Being a Jet fan is like that famous quote from Godfather 3: "Just when I think I am out, they pull me right back in!" That describes it in a nutshell. Just when I think the Jets can't disappoint me anymore, they find yet a new way to do it all over again.
This year was supposed to be different. A year removed from last year's giddy and improbable run to the AFC Conference championship game, they were now supposed to be one year better and more experienced. Mark Sanchez was now a second year quarterback, the team added standout wide receiver Santonio Holmes, to go along with Braylen Edwards and Jericho Cotchery, not to mention a re-invigorated Ladanian Tomlinson, and the defense was supposedly as tough as ever.
The team did great for the first three months of the season, then backslid over the last five games, which included a blow-out loss to the Patriots and an inexplicable loss to the Dolphins. The Patriots won the division going away, but the Jets made into the playoffs as a wild card. That earned them a road game against Peyton Manning and the Colts. The Jets came through with an epic win on the road, Sanchez leading them down the field in the final minute of play for a last second winning field goal. It looked like this might indeed be a different Jets team with a different destiny.
Things only got better the following weekend at New England. The Jets were decided underdogs, but ended up handing it to the Patriots big time. Tom Brady was knocked around, hurried, and sacked all day long, and the Jets came out with one of their most inspiring playoff victories in their history. Up next was a rematch with the Steelers (the Jets had beaten them in Pittsburgh five weeks before) with the winner going to the Super Bowl.
All week long, the Jets were their normal, confident, brazen selves. They had triumphed over Manning and Brady on the road in consecutive weeks, and they were not afraid of Ben Roethlisberger. It was hard for me, as a lifelong Jets fan, not to get excited and anticipate what would be only the second Jet appearance in a Super Bowl.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the Super Bowl. The Jets forgot to show up in the first half of the Conference championship game. The defense couldn't stop anything on the first Pittsburgh drive of the game, which lasted 15 plays and ten minutes, resulting in a touchdown. On the next Pittsburgh drive, Big Ben tossed a 50-yard bomb, which Jet cornerback extraordinaire Darrelle Revis jumped in the air for and had in his arms for an interception. Except, the ball bounced off his hands, off his chest, and onto the ground. The Steelers then marched downfield for their second touchdown. Later in the first half, the defense finally stopped the Steelers, who were forced to punt. Oops! One of the Jets rushed in trying to block the punt, got no part of the football, but ran into the punter, giving the ball back to the Steelers. And let's not forget the brilliant fumble by Sanchez and run back for touchdown late in the half by Pittsburgh. If not for a last second field goal, the Jets would have been shut out in the half.
The Jets did manage to show up for the second half, and made a stirring attempt to come back. It might have even been successful if not for a ridiculous 8-minute drive which culminated with a first and goal from the 2, and the Jets foolishly calling two terrible pass plays, and ultimately failing to score. That really was the game right there. Final score, Steelers 24, Jets 19. The fourth consecutive time the Jets have lost a Conference Championship game, with only one win in their history.
Frankly, I don't want to hear that I should be proud of the team, they came so far, they got to the AFC Conference championship game two years in a row, blah, blah, blah. The unmistakeable truth is they should have beaten Pittsburgh and won that damn game, but for whatever reason they just did not show up in the first half. The offensive play-calling was terrible, and there were way too many stupid plays and foolish penalties. They beat themselves, yet again, and disappointed their long-time fans. Yet again.
I really like this team. Sanchez, Revis, Holmes, Edwards, D'Brickeshaw Ferguson, Calvin Pace. There are some truly talented football players on this team. And they love Rex Ryan and are very loyal to him. And I have to admit that I love Ryan's confidence and bluster. No Jet coach has ever taken the team this far in back-to-back seasons. It's really inexplicable why they performed so poorly last Sunday. Oh, wait a minute, there is an explanation. It's on the front of their uniforms. It's spelled J-E-T-S.
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The problem they had tacking surprised me the most. That and the fact that the Steelers kept on going underneath, but the Jets couldn't adjust until half-time. Of course, when the defense needed to make a stop at the end of the 4th quarter, the Jets didn't seem to have an answer for that either.
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