There's about a hundred threads on here I haven't read, so if someone else brought this up, I apologize for the redundancy. I'm glad we lost this game. Everyone and their brother- Cris Collinworth, Peter King, Don "the rat" Banks- were all high on the Jets-Giants Super Bowl potential. "Oh, they're the team to beat in the AFC!" But the people who were really high on this notion, and by high I mean deluded and thoughtless, were the Jets themselves. They were told they were the best team in the AFC and they bought it, hook, line and sinker. And it made them complacent and lazy. This loss ws a wake-up call, and believe it or not, it came at the last possible moment in the season. If we had won this game, and lost to San Francisco, we could have said "Well, we don't travel well, so that's why we lost." If we had won this game and San Francisco and lost to Seattle, same excuse. If we had won all three and dropped one to the Bills? "Oh, tough divisional opponent, we're bound to split." All but Miami? "Oh, it was the last game of the year, we had clinched a spot, who cares?" This was the best game to lose because it was the game that hurts most to lose. A lesser team came into our house and owned us. That hurts. Pain is an effective motivator, and the pain of this loss is going to drive the Jets through the rest of the season the same way the Raider loss propelled us to a 8-3 record. Take a good look at the Titans last three games. Where did we see the better team, against the lowly Jaguars, struggling to squeak by a crippled divisional rival? Or against the Lions, dominant and ruthless, determined? And what have we lost, really? We still have the same lead in the AFC East we had on Saturday. What we've gained is humility, and that is a precious commodity in the world of professional sports. Let us never forget the ultimate hubris that a football team too far removed from painful losses can succumb to: "Ha, we're only going to score 17 points. Okay."
I agree...the Jets never do well under pressure. All the praise after last week was frightening and I'm not sure it would have mattered who our opponent was. This isn't a loss I mind in the long run...but that 2nd seed would be nice.
This loss wasn't a blessing. It exposed a lot of holes in our defense and our offensive playbook that will follow us the rest of the season. Teams will watch tape of the last game and try and do exactly what the Broncos did to manhandle us. Losing sucks, and this is no exception. We should have won, but got destroyed in our house. Not acceptable. I'm even more nervous now than I ever was throughout the season. This team is just itching to disappoint the lot of us during the playoffs.
That's exactly my point. So where does that mean for us? It means we're going to have to evolve. It means we're going to have to grow. It means we're going to have to become a better football team. There are only two types of teams in the NFL, only two: Teams that are getting better, and teams that are getting worse.
It's going to take a while for us to adjust to this loss. We're going to squeak one past the Niners, lose to the Bills, crush the Seahawks, and win a close one against Maimi to seal the division and get into the playoffs. 11-5
The blueprint has been out there, but the Jets failed to execute in all phases. You can improve your tackling and ball control...the Jets just played poorly yesterday. I still think we take the division, though I'm not sure we catch Pittsburgh. We have potential to be dangerous, but as usual, it's the same old Jets. Never know what you're going to get.
I agree with the OP. He makes valid points. I also agree that we may squeak by against the Niners. We will play a good game against the Bills though. We seem to match up well against them. The Seahawks and Holmgren will try to exploit exactly what we are talking about on this thread. Same with the 'Fish. We have to fix it during the Niners game. The return of Harris and return of Bowens to his role will be upgrades. Now, I feel Elam was picked on yesterday. He is not a fast runner. Add on a missed tackle and the Broncos were off to the races. Maybe Eric Smith should play during apparent passing situations since he has better speed than Elam. Rhodes HAS to show up. Plain and simple. He hasn't lived up to his role as of yet. I expect him to play better. Along with better play from Lowery and Law. The coaching staff has the time and players to make this better. Now get to work guys. You know what to do....
I would agree with you to a much larger extent IF we weren't in contention for the number 2 seed and a 1st round bye. I thought yesterday was a big loss because it put us in a position where we need the Steelers to lose twice if we are going to have any chance at getting the 2nd seed. Before yesterday, we were clearly the favorite to get the second seed because Pittsburgh has a much harder schedule than us down the stretch. With our loss yesterday, Pittsburgh has a game of breathing room. (Remember that they have a 3 game lead in conference record over us - so we need to finish a game ahead of them if we are to get the 2 seed) We can still get the 2nd seed if Pittsburgh losses 2 out of 3 to the Ravens, Cowboys, and Titans (Ravens and Titans are on the road), however, we now have no room for error. (i.e. we have to run the table)
But I do agree with you that a humbling loss like this (especially after all the Jets-Giants superbowl hype) is something that can refocus our team and wil probably get them to keep their foot on the pedal for these last 4 games.
The tape exists of teams like the Pats and Chiefs shredding the secondary in the same way during the five game winning streak.
To simplify it. Its like going on a date with a loaded gun:wink: It was good to get this one out of the way and get back to the fundamentals and the remainder of the schedule.
I have no idea what this means. Is this a Something About Mary reference? Are you saying the Jets need to jerk off before kick-off?
Winning like we have been is relatively new to both the NYJ and the fans. One thing our team and we, as fans still need to learn is that you never get too high after a win and you never get too low after a loss. That's what winners do. We'll see how our team reacts in SF.
there's something to be said for "flying under the radar". Look at the success the Colts are having now...nobody is paying much attention to them...but they've quietly won 5 in a row i believe....and are poised to sneak into one of those wild card spots. The Jets need to get off everybody's radar....i don't want the "media focus" to be on them...let the Jets tend to their business....and reach the goal..which is making the playoffs. All this hype is killing them. We beat the Titans...and all of sudden, everybody is calling for a "Jets/Giants" superbowl......that's the last thing this team needs to hear about right now. I hope Mangini sends a message to team to just concentrate on each week....rather than putting the "cart before the horse".
LOL. I love that movie. I'm not sure it's the best analogy for the topic at hand, however, I know what you are trying to say.
it was ONE loss. it's not a blessing in disguise. it's not the end of the world either. it's just a loss and every football team in the history of the NFL experiences them during the season except for two teams, the '72 dolphins and '07 patriots. people try to make way too much out of every win and loss.
Since they lost this game, I've read a lot of threads with a lot of different opinions about the game and its effects, but this thread is by far the best in my opinion. I couldn't agree more. The hype surely got into their heads a bit and this was a kick back to reality for them. Of course, I'd rather they had won and we be sitting 9-3 and with a 2 game lead in the East, but we still have a 1 game lead and some extra motivation. It seems that whenever there is any hype around this team, they tend to falter. This loss could end up being a blessing in disguise.
this team had hype since they beat buffalo and New England but we still managed to blow out the 10-0 Titans. Hype had nothing to do with it. It was just a bad game. Bad games happen. Just hope they don't happen at crucial times (ie. Patriots last year :wink
