Looking back at the off-season in the NFL, the New York Jets were a joke to many. Living in the shadow of “New York’s Team”, the New York Football Giants, the “Sanchize” was a joke, Rex Ryan was a joke, Darrelle Revis being traded was a joke, “Tebow-Time” being a joke, the jokes go on and on with the New York Jets.
Now take a step back into reality, modern day; could you believe with all the negative vibes being sent towards this team they’re 4-3? And of course you must know that the Giants are 0-6, Eli Manning is playing just as horribly as Mark Sanchez, Darrelle Revis is avoiding a Staph Infection and his team is horrendous with a record of 0-6 and one of the worst head coaches in football, right? Did you ever plan on Sheldon Richardson and Geno Smith being solid Rookie Of The Year candidates? Did you expect the DeMario Davis to play better than Bart Scott had ever played while a member of the Jets. Did you ever expect Bilal Powell, and Chris Ivory too be a respectable one-two punch?
The Jets are doing their best New England Patriots impression, and that’s taking guys who people never heard of and molding those players into a system that will have every player flourishing in their respectable positions. I’m not saying David Nelson replacing Santonio Holmes is anywhere near equal to Tom Brady replacing Drew Bledsoe, or Julian Edelman replacing Wes Welker, but I am saying the Jets are doing a fantastic job of working with what they have.
Looking at the AFC East, anyone who knows football knows the Patriots run that division. It’s theirs. But no team could be good forever, nor could any one player. With all respect to Belichick and Brady, arguably the best coach-quaterback combo to ever be a part of the NFL, it seems like they just don’t have the same intensity as they used to.
The Bills have some great talent as well. Their defense is pretty stacked with star rookie Kiko Alonso, Jairus Byrd, Mario Williams, Stephon Gillmore, and Marcel Dareus, but offensively they can’t seem to get it done. Sure Thad Lewis is exciting, but he’s no long-term quarterback, and I personally was not sold on EJ Manuel in his first few starts, nor was I that impressed with him when he was at Florida State.
And the Dolphins – the big-spending Dolphins. The Dolphins virtually attempted to build their franchise off of free-agency much like the Los Angeles Dodgers or the New York Yankees. The Dolphins gave Mike Wallace a 2-year 30-million dollar deal during the off-season, and he certainly is not playing like a 30-million dollar worthy athlete. The Dolphins also signed Danelle Ellerbe, who was mentored by Ray Lewis from 2009 until 2012 when he won the Super Bowl with the Ravens. He makes 35-million over 5 years, and I feel he may not be himself this year in a new system, but he will be a beast once he gets comfortable and very well worth the money. But offensively the Dolphins aren’t blocking for their franchise player in Ryan Tannehill, with no blocking in the pass game, it makes it very hard for them to get Lamar Miller going.
Now the Jets. I feel the Jets could make the division interesting. They play with a chip on their shoulder weekly because of the criticism they received over the past few years. They traded away their best player and their defense has still been stellar. Their offense is insanely inconsistent but they seem to always do enough when the time is right. And “enough” seems to be a key word for the Jets; they don’t just win, or just lose, they always just do enough to put themselves in a situation to win. They seem to never take the game over.
It’s a long season, and I feel they will get out of that habit of doing enough and get into the habit of being overwhelming. The Jets need to look to overwhelm their opponents with their pass rush, and run stoppage, then overwhelm them with their ability to run the ball down opposing defenses throat. Rex Ryan will put his guys in the position to gain their confidence.
In the end I see the Jets making a push to win the conference, and long-term I see the Jets and Dolphins battling for King of the East once the Brady Bunch goes off the air. It’s a bold prediction, but I think the Jets win the AFC East.
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