No one is going to underestimate Jets now
Jets coach Rex Ryan relied on a perceived disrespect of his team to motivate his players; now that the Jets are getting their due, he'll have to use different tactics. (Jan. 17, 2011) Credit: Joe Epstein
FLORHAM PARK, N.J.
In a more innocent time, the Jets were an early winter novelty act, fronted by a cute rookie quarterback and a cuddly rookie coach.
But that was way back in January 2010, when few people outside Florham Park expected them to do more in the AFC Championship Game than give Peyton Manning a pre-Super Bowl tuneup.
The fact that they put a brief scare into the Colts before losing didn't change the fact that most fans were happy to be there, and quickly looked to the future.
Now this.
Sure, the Jets played the underdog card again Sunday, led by Bart Scott's angry, spectacularly quotable ranting, which began on the field on ESPN and continued for delighted writers in the locker room.
That's over now. The quarterback still is cute, but he has four road playoff victories in two seasons, the last two over counterparts who are future Hall of Famers.
The coach still is cuddly, if a tad slimmer, but now he has critics on opposite sidelines, in TV studios and among opposing fans. He also has the pelt of Bill Belichick on his playoff wall.
Which leaves us here: The Jets have earned their way into a position both enviable and not.
On one hand, they are legitimate, deserving, undeniable Lombardi Trophy material, more so than in any season since they led the Broncos 10-0 in the third quarter of the AFC Championship Game 12 years ago.
On the other hand, they have lost the luxury of low expectations.
By now, even the most skeptical fans are on board, as they should be, and anything less than a Super Bowl berth would be a huge disappointment.
Two-time Super Bowl champion Ben Roethlisberger? So? The Jets just knocked off Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.
Road game in Pittsburgh? Hello? The Jets won in Foxboro, where they had lost in December, 45-3. They visited western Pennsylvania later that month and won, 22-17. Do the math!
But of course, it's not that simple. The Steelers just survived their own divisional holy war against the Ravens, and unlike the Patriots, they actually have won a playoff game since the 2007 season.
Four of them, to be exact.
In addition to the altered expectations among outsiders this week, Ryan faces another new challenge internally: There is no personal mission - or animosity - for him to latch on to.
On Monday, Ryan spoke for 20 minutes in a news conference that was a snoozefest (by his standards) before a reporter finally asked what everyone was thinking: Where the heck is this week's it's-personal angle?
"Give me somebody you want me to call out,'' he joked. "I guess Hines Ward and Casey Hampton, those would be the two early targets. But it's a different feel [this week].''
Soon, Ryan was smiling and telling an old Mike Tomlin story and talking about how much he likes the guy. Then he was back to joshing good-naturedly about Ward and Hampton and . . . uh, oh.
Earlier, in the locker room, someone asked Darrelle Revis if he believes the toughest playoff hurdle has been cleared by pasting the Pats. He seemed to sense a trick question as he tried unsuccessfully to cover it as smoothly as he does receivers.
"Um, no, um, no,'' he said. "I mean, they were the No. 1 seed, we all know that. Um, I think it was just, um, a factor where we just had to win. We know every week it's going to be a tough task and this week, it's going to be a tough task as well.''
Finally, he settled on this: "The hump is winning this game coming up this week.''
Correct answer! Now all the Jets and their fans have to do is make sure they believe it.
