I’m sure that Rex Ryan put a celebratory foot in his mouth Sunday night.
I’m just glad it wasn’t his own foot and didn’t happen as a result of the New York Jets’ not-as-close-as-the-scoreboard-says 28-21 victory over the heavily favored New England Patriots.
The result was a surprising one as most people – myself included – thought that Bill Belichik’s finely tuned machine would have New York’s finest trash talkers cleaning their verbal vomit up from Foxboro stadium by the end of the night.
However, the Jets and Patriots reversed roles they played one month ago in New England’s 45-3 shellacking. Ryan, Revis and Co. made Tom Brady look like an Ugg model transitioning into a football player instead of the other way around.
Gang Green pulled off the draw dropper because of Ryan and his boisterous tantrums, not in spite of it. Each win gives Ryan more reason to run his mouth. And the more the second-year coach talks the talk, the more his players want to walk the walk.
“I’ll go to war for a man who’s willing to put himself on the front line and fight with his troops,” said Jets linebacker Bart Scott after the victory. “How can you not play hard for a man like that?”
That’s the utter genius of Rex Ryan.
His players don’t see him as a man with diarrhea of the mouth but a man with the plan – and players – that is going to beat your team and isn’t afraid to let you know.
Ryan’s Message: Believe in yourself, stick to the game plan, have fun and you’ll be rewarded with the Promise Land.
Ryan the Messiah, anyone?
The bravado of the Jets organization is ushering in a coaching era that rejects mum as the word and instead opts for the phrase “loud and proud.”
The up-and-coming generals of the NFL have been taking notes as they realize toughness mixed with experience combined with a tinge of arrogance is the best way to catch the ear of today’s athlete.
The Chiefs’ Todd Haley refused to shake the hand of then-Bronco’s coach Josh McDaniels because he felt Denver ran up the score.
They responded by going 10-6 and winning the AFC West for the first time since 2003.
Pete Carrol made no apologies for the Seattle Seahawks making the postseason by winning the NFL’s worst division.
The Seahawks rallied behind Carrol with one of the NFL’s greatest upsets by defeating the defending Super Bowl Champion Saints.
Buccaneers coach Reheem Morris called his young squad the best team in the NFC early in the season when most believed them to be a flash in the pan.
The Bucs showed that Morris was closer to being correct than most people thought by finishing 10-6 and became the first team with double-digit victories to miss the playoffs since 1991.
No matter what you choose to call Ryan – a revolutionary, visionary, or wind bag – there no denying he won’t stop talking until he wins a Super Bowl.
And he doesn’t care whose feet he has to step on to do it.
