaching opportunity at best.
It will be the mother of all chess matches watching Rob Ryan try to checkmate Smith and Mornhinweg, and Rex Ryan try to channel his inner Bobby Fischer against Brees and Sean Payton. When Brees was asked about what he might expect from Rex Ryan, his answer was exactly what Smith knows what awaits him against Rob Ryan: “Expect the unexpected and be prepared for whatever.”
This isn’t Broncos vs. Jaguars, and it won’t be Jets vs. Bengals. I began asking Sheldon Richardson this question:
“Is it extra motivation for you guys to …
“ Outperform his [twin brother’s] defense?” Richardson interrupted. “Yeah. … Something like that? Yeah, something like that. … We’re just trying to bounce back from a loss that we most definitely didn’t see coming. But we gotta bounce back from it, and we’re gonna bounce back from it.”
Inside the antiseptic Superdome, Brees is 85-for-120 (70.8 percent)for 1,112 yards with nine TDs and two INTs over four games. On the road, he is 72-for-117 (61.5 percent) for 846 yards with five TDs and three INTs over three games. Sunday’s forecast: temperatures around 50 degrees … and breezy.
“Gotta get him off his spot a little bit, gotta keep pressure in his face, gotta keep hands in his face, you can get some batted balls down ’cause he is looking over linemen,” Richardson said. “He likes to get a little deeper in his drops than most quarterbacks do so he can see down the field, and that presents us to get a little bit more pressure to him, give us a little bit more time.”
A little bit more time is all Geno Smith has to show the franchise he can be Saint Geno.
“It’s always good to see progress and see improvement, but by no way, shape or form am I happy with the way that I’ve played,” Smith said.
So there is no countdown calendar to Super Bowl XLVIII, only a countdown to the day when Smith might one day become Saint Geno.
A day like today.
It has been four up, and four down for the Jets, and all the turbulence has left Rex Ryan and his merry men longing for a smooth ride that will take them to the bye week feeling like legitimate playoff contenders in a league where even 5-4 can empower you.
“We’re looking forward to this next game, and going out and playing like ourselves,” Demario Davis said.
They weren’t themselves in Cincinnati.
“I think the best thing for us was to have another game,” Calvin Pace said. “It would have been not a good situation to walk into a bye week losing like that, so I think the best thing for us is to be ready to go at 1 o’clock against New Orleans, so it’s a good challenge for us.”
Sunday at 1 p.m. can not come fast enough for all of them, none more so than Smith and struggling rookie cornerback Dee Milliner. They better hope it hasn’t come too quickly for the rookie quarterback, who they will need to be Saint Geno.