Final Record: 11-5 (2-1)
Finished: 2nd Place in the AFC East; Lost in the AFC Championship Game
2011 Draft Position: 29th
Preseason Letter of Misfortune:
One of the biggest surprise teams in last year's NFL and the beneficiary of the most gift-wrapped entrance ever into the playoffs, the New York Jets are under a lot of pressure now to repeat their performance from a year ago. Despite their tear through the final games of the season, a lot of questions still linger in
Will quarterback Mark Sanchez continue his brilliant, if sometimes erratic, rookie play or succumb to the dreaded sophomore slump? Will the defense, stellar last season behind the ball-hawking abilities of cornerback Darrelle Revis, be able to play at such a high level once again? Will Revis' holdout impact the defense's cohesiveness once September rolls around?
Not only are their questions surrounding last season, but the addition of older veterans, chief among them Ladainian Tomlinson and Laveranues Coles, also add some interesting possibilities for the high-flying Jets.
At least we can be certain of one thing. Rex Ryan will entertain us, whether or not the Jets are able to continue their success from last year. He's trimmed down during the offseason and signed a two-year extension to coach the team. Brimming with confidence, his fiery attitude should be enough to keep the Jets in position to challenge for the division.
By the time the bye week rolls around in week seven, we will know if the Jets were for real last season or the beneficiaries of better teams laying down and giving them a free pass when they shouldn't have.
Week 1: Lost to Baltimore
Ranked – 17
Defense alone keeps you even rated this high. If your defense was not among the elite, you might have found yourself falling from #2 all the way into the Forked Few. 60 passing yards compared to 125 penalty yards. Dink and dunk doesn't work on 3rd & 20.
Week 2: Defeated the New England Patriots, 28-14
Ranked – 13
How sad are Patriot fans today? Sanchez outdueled Brady for a solid victory. Talk about a couple of glamour boys.
Week 3: Defeated the Miami
Ranked – 9
Road wins against division opponents are always difficult to come by and for the second straight week Mark Sanchez plays error free. If he keeps it going, the Jets will be flying high come January, because the defense and running game provide a solid foundation for the Sanchize.
Week 4: Defeated the Buffalo
Ranked – 3
How many touchdowns could a Sanchize chuck if a Sanchize could chuck touchdowns? A Sanchize could chuck ALL the touchdowns, if the running backs didn't score them first.
Week 5: Defeated the Minnesota
Ranked – 1
Four straight victories - three over division opponents and one over the Vikings - without a single turnover make the Jets the team to beat in the NFL.
Week 6: Defeated the Denver
Ranked – 1
A tough road victory keeps the Jets at the top of the power rankings for at least one more week.
Week 7: BYE WEEK
Ranked – 1
During their bye week, nobody emerged as being clearly better than the Jets.
Week 8: Lost to Green Bay
Ranked – 2
Only allowing 9 points to a top offensive unit - good idea. Only scoring 0 points yourself - bad idea. Sanchez has the potential to be a great quarterback, but he's not yet ready to carry the team by himself.
Week 9: Defeated the Detroit
Ranked – 4
Good thing for the Jets that Suh can't kick an extra point, otherwise the Sanchize would be under siege in New York
Week 10: Defeated the Cleveland
Ranked – 2
New York gets the edge over New England for the second overall spot because, even though it took five full quarters of play, they could beat Cleveland
Week 11: Defeated the Houston
Ranked – 2
Eventually the Jets will have to figure out a way to beat a team before the waning moments of the fourth quarter.
Week 12: Defeated the Cincinnati
Ranked – 2
Rex Ryan can laugh and joke all he wants, but deep down he has to be just a little bit scared of what his Jets offense will be able to accomplish on the road in New England after it has struggled a bit of late to outscore less-than-worthy opponents.
Week 13: Lost at New England Patriots, 45-3
Ranked – 5 (ROCKY WEEK!)
Mark Sanchez: Of what?
Coach Ryan: The truck that run over you on Monday Night.
Week 14: Lost to Miami
Ranked – 8
The Jets continue to prove time and time again that they are nothing but classless, loud-mouthed braggarts.
Week 15: Defeated the Pittsburgh
Ranked – 4
A huge win to make the Jets suddenly relevant again. The division is basically lost, but a wild card spot is closer to a reality.
Week 16: Lost at Chicago
Ranked – 11
For a strong defense, the Jets sure allowed a lot of points to a suspect Bears offense. The Jets are in the playoffs, but they have serious issues that need to be corrected if they hope to make a near-magical run like last year.
Week 17: Defeated the Buffalo
Ranked – 11
A season of talking has generated nothing more than a 6th seed for the Jets. At least they have a winning record and four more wins will make all the talking worthwhile.
Wild Card Game: Defeated the Indianapolis
Ranked – 7
The Jets won in spite of Mark Sanchez's erratic arm and poor decision making. If Belichick can make Peyton Manning look the fool with his defensive schemes, how successful can the Sanchize hope to be in New England ?
Divisional Game: Defeated the New England Patriots, 28-21
Ranked – 3
They've talked and talked and talked and have lived up to their own hype. If the Jets can hold onto their swagger for one more week and complete a perfect circuit of the AFC's elite teams by beating Indianapolis, New England and Pittsburgh on the road, they will have truly earned the right to talk, talk and talk some more over the next two weeks.
Championship Game: Lost at Pittsburgh
Final Rank - 3
Tomorrow, the 2010 Chicago
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