Nobody, including myself, thought that the Jets were capable of beating the Patriots on the road in the playoffs. Except for Rex Ryan, their coach. Maybe it’s the power of the foot fetishist but Ryan, in both of his years as Jet head coach, has taken the Jets to the brink of the Super Bowl.
This year the Jets must travel the most improbable road, beating Indianapolis, New England, and this sunday, Pittsburgh. No team had ever beaten Peyton Manning and Brady on consecutive weeks until yesterday. Can you imagine a team beating those two plus Roethlisberger on three straight weeks?! How about Manning, Brady, Roethlisberger and Aaron Rogers? I’m crazed with success!
It could happen. When you have a team that plays defense at the level that the Jets do anything is possible. Brady was completely frustrated as time and again he had nobody to throw to. He was sacked five times and sent to the ground numerous others. It will be a little tougher to get to Roethlisberger, who is more mobile, but if the Jets can control the ball on the ground as they did against Indy — eat clock and get a few big plays from their receivers — anything is possible. Sanchez will give you fits which is why I like that Ryan has, for the most part, has not forced him to make big plays, staying on the ground and sticking with the short, high percentage passing game.
Is there anything more joyous than sending blowhard Bill Belichick on an early vacation? Yesterday Belichick benched Wes Welker, who had broken a Patriots rule about not trash talking, for the first series of plays. Belichick wanted to send a message to Welker, but I thought he was really trying to send a message to the Jets. Bill tried to out-cocky Ryan by in effect saying that the Pats could beat the Jets without their best receiver. Nice try, Bill. Enjoy your offseason.

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