Jets to Lose First Game
By author
Monday night the arrogant and self-aggrandizing head coach of those Jets, Rex Ryan, will have his moment. But not a moment in the sun. The NY Jets (some have other names for them) will lose their first game. And they are poised to do so, thanks to (see above) their own head coach.
A Monday night home game opening against the Baltimore Ravens on TV has now been built-up by Ryan to something of a playoff game itself. Thus there is a great deal of self-imposed pressure on him and his team.
For one, right now there is quite a bit of trash talk between Ray Lewis and certain members of the Jets organization. “The only danger is writing a check that you can’t cash,” the Baltimore Ravens linebacker said. “I mean, Rex can talk all he want to, Rex ain’t puttin’ on pads.” [excerpt from Newsday.com]
Consider that even if Rex Ryan were among the top NFL Coaches ever, Don Shula, John Madden, Chuck Noll, Vince Lombardi, Bill Parcells, Bill Walsh, etc. would any of those famed coaches be trash-talking at this point? Who do you think is benefitted by doing that?
I’m here to tell you Dolphins Fans, the good news: Rex Ryan is due for a big fall and possibly being fired during or following this season. I predict a 3-5 game losing streak in addition to other problems during the season.
Not only does Ryan now have to defeat his weekly opponent, he has the added weight of “daring” them to beat him. Think how much it will sting even to lose that first game against Baltimore: even though this is just 1 of 16 games. For the Ravens, they will go home celebrating and preparing for their next game. The Jets will feel disparaged and Ryan will be privately and publicly shamed.
What I’m telling you here is that Rex Ryan is not a guru or a “top coach” in the NFL. His strategy is foolish and is providing motivation – for the other team. Not a winning strategy – not one that any successful head coach would endorse. Think Sean Payton of the New Orleans Saints would trash-talk another team and then later virtually guarantee a trip to the Super Bowl? He’s not even guaranteeing that trip this year, after they won it and were the champions from 2009. No, think Bum Phillips instead. He virtually guaranteed a championship for the 1989 (then) Houston Oilers. And other more-recent examples exist.
There is no successful head coach that has done this and won football games. Every previous example of this behavior has worked against that coach and team. And especially in Media Central: New York City.
I will go one step further and go on record here: I guarantee you that the NY Jets will lose this game against the Ravens. Rex Ryan thinks he is acting like Joe Namath by making predictions for the season. But he is being arrogant and foolish. Yes, I could be wrong here but at this point I would say that the odds are in my favor on this one. I think that the NY Jets will roll into Miami for the 3rd game of the season needing to win. And they will be at best 1-1 but possibly even 0-2 as a team. And if Miami plays hard they will fold like a cheese sandwich. I do not believe they will rally around Rex Ryan when the going really gets tough.
Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins are making numerous personnel moves and from the front office all the way down seem to be intent on producing a winning football team. And do not seem to feel the need to proclaim it to the world but instead plan to demonstrate it. And thus you have the basic contrast between two teams: a winning heritage of the Miami Dolphins and that of the NY Jets. Do you think that the Dolphins would ever hire Rex Ryan to coach?