Monday, January 18, 2010
The Ryan King
Yes, there are a lot of other, more important things going on in the world. However, I have to take a quick moment to note the great sports event that occurred yesterday. The historically sad-sack "same old New York Jets" beat the San Diego Chargers, 17-14 -- their second consecutive win on the road.
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Interestingly, rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez now has more playoff wins than Dallas Cowboys veteran Tony Romo (who got crushed in Sunday's early game against the Minnesota Vikings).
However, the man responsible for this turnaround (in fairness, the Jets' record this year was the same as last -- 9-7 -- except this time it was good enough to make the playoffs) is rookie coach Rex Ryan. He's been brash and cocky about his team all season long. Two weeks ago, he said the Jets should be considered Super Bowl favorites -- a description disputed even by all-time Jet god Joe Namath.
But now, after dispatching the arguably hottest team going into the post-season -- the Chargers -- and having produced the team with the number one defense and running, nobody can really ignore Ryan's pronouncements.
Even better -- with rookie QB Sanchez and running back Shonn Greene and other great young players like shutdown corner Darrelle Revis -- this looks like a team that's going to be around for a few years. Ryan has done more than just coach a couple of great games -- he's resuscitated a franchise.
Will they beat the Colts next week? It'll be tough, but Indy only scored 20 points on the Ravens (for whom Ryan was defensive coordinator last year) -- and the Jets have a better defense than Baltimore.
To borrow an old phrase of the New York Mets, "Ya gotta believe."
Labels: Mark Sanchez, New York Jets, Rex Ryan
