As Gang Green Turns: Euphoria Limited in NYC After Tebow Trade

Article first published as As Gang Green Turns: Euphoria Limited in NYC After Tebow Trade on Blogcritics.


The announced trade of Tim Tebow from the Denver Broncos to the New York Jets has not sent crowds running through Times Square in joyous celebration. Jets fans know the score: Tim Tebow is no Peyton Manning - not by a long shot. Manning gets to go to the Mile High city and soak up the big bucks, and we get the detritus of this deal in a trade that takes two draft picks and cash.

There is another side to this story too, one that all fans of the soap opera As Gang Green Turns can appreciate: Mark Sanchez, the newly signed to an extension Sanchez, now has to fester in his own brooding way until training camp to see what this all means. If this is not a good reality show what is?

I guess the Jets could not resist the headlines this deal would give them. Headlines here in New York have kind of been rare for Gang Green, while Big Blue sucked up all that ink and screen time on the TV news with winning a little thing called the Super Bowl. I guess this is the Jets' way of grabbing back the spotlight - but how long can this last?

There is one other truth to consider here - Tebow may not be Peyton Manning, but neither is Sanchez. One can run and one can throw; one can pray and one can play, but the truth is that both of them have come up short and have a long road ahead to become anything resembling a Manning brother.

We Jets fans will have to just sit back and see how this all works out. We can only wonder what King Rex is thinking now, and I am sure his mouth will roar in the days ahead. Stay tuned because there will be more to come in the best soap opera in sports.

Photo Credit - AP

As Gang Green Turns: Manning Up - Rex Has To Prove He Has the Right Stuff

Article first published as As Gang Green Turns: Manning Up - Rex Has To Prove He Has the Right Stuff on Blogcritics.


The old adage is that talk is cheap, which means in Jets head coach Rex Ryan's case that he has a 99 cent store full of throw away quotations. Most notable is stuff along the lines of promising his team will win the Super Bowl, anyone wanting to win a Super Bowl should be a Jet, and so on. Obviously, none of these things are anything that you can take to the bank to earn interest (or to make the great quarterback Peyton Manning want to wear Jet green).

Still, a compelling possibility exists for Ryan and the Jets: Manning is free and available and is looking for work. Manning currently has more opportunities than a kid in a candy store, but you have to know that he wants to connect with a winner: not a team that looks good on paper, but one that can get the boots on the ground drive all the way to the Super Bowl.

One of my vices is listening to sports talk radio shows here in New York, and everyone is buzzing about Manning and the possibility of him in a Jets uniform. As a Jets fan I couldn't say that doesn't get me excited, but I have also learned over the years that nothing is easy in the soap opera known As Gang Green Turns. While this should be a simple equation: Manning + Jets = Super Bowl, there are so many cooks ready to spoil the broth, and chief among them is Ryan and his mouth that roared.

Manning doesn't want promises of a Super Bowl: he wants to be there. From what I've heard on those radio shows, Peyton has no desire to play in the NFC and face his brother more than necessary. He wants to be in the AFC and hopes that he gets to the big game, and then facing his brother would be the stuff of legends. If you think New York got crazy for the Yankees and Mets in 2000, the New York Giants vs. Jets with the Brothers Manning opposing one another would send this metropolis into sheer lunacy.

Still, getting Manning to sign on the dotted line is going to be a challenge. I think Ryan and the Jets have to court Manning, prove they are winners, and Ryan has to change his style quite a bit. If he goes from big mouth to a more measured and methodical approach (similar to Giants head coach Tom Coughlin), Manning might be more secure in coming here.

People calling into the radio shows question Manning's health. If the Jets get him, will he be the superstar he was once, or will he suffer a mid season breakdown and burst everyone's bubbles? We know Manning didn't play a game last year, and there has to be some concern about his ability to throw a ball, his velocity, and his endurance. Certainly, even a compromised Manning might be better than Mark Sanchez, but medical tests will determine his health and we can take it from there.

The Jets have to go for Manning, and perhaps Mark Sanchez gains a mentor and will learn to be the same kind of player. Will it be hard for Sanchez to take a step backwards? Of course, and maybe even the Jets trade him to drop payroll to accommodate Manning's salary. That would be sound financial planning and investment to be sure.

I want to see Manning in Jets green next year. If Ryan and company want to see him there too, they have to show they are ready to win - not just talk about it. Ryan is the key here, and if the whole thing doesn't work out, you have to wonder if Manning figured he would avoid the dubious pleasures of being Rex Ryan's quarterback. If that would be the case, Ryan has to get out of town faster than you can say "Mangenius." I'm sure former Jets head coach Eric Mangini will welcome him to the club.

Photo Credits: Manning - lifenews.com; Ryan - Boston Herald.com

As Gang Green Turns: The Ryan Express Continues to Derail

Article first published as As Gang Green Turns: The Ryan Express Continues to Derail on Blogcritics.



The once hallowed Jets defense, head coach Rex Ryan's version of The Maginot Line, is looking more and more like Swiss cheese. How did Tim Tebow lead a 95-yard drive (and carry the ball for a 20-yard touchdown run)? The answer is the same as how the Germans overcame that supposedly impregnable French barrier in World War II: they simply went around it.

Ryan has made many promises to the fans and his players, but now it seems he just has miles to go before he sleeps - the promises have already been unkept. The 5-5 Jets are in no position to take the division and probably have very little chance of making the playoffs.


Yes, the defense didn't do its job on Thursday night against the Denver Broncos (5-5), but the more important story is Mark Sanchez and the offense. Sanchez still seems like he is treading water out there, while Tebow is doing his best Fran Tarkenton impersonation and making his fans believers. In fact, when Sanchez starts looking around for someone to catch his pass, the opponents are probably happier than the Jets' wide receivers. Chances are just as good for Sanchez to throw a ball that will be intercepted rather than a completed pass. It is starting to get that bad.

A great quarterback can be a game changer. Look at Indianapolis this season. They are 0-10 without the services of Peyton Manning. No one can underestimate how important that great quarterback is, for if he were playing in full health that team would no doubt be 8-2 now. It goes without saying that Manning is that terrific; however, the Jets with Sanchez are 5-5, and at this point it would be hard for us to say they would be doing much worse without him.

Yes, the Jets' offensive line has been taking a lot of blame for this Sanchez meltdown, but most Jets fans should see the truth by now. Sanchez is no great quarterback and struggles to be even moderately good. Ryan always gives him support and that is all well and good, but when does the coach finally face the fact that Sanchez still doesn't seem to have his head in the game? Maybe when he is sitting home watching the playoffs.

The great Ryan defense, the supposedly unstoppable express train to the Super Bowl, has been derailing this season. Ryan's offense is not much better, and the truth is that this train is probably not making it into the station. So for all Rex's promises and all his bluster, we face the reality of what will probably end as an 8-8 (or worse?) season.

If this happens again, Jets fans are going to be grumbling all the way through the playoffs. We then have to face the facts and perhaps Ryan will too: maybe Mark Sanchez never becomes the next Joe Namath, and then we have to start thinking about who is QB in 2012? Chances are that the Colts will not sign Manning and he will be a free agent? If Woody Johnson's deep pockets can pull out thirty or so million dollars, the Jets may indeed have a great quarterback again, a game changer, who could finally lead them past the Patriots to take the division. Wouldn't that be a great way to get the Ryan Express back on track?

Photo Credits: Ryan & Sanchez - Daily News; Peyton Manning - ESPN.com

NFL Players Union Plays Its Trump Card: Decertification

Article first published as NFL Players Union Plays Its Trump Card: Decertification on Blogcritics.

Riddle me this; riddle me that: what is worse than a game without a bat? The answer is perhaps a game without players. That is the ugly prospect in the National Football League labor dispute with its players, and things took a decidedly ominous turn today when the NFL Players Association made the decision to decertify as a union.

Football fans everywhere may be asking why did they do this, but it makes perfect sense since their negotiations with the NFL are going nowhere. Since a lockout was no doubt imminent, the NFLPA's choice makes sense because of this: if they are not a union then they can sue the NFL in federal court under antitrust laws.

The prospect of this getting resolved any time soon seems unlikely. The NFL can counter sue the NFLPA in some way, probably noting that the decertification process was only meant to set up this possibility of suing before the CBA (collective bargaining agreement) expired. Either way there looks like no end is in sight and that's not good news for the players or the fans.
NFLPA Executive Direct DeMaurice Smith and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell have been involved in negotiations that have been going nowhere. What is the problem, you may ask? The answer is 750 million of them (dollars, of course). That was the gap between what the players wanted and the owners refused to give.

As it seems this thing could take months to be worked out in the courts, the worry here is that it will jeopardize training camps and even the start of the season. What doesn't make sense is why either side would want to ruin the good thing that they have going here.

Of all American sports, football has to be the most lucrative one in the nation. The amount of money generated by games, merchandising, and advertising is overwhelmingly more substantial than from any other sport. The grandaddy of all championships is the Super Bowl, a marketing and entertainment juggernaut that is second to none.

So why are these guys spoiling a good thing? The answer is that the owners like their huge piece of the pie and don't want to share; they also don't want to disclose the ingredients or the baking process. Will the lawsuit force the lords and ladies of football to pry open the castle vault doors and reveal all the secrets to the recipe? Maybe, or perhaps they will come to an understanding, learn to play nice and share more, and this whole thing will just go away.

At least that's what I'm hoping for. As a Jets fan, I don't want my team distracted in any way by all this. Let's hope this will move things forward and get something resolved soon, or otherwise we'll be looking at them playing the Super Bowl around Easter next year.

Photo Credit: AP

As Gang Green Turns: Jets 24-19 Loss to Steelers Ends the Green Dream

Article first published as As Gang Green Turns: Jets 24-19 Loss to Steelers Ends the Green Dream on Blogcritics.

Whether Jets head coach Rex Ryan realizes it or not, all that talking kind of takes its toll. The Jets were really good talkers, sometimes in a yada-yada-yada kind of way. Ryan and his guys talked so much they gave those ladies on The View a run for their money. Even Joy (there's no key to turn off my mouth) Behar can't compete with the likes of Rex, but then again she doesn't have to go out on a field and prove something every week the way he does, so it is kind of funny when Joy goes off, but not so much when Rex does.

Ryan talked a good talk all season (and even during the preseason on the HBO series Hard Knocks), but in the end all the swagger kind of caught up with him and the team. You can just get by so long on being verbose when you have to throw or run a football.

What did the Jets in yesterday was a combination of too much sound and not enough fury. The great writer William Shakespeare wrote about a tale told by an idiot that was full of sound and fury but signified nothing. In essence these words from Macbeth can be applied to Ryan, who strove to take the castle and then the kingdom, but forgot that words are fine in dramas but not as important on the playing field.

If Jets fans weren't ready to pack it in at the half (when their team was down 24-3), it is only because we have seen it all before. It's the old Tug McGraw "You gotta believe" mentality, and we Jets fans as well as Mets fans have been suckered by the concept of being the underdog and loving it. Well, as good old Maxwell Smart (played by Don Adams on the great television show Get Smart) used to say, "Missed it by that much." We go home and they move forward and that's that.

Sure, we fans got into the second half. The Jets defense did what it should have done in the first half. They had Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger falling apart at the seams, but that is the problem with the Jets. They make you think the comeback is possible. They lull you into hoping that there will be one more pass, one more play, the Nick Folk field goal that just makes it to win with zero seconds left.

Alas, no storybook endings happened in Pittsburgh. The better team is going to the Super Bowl; Gang Green gets to stay home and watch all those expensive commercials and drown their sorrows in beverages of their choice. In the end Mark Sanchez was no Joe Namath on this day, though he played valiantly and would have had a chance if the defense played the first half right. Instead, Sanchez gets to rest a sore shoulder and Ryan his wounded ego.

Now that we have seen the Jets get to the AFC Championship game two years in a row and not move on, we fans are going to expect much more next year. Yes, we Mets and Jets fans are always looking at calendars and dreaming. How many more more next years can there be? When does this year ever become the next year we hoped it would be?

The soap opera As Gang Green Turns now goes on hiatus. One can only wonder what will happen? Will some of the cast be let go? Will new characters be brought in? Maybe the most important question is this: what will Rex Ryan do to engineer a team that will allow Jets fans to not only believe in the dream but to see it realized in February 2012?

Photo Credits:
Rex Ryan - usspost.com
Don Adams - corpsstories.com

As Gang Green Turns: Jets Sack Pats 28-21 - Bring on the Steelers!

Article first published as As Gang Green Turns: Jets Sack Pats 28-21 - Bring on the Steelers! on Blogcritics.

Today Jets fans are bursting with green pride, while fans of the New England Patriots just might be green with envy, but no matter what the game last night settled - at least for this season - the score between the two teams in favor of the Jets. The Jets now head into their second AFC Championship Game in a row, and one has to give a great deal of credit to Jets' head coach Rex Ryan as the man who has got them there.

Make no mistake, this was a battle of wits and wills between two tough competitors. You could say that Mark Sanchez beat Tom Brady, or you could say the Jets' defense beat Tom Brady (sacking him five times in the process), and you could even say the Jets' offense was just better than the Pats' offense. While these things are all true in regard to last night's game, the real battle - as stated during last week by Ryan - was between the head coaches Ryan and Bill Belichick.

Last week I referred to Ryan and Belichick as Luke Piewalker and Darth Bull respectively (alluding to the famous Star Wars characters), but as I watched the game last night, something made Belichick lose his imposing status. Wearing a frumpy Patriots' hoody and his headphones, Belichick looked more like a worn-out Yoda who the force did not have with him. At times Belichick seemed lost, as if the proceedings could not be happening before his eyes as his padawans were getting clobbered.

What even seemed more impressive was that the Jets defense got to Brady. Besides sacking him five times, Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie, Drew Coleman, and company rattled Brady's cage. During every possession he seemed rushed and even flustered, trying to find someone to throw the ball to but being dogged by that relentless Jets defense that had him flinching even when no one was close to him.

Sanchez was impressive going 16 - 25 for 194 yards with three touchdown passes and no interceptions. While he no doubt had to be nervous going into this game at Foxborough, he showed the grit and determination of one more experienced on this night, and this ongoing maturation process has been happening though not always obvious in the later games of the season. Now it seems Sanchez has found himself, is comfortable with his receivers, and is playing the game smarter than he ever has before.

Last week Rex Ryan said that there was the only one bigger game in Jets team history than this one, and that was the victory of Joe Namath and his team in Super Bowl III. At the time I thought this was more typical Ryan bluster, but now I see the wisdom of this comment. Beating the Patriots - and especially beating Belichick - was indeed crucial and exorcises the haunting 45-3 loss to the Pats last month.

Now the Jets will turn their attention to the Pittsburgh Steelers. If the Jets can indeed beat the Steelers next week and reach the Super Bowl, the achievement will be even more amazing because they will have won three playoff games in a row against the best teams around: the Colts, the Patriots, and the Steelers. Even more amazing is the fact that they will have done this on the road.

There will be lots of talk going on this week, and I am sure much of it will be coming from Ryan as per his usual routine. Still, despite all the talk and all the hype, Ryan and his men came out and walked the walked. In two more weeks, they may even get to walk the walk of Super Bowl champions. If they do win it all, should we worry that Rex will finally run out of things to say? Not a chance.

That's it until next week at Pittsburgh in the ongoing sports soap opera As Gang Green Turns.

As Gang Green Turns: Holmes Continues to Amaze in Jets 30-27 Win

Article first published as As Gang Green Turns: Holmes Continues to Amaze in Jets 30-27 Win on Blogcritics.

How many times can Santonio Holmes pull the rabbit out of his hat? Well, he may say, "It's elementary, my dear fans," and we would accept him on his word after these last three weeks of amazing catches that win games. Simply amazing!

If it sounds like I am channeling my inner NY Mets fan, you are indeed right. I keep thinking of the late great Tug McGraw's mantra, "You gotta believe!" It applied to the 1973 Mets and it certainly applies to these 2010 Jets. How else can you explain what happened at New Meadlowlands Stadium today?

Going into the fourth quarter, the Jets (8-2) had what looked like a sure fire win over the Houston Texans (4-6). When you go into the fourth quarter with a 23-7 lead, and you have the defense that the Jets have (even despite looking not so great in the last two games), it would seem to be a no-brainer that the game was over, but guess again. These are the Jets, after all, and they excel at giving their fans every kind of torture one can imagine during four quarters.

I don't know what happened in that fourth quarter, but all of a sudden the Jets were down 27-23 with less than a minute on the clock. Yes, I was playing with my son and talking to my father and ready for the high fives to go around, and then we were on the verge of losing. What exactly happened there?

Well, I know what happened. After a Shonn Greene fumble, the defense that had shut down Andre Johnson and the rest of the Texans for three quarters fell apart, allowing twenty points in about twelve minutes. The same thing happened in the last two games against the Lions and the Browns. Those games went into overtime and the Jets salvaged wins in both cases and again here today. Say it with me: "You gotta believe!"


I have to credit Mark Sanchez with enormous grit and pluck and determination to make the drive that he did with those final seconds ticking away like crazy. How do you make such incredible passes under pressure? Sanchez seems to have found some kind of late game mojo, completing four passes for seventy-two yards, with the final pass to Holmes completed with just ten seconds left in the game.

Sanchez did have one interception today and, as in past weeks, that has hurt him, but he was also 22 for 38 for 315 yards with three touchdowns, that last one being the game winner. He is starting to look like the guy Jets fans are expecting him to be, and he has a way of making the big passes when needed just the way old Broadway Joe used to do.

After the game, head coach Rex Ryan said, "We keep finding ways to win, and that’s what championship teams do. If I have to apologize for every week I will, all the way to the Super Bowl."

Right now the Jets are tied with the New England Patriots atop the AFC East with the best record in the league. Some people might say they should be at least 5-5 right now, with these last three weeks being all games they should have lost, but I'm not so sure anymore.

As Rex said, they do keep finding ways to win, so "You gotta believe!" At least until Thursday night anyway.

As Gang Green Turns: Three Turnovers Doom Jets as They Lose 9-0 to the Packers

Article first published as As Gang Green Turns: More Trick Than Treat: Jets Lose Halloween Game 9-0 to the Packers on Blogcritics.

Ladies and gentlemen, if some kids rings your doorbell tonight wearing a Jets outfits, please be generous in order for them to drown their sorrows in candy. This game was proved to be no treat for the fans or head coach Rex Ryan either, as they watched the New York Jets (5-2) get shutout by the Green Bay Packers (5-3) at New Meadowlands Stadium.

Even with the bye week giving them extra rest for this game, the Jets' offense came in looking like they needed more time off. Although quarterback Mark Sanchez's numbers were not terrible (16-38 for 256 yards), he did throw two interceptions. Ryan has to be alarmed that Sanchez has thrown four of these in his last two games.

Many people have been talking about Sanchez's new maturity, but there is a definite sense that he loses it when things don't go the right way. It didn't help matters that his receivers couldn't keep their hands on the ball and out of the hands of their opponents.

More problematic than Sanchez's inability to lead today was that the rest of the offense seemed to come up lame, and a strange fake punt attempt failed too. Both of Ryan's replay challenges failed, so the Jets went into halftime down 3-0. Ryan, who can talk with the best of them, obviously failed to get Gang Green's offense motivated in the lockeroom, because it was more of the same the rest of the way.

One good sign was that the Jets' defense was definitely going well today, limiting the Packers to three field goals, but Ryan can take little solace in this because the offense that looked so strong during that five game winning streak seemed not to show up today. In its place were Halloween zombies who couldn't get it together to score any points.

People here in New York have been talking about an almost pre-destined Super Bowl match between the Jets and Giants, but all this talk is obviously premature at best after this debacle. Even with a healthy Darrelle Revis and a tight defense, the team cannot win if it doesn't score any points.

All of us fans can keep dreaming about Gang Green going against Big Blue in the ultimate football showdown, but if the Jets keep playing this way, they will be lucky to even contend for a wild card.

Things looked pretty dismal today and, even with the home field advantage, the Jets went down and looked like they were out for the count early on. Hey Rex Ryan, in case you are wondering, that booing you heard wasn't Halloween ghosts drifting through the stadium; it was your Jets fans who knew a stinker when they saw one.

Well, hopefully next week things will get better, but one never knows in the soap opera As Gang Green Turns.