Gang’s got Rex’s back
Jets’ play can extend coach’s stay
REX RYAN had a bit part in a really forgettable movie last year and now his players are cast in a justreleased holiday classic suitable for the whole family. “Saving Coach Ryan” opened Sunday at MetLife Stadium and Geno Smith, Jeremy Kerley and Chris Ivory had the lead roles, but ultimately it will be up to the directors, Woody Johnson and John Idzik, to decide whether it will have a limited run through December or continue into 2014.
The Jets beat the Raiders, a very bad team, scoring 17 more points in the 37-27 victory than they had scored in the threegame losing streak that finally came to an end. Smith threw his first touchdown pass since Oct. 20 after going the previous five games without one, which is not easy to do.
There is no doubt Ryan is very popular with his players and they have his back. But it’s also a bad reflection on him and the product he’s put on the field that it appeared there were 20,000-25,000 empty seats at MetLife. Maybe it had to do with the forecast for snow right around when the game would end or that the Raiders are an extremely unattractive opponent, but 76,957 people bought tickets and a lot of them decided not to use them even though the Jets are just one game and the tie-breaker out of the second wild-card spot.
Will that factor into Johnson’s decision? The Jets have remained relevant in a year that began with low expectations, but no-shows always make a loud statement.
The Jets are now in the stretch run trying to guarantee that Johnson and Idzik bring Ryan back in 2014.
“I’m the first one to step in and say I have his back,” Willie Colon said. “His passion, his sacrifice and everything he does, is huge. We’re starting to come together, we’re starting to believe in each other and a lot of it is because of him.”
The Jets are only 6-7 and they still haven’t won back-to-back games this season, but the Ravens and Dolphins, who are 7-6, are ahead in the wild-card after dramatic victories on Sunday. If they had lost, then the Jets, Steelers, Ravens and Dolphins all would have been 6-7. Obviously, the Jets are still alive, but have a tough game in Carolina next weekend and then finish up at home against the Browns and at Miami.
Ryan has maintained all season he has not paid any attention to the speculation about his job, but his players are not insulated and know what is going on. “We hear it, we watch the news, we know what it is,” Colon said. “We understand he can only do so much. We got to do it together.”
There haven’t been enough times in Ryan’s five seasons when he’s gone into a game with the better quarterback. Is that his fault? Mark Sanchez never developed before ripping up his shoulder in the preseason. Smith has taken the Jets for a dizzying ride as Ryan tries to break in a rookie quarterback once again.
Smith threw another bad interception on the Jets’ second possession and admitted he took that one to the sidelines with him and began “to think about the mistakes in the past,” but he didn’t have another turnover and came back on the next series and threw a 25-yard touchdown to Kerley, who made a leaping catch. He used his legs a lot more and ran five times for 50 yards, including a 32-yard run to the Raiders 20 to set up Ivory’s 15-yard touchdown run that put the game away at 37-20 with just about nine minutes left.
Near the end of the run, instead of veering out of bounds, Smith lowered his shoulder into Oakland safety Brandian Ross. “I definitely him rather not do that,” Ryan said. “I rather him step out of bounds and not take the hit, but you also love that enthusiasm and competitiveness. Again, he doesn’t need to do that. Just get out of bounds. We have to make sure that he understands that you run the ball in this league from the quarterback position for first downs and touchdowns. He had the first down, protect yourself and get out of bounds. We need to go over that with him.”
Ryan’s success was tied to Sanchez over his first four years and now his immediate future is tied to how well Smith plays in the last three weeks. When I asked him if he’s finally starting to think about his future as the season winds down, he said, “No, shoot, we’re just trying to win and that’s what this thing is about.”
Johnson and Idzik will likely make the decision on Ryan together, but his players will have a huge say. If they can get him to 8-8, regardless of whether that is good enough for the playoffs, it may be good I enough to allow him to stick around. f the Jets had lost to the Raiders, then Ryan would have been in deep trouble. This was a must-win to keep the Jets alive in the playoff race and perhaps ultimately get Ryan job security. “It’s good for all of us,” Nick Mangold said. “Wins help all of us.”
Ryan is a better coach than anybody that Johnson or Idzik can hire to replace him, but the way the Jets finish up will determine whether “Saving Coach Ryan” is a box office hit.