One thing we have learned is that our team has been excellent on the road in the playoffs...However, as a franchise I believe our last 10 playoff games have been on the road. That stat is ridiculous and really unacepptable...We need to win at home and create a sense of home-field advantage. Every Super Bowl winning team in our recent history (aside from the Giants) were known to have killer home-field advantages. How can we make the New Meadowlands a place teams fear playing at? Right now it scares no one to come here and play games.
I think the problem is more how Rex put it in his presser. The rest of the league isn't helping them out with the Pats. The Jets have done pretty well against them, but no one else is beating them. All the Jets can do is figure out how to win more games.
I'm not as concerned with Home field advantage as much as i am winning the division and getting a bye. winning 3 hard fought games in the playoffs just to get to the Super Bowl has obviously beent the hard way to get there. If they're lucky enough to reach the AFC title game next year or in the next few, I don't mind them playing on the road, as long as it's only the second game. As far as the home field goes, seems to me their offense was the main culprit in most lackluster games at home this season. Damned if I know why....maybe the maturation of Sanchez will help in that regard....I also think they might want to start rethinking their whole coin toss stategy with deferring.
We have to become a dominating shutdown defense with a dominating run game. Our defense is just not good enough right now. period.
I don't know how much of an advantage the bye or home field is. They seem to play far better on the road, and they pretty much suck after a bye or a long break.
I want the bye. Having to win one less game to reach the Superbowl is exactly what a team as inconsistent as ours needs.
The obvious answer to this is we have to pass New England and start winning the division, unless they change the playoff format this is the only answer. Maybe beating the Pats in the playoff game was a changing of the guard, who knows? I thought we had a better team this year but they got hot, Brady got hot and they went 14-3, 2 of the losses to us. If you look at the AFC playoffs since they went to this format it's a pretty exclusuve club for the home games--most have been in Foxboro, Indy, Pittsburgh and San Diego. Of our 10 straight road games, 8 of them have been 2 each in all these places, two more this decade were in Oakland before San Diego passed them. People say it's hard to get back here, history has proven that if you have solid management and a good team you can and will get back. If you're one of the top teams you will have home games over and over. Our season on its own was one that very often could have gotten a division/bye/home game, but circumstances with New England prevented that.
If we don't get homefield throughout pretty soon, the Jets are in danger of turning into the Cleveland Browns of the late-1980's and Mark Sanchez is the new Bernie Kosar.
Anything could happen. My point is the same few teams keep hosting AFC playoff games year in and year out, mainly the four I listed. The goal is to become one of those teams moving forward. It's nice to know we can win a game or two in the playoffs on the road with this group, being at home at least to start is normally the way through.
I think, you touched on the right word. "Inconsistent". We were inconsistent from quarter to quarter, even from play to play at times. Mostly on Offense, but also on Defense at times as well. How much would you give right now, to have won just 2 more out of the Balt.,G.B.,Mia.,or Chicago games? All 4 were woulda, coulda, shoulda won games. All season, every game (except the 2 Buffalo games) you could never be completely certain which Jets team was going to show up, the Awesome Jets or the Baffling Jets. And one last thing, when teams come to a visiting stadium, they fear the team not the stadium. We need to add to this team, pieces that will make the opposition fear playing us. Namely, a beast at N.T. and a speed rusher off the edge. IMHO
Yep. When the O & D have been on their games, this team is a bona fide SB contender, just too inconsistent.
Abso-f'in-lutely, somehow we will piece the roster back together and we will still be right in the thick of it next year. For those of you who are not Rangers fans I apologize for bringing his name up, but it was Mark Messier who once said "you learn to win by losing".
For the people who say we play better on the road, we do... But the playoffs are different. The crowd isn't into it as much during the season unless it's te pats or the opening game like the ravens. In a home playoff game the new meadowlands would be a zoo. It's slot easier to win 2 home games than 3 road games. That needs to be our goal next year. Homefield
