(R) EXACT REVENGE

Jets look to take down ex-coach

There’s not much for Jets fans to get up for with one more game remaining to this forgettable season.

But for those who care enough to show up for the Jets’ season finale against the Bills on New Year’s Day at MetLife Stadium, at least you’ll have Rex Ryan to kick around.

Regardless of the Jets 4-11 record, their calamitous quarterback situation, wondering how high their first-round draft pick will end up being, wondering what Sheldon Richardson’s beef is with Brandon Marshall or any of the other sloppy subplots to this season, Ryan will be the star of the show Sunday.

Just like he was for the six seasons he coached the Jets before they fired him after the 2014 season.

Just like he was last season while his Buffalo team single-handedly kept the Jets out of the playoffs with wins over them, including one in the season finale that left the Jets on the outside looking in at the playoffs in Todd Bowles’ first season with the team.

Yes, the Jets finished an impressive 10-6 in 2015 and generated hope for a better 2016. But that 22-17 loss to the Bills last Jan. 3 in Orchard Park left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Jets, who had lost by the same score to Ryan’s Bills on Nov. 12.

Jets fans surely recall the unbridled euphoria Ryan displayed in that Nov. 12 meeting, his first against his former team. In that game, Ryan ran up and down the Buffalo sideline pumping his fists after big plays as if he were coaching in a Super Bowl.

Now, a year later, it looks like Ryan will be coaching his final game with the Bills in the home of the Jets, the team that gave him the first six years of his head-coaching career.

Now, you have to wonder if the shine has worn off Ryan and his headline-magnet bravado that Bills owner Terry Pegula lapped up like a hungry dog, handing him a fiveyear contract worth $27.5 million.

Now, you have to wonder whether this is it for Ryan as a head coach, whether he’ll slip seamlessly into the waiting network TV booth. Head coaches who’ve been fired twice in less than three years and who’ve coached six consecutive seasons without a playoff berth usually are not a hot commodity.

If this is the end for Ryan in Buffalo after just two seasons, his end will have come with similar warts having been exposed like when he was with the Jets, beginning with the mirage that his supposed topnotch defense is.

Ryan’s defense is ranked 19th overall this season, same as it was last season. That, by his standards, is an embarrassment. A few weeks ago, Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell gashed Ryan’s defense for 236 yards rushing and three touchdowns.

In Saturday’s 34-31 overtime loss to the Dolphins that officially eliminated the Bills, Ryan’s defense yielded 206 rushing yards and a touchdown to Miami running back Jay Ajayi. The Bills generated a franchise-record 589 yards of offense and still lost the game.

Another familiar lament of Jets fans while Ryan was here are his constant problems in game management.

With the score tied in overtime and 4:09 left in last week’s game versus Miami that, if ended in a tie, would have eliminated the Bills, Ryan opted to punt the ball. That opened the door for the Dolphins to drive for the game-winning field goal, because the Bills’ defense could not stop them.

Earlier, Ryan failed to get a time- out called before Andrew Franks kicked a 55-yard field goal to tie the game at 31-31 with six seconds left in regulation. Referee Craig Wrolstad said head linesman Mark Hittner, who was positioned near Ryan on the sidelines, never heard the coach make the timeout call.

On the first play on the Dolphins’ final drive, the Bills had just 10 players on defense, leading to Ajayi gaining 57 yards on a run to the Buffalo 28, which helped set up Franks’ game-winning 27-yard field goal.

Ryan explained the reason for the missing defensive player was a misunderstanding that cornerback Stephon Gilmore was going to be allowed to return to the game after being evaluated for a concussion in the fourth quarter. Maybe Ryan should have delegated more game management responsibility to one of his league-high 27 assistant coaches on staff, including his brother, Rob, whom he somehow convinced Bills management to hire.

If you’re a Jets fan and any of the above sounds familiar, raise your hand. You can put it down now.

Regardless of the fact Sunday’s game has no implications for the playoff race, Ryan’s mere presence is bound to provide some sort of entertainment to those who show up.