The Game Never Lies: Jets/Colts II

Every season, every game tells a story.  The beauty of sports is that it has certain literary qualities.  The stories offer a poetic justice, an irony, opportunity and closure.  Sports do something that life sometimes does not, gives second chances.  It offers opportunities to make amends and change the outcome.  It makes wrongs right.  Somehow, whether it’s the inherent drama or the unexplainable twists of fate, the story is brought full circle to resolve itself.  It corrects itself.  Sure there are times that you may feel a team should have won or another team was cheated or the best team didn’t win or they didn’t deserve that, they were lucky, but you would be wrong.  Winners win because they deserved to win, losers lose because they weren’t as good on that given day and deserved to lose.  These so called lucky breaks happen to teams because they put themselves into position to make those breaks and take advantage of them to be a deciding factor.  There is no such thing as luck.  There are only occurrences that result from perseverance and determination.  The team that deserves to win does.  Numbers may lie, stats can be slanted to back up any story, but the final score always tells the truth.  The journey to that end can always be debated, but the result is fact, it’s absolute, there is no denying it.

I bring all this up because for the past month the New York Jets have been dealing with this argument against them.  Their road to the Super Bowl began on the field of Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.  In case you haven’t heard, the Colts pulled their starters mid way through the third quarter in order to rest them for the playoffs.  The Jets went on to win that game and steamroll their way into the playoffs.  With all the doubters waiting for them to fall, the team that “backed in” to the playoffs dominated the Cincinnati Bengals and then grinded out a hard fought victory against the team that many experts picked for the Super Bowl, the San Diego Chargers.  The two playoff road wins still haven’t convinced people.  That’s okay; the game will work it out.  The game never lies.

The defeat of the Chargers is a perfect example of the truth in sports.  At halftime the Jets were getting dominated. Every statistical category was heavily favored for the Chargers.  The Jets first four possessions were three and outs netting a total of twelve yards.  Their first first down came with a little over eight minutes left in the half and their number one ranked rushing attack was held to forty-six yards.  Meanwhile the Chargers offense seemed to be moving the ball with ease and racked up over a hundred and fifty yards total offense.  A look at these stats would make you believe the Jets had no chance except for one number, the scoreboard, the absolute in the equation.  They only trailed by seven.  It was their game to take and they did.

One of the oldest clichés in the book is, the longer you let an underdog hang around the more they believe they actually have a shot.  It’s dangerous.  The Jets remind me of the ace pitcher that loads up the bases in the top of the first.  All it takes is one hit to rattle him, maybe knock him out.  If your gonna get to him you’d better do it early because once he catches steam it’s lights out from there.  The Colts had that chance to knock out the Jets and didn’t take it.  The Jets got out of the inning unscathed and have gained steam like a roaring locomotive.  Now the Colts must face a much different team.  The players are no different, the mentality is.  What came out of that first meeting was the Jets figured out how to take hold of a game and not let it go.    Whether it was given to them or not doesn’t matter, they took it.  They figured out how to win.  This is a team that lost four games this season on the opposing teams last possession.  It was never a question of whether or not they were good enough; it was their lack of a winning mentality.  They found that mentality on their last trip to Indianapolis and they haven’t lost it.  The Jets have a confidence, a swagger.  There is an overwhelming belief that only champions possess.  It’s something I have never seen from a Jets team and it is why I am so excited, not only for this run, but going forward.

As it always does, the story has come full circle as the Jets will try to take their final step on the path to Super Bowl XLIV on the same field it began four short weeks ago.  They will face the same team that threw up the white flag against them and allowed this run to begin.  The Colts will face the monster they created and hope that they survive.  The Jets head into their third straight road playoff game as the underdog.  They are by no means the best team in the league, probably not one of the top five, but that is irrelevant. The story will unwind the way it is meant to.  There is no room for excuses and explanations, none of that matters.  The game plays out right in front of you with a deserving victor and loser. 

The last time the Jets left Indianapolis, they left with hope.  If this time they leave with an AFC Championship then the Jets and Colts will have both gotten what they deserve.  The game plays no favorites, the game does not lie.  The truth always rises above the talking heads, debates and conjectures.  The final score is the absolute reality.  That is why I love sports.

Jets, Bills: The NFL’s Version of the McRib

There is a billboard near my local McDonalds in Los Angeles that exclaims, “It’s Back”.  The billboard is referring to the short-time promotional sandwich of the past, the McRib.  It’s back and I can’t for the life of me figure out why.  I know there are some people that like it and I’m sorry if I offend you, but I always felt it was one of the worst things I had ever eaten in my life.  It is slopped with onions and a sauce that tastes like it was mixed with shoe polish.  It’s awful, yet as McDonalds does, it brings the marketing with full force pushing its McRib on any grease-addicted consumer that walks the streets of Southern California. 

The guy who thought this was a good idea should be fired, but at least consumers still have a choice when they step foot in the establishment.  The farce the NFL brought to the table for Thursday Night Football was down right embarrassing and somewhat insulting.  The NFL executive or whomever thought it would be a good idea to showcase the New York Jets and the Buffalo Bills as their Thursday Night game of the week should be standing in line at the unemployment office with the McRib guy.

There is no sport in America or the world for that matter that markets itself better than the NFL.  Each week of the regular season has gone from being another game on the schedule to an event and this is owed to the craftiness of the NFL.  So when I saw that this week’s primetime nationally televised game was the Jets and Bills all I could say to myself was huh?  I’m a passionate Jets fan and I barely was able to watch the game.  It was a painful realization of the lack of good teams in the NFL this year.

The NFL Network is doing an awful job in trying to sell subscribers to their network with the matchups they’ve rolled out on Thursday nights.  Only one of the four matchups thus far have featured teams with winning records, the Giants versus the Broncos, and one of my fellow Study of Sports writers has already offered his opinion of that one.  They’d be better off advertising their all day coverage of the draft combine bench press.

The NFL seems like it’s getting a bit cocky to me.  They think they can show anything and people will watch cause it’s football and it’s on.  They are partly right and the fact that there are people making “friendly wagers” on games doesn’t hurt viewership, but the average NFL game this season has become unwatchable.  The parity that the NFL hangs their hat on is not apparent this season and worse than that are the number of flat out bad teams on display.  Add to that the ridiculous amount of commercial time that seems to increase on a weekly basis and it’s come to the point where unless your doing something else, drinking helps, it’s difficult to sit through a full game. 

Take last week’s showcase Monday night matchup between the Patriots and the Saints, one of the games of the year.   At the end of the first quarter the Saints started a drive after three minutes of commercials that lasted four plays, two minutes clock time.  They punted.  Three minutes of commercials followed.  The patriots come out and on the first play Tom Brady throws an interception.  Two minutes of commercials.  Saints get the ball, run two plays, end of quarter.  Another three minutes of commercials.  If you’re scoring at home that’s roughly twenty-two commercials to six plays.  And they are worried about instant replay slowing down the pace of the game, are you kidding me?

I’m off my soapbox now and in terms of the actual game, the Jets made some plays on both sides of the ball and were able to pull out a victory in the division.  Their number one ranked rushing attack controlled the game and for the second straight week the defense has captured some of that dominance that got everyone excited in the beginning of the season.  Darrelle Revis won the battle with Terrell Owens and had his second interception in as many weeks. 

They are now 6-6 and with Tampa Bay coming up, could find themselves back in the playoff discussion.  There is no sense in arguing that this is a playoff caliber football team, they are not.  They lose to bad teams and the ones they beat they do so unimpressively, but they always leave a glimmer of hope.  That’s all a Jets’ fan has is hope.  The question now is which will last longer, the McRib promotion or the Jets playoff chances?  We’ll see, but as of today they both seem like bad ideas.

This Season Has Brought Me To Tears Too

Nine weeks ago the New York Jets prepared for their home matchup against the New England Patriots.  Coming off an opening week win, they were a confident and inspired football team.  They defeated the Patriots 16-9 and were immediately thrust into the NFL limelight.  My how things have changed.  The Jets will travel for their annual trip to Foxboro a much different team.  They are reeling, losing five of their last six and coming off two bad home losses in a row.  These were two games they should have won and if they did, this week would see a much different conversation.  Instead they are a wounded, less talented team going up against the mighty Patriots as eleven point underdogs.

It’s a frustrating thing to watch as a fan.  I have not been able to write an article the last couple of weeks because every time I sat down to do it I was angry.  I know that this team is better than their recent performances, but it has continually been one facet of the game that has let them down resulting in a loss.   Against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Jets clawed and fought their way back to take the lead late in the second half only to see their once heralded defense allow David Garrard to march down the field like he was Joe Montana resurrected.  It should have never come to that, but they played poorly and still had a chance to win in the end. 

That seems to be the mantra of this Jets’ season, poor play by one or two of the units, yet still in it in the end.  That’s what makes it so frustrating to watch.  Head Coach Rex Ryan showed his frustration earlier this week during a team meeting when he was brought to tears over the Jets recent missed close calls.  He knows what everyone watching knows, there is too much talent in that locker room to be losing games like that.

There’s a fine line between winning and losing in the NFL.  It’s a play here or there that makes the difference.  The Jets simply are not making those plays.  Against Buffalo it was not converting a fourth and two in the fourth quarter that would have set them up to take the lead.  Against Miami it was obviously allowing two kickoffs to be returned for touchdowns.  Just as important was a penalty negating a two-point conversion that would have made it a three-point game late in the fourth quarter and would have changed the complexion of the game.  Last week in Jacksonville, “superstar” wide receiver Braylon Edwards could not hang on to a two point attempt leaving the Jets with a one point lead and setting up the Jaguars comeback.  Little things that mean winning and losing.  Rex Ryan knows it and it’s his job to correct it.

The injuries that have plagued this team are really starting to become apparent.  The loss of Kris Jenkins for the season is too big to overcome.  There is a huge void left in the defensive line and the run defense.  Maurice Jones-Drew had no problem finding that hole on his way to becoming the first 100 yard rusher the Jets have allowed this season.  They miss Leon Washington setting up field position in the return game and being an outlet for Sanchez on third downs.  The cornerback position opposite Revis has been decimated with injuries and it shows.  Every team has injuries, but when you lose your offensive and defensive MVP’s in consecutive weeks it’s hard to come back from.

This season is starting to unravel and looks like it will be lost.  Unless the Jets pull off the miracle upset this week in New England, it looks like another year watching the playoffs.  The start of the season was exciting, but not a reality.  The Jets are right about where they should be, sitting around a .500 record.   Still there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel.  This team will get better.  This team will rally behind each other and behind their coach.  If Rex Ryan believes so much that it made a grown man with a football toughness break down in emotion then the team will respond to that.  The key to coaching is getting the most out of your players and there is no better way to do that than inspiring something that most people ignore, their hearts.