Patriots can pull the plug on Jets life support on Thursday



Sadness is one of the "six basic emotions" described by Paul Ekman, Professor Emeritus in Psychology at UCSF, along with happiness, anger, surprise, fear and disgust. It looks as though Jets head coach, Rex Ryan has five of the six emotions down pat. I don't see happiness entering the equation in 2014.

Five straight losses will do that to a coach. A loss on Thursday night to the New England Patriots would put the New Jets at 1-6 with nine games to play. While it would be a long shot, there is precedence for a second half resurgence. Highly unlikely, but still possible. Rex Ryan might want to listen to an eight second soundbite before he gives up on the season, and his employment as HC of NYJ.
Greg Garber, ESPN:
"What's that?" Mora asked. Indianapolis head coach Jim Mora, his face contorting in disbelief, responded: "Ah -- playoffs? Don't talk about -- playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game!Another game."

The 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers started the season 1-4. It was in Week 5 that starting QB Terry Bradshaw was injured on a vicious and brutal sack by Joe "Turkey" Jones of the Cleveland Browns. In the nine weeks that followed, the Steelers only allowed 44 points, including five shutouts. They allowed only 138 points for the season, and had a point differential of 204. This was done mainly with a rookie at QB in Mike Kruczek from Boston College.

The Steelers made the playoffs and won their first game on the road against the Baltimore Colts, 40-14. Injuries to Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, both 1000 yard rushers for the regular season, finally brought an end to the streak with a loss to the eventual Super Bowl Champions, the Oakland Raiders.

One of the strengths of the New York Jets is their defensive front four. Another strength would be the defensive genius of the head coach, Rex Ryan. The '76 Steelers asked their offense to "just hold 'em" and the Steel Curtain defense would take care of the rest. Rex still has some support. If he can take down his arch enemy and former HC of the NYJ on Thursday night, he will be back in the race. We would be premature in pulling the plug.


Paul Murphy is a freelance writer from New Hampshire.

Follow me on Twitter at @_prmurphy

For more of my articles, click here.




Post a Comment
Share