The Jets stunning victory at home Sunday against the division leading Buffalo Bills didn’t just show that this team could play with the big boys.
It showed that this year’s Jets have resiliency, something past teams have failed to exhibit time after time, season after season, coach after coach, player after player for decades. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet. We’ve been here before, haven’t we.
I speak from experience.
I have been a Jets fan since I was, oddly enough Joe Namath’s number old…12. When I was a little kid, I was in love with the Dallas Cowboys, as most of the kids my age were in the late 70’s. It wasn’t until my friend Patrick asked me the most important and controversial question I would have to answer probably up until my wedding day. He said “Hey man, why aren’t you a Jets fan like me and my family ? They are awesome and play right in New York City at Shea Stadium where the Mets play!” Then, like any good dealer of poison drugs, Patrick gave me a free sample; a green Jets helmet he had and apparently didn’t want. I was hooked. More like bitten by the werewolf. Destine to spend the next 40 years in the depths of either awfulness, mediocrity, or worst of all, perceived greatness that in the biggest playoff moments comes crashing down to earth in flames like a… well you know.
This season seems to be different, as they seem not to be “those same old Jets”…
Why? Well, as I mentioned, the main reason I see is that resiliency. From the comeback with a on sides punt win against the Browns, to continuing to play hard at the running back position and going out and getting some reinforcement after loosing their best offensive player in Breece Hall, to winning against the Bills after a stinker last week at home against New England. Each time the Jets could have laid down, but they didn’t! The are fighting!
They have a top 5 defense and that is a direct image of their head coach Robert Saleh. The offense under Quarterback Zach Wilson has been up and down, but we are seeing growth. This is a run first offense, and a play making defense, and at 6 and 3 halfway through the season and are heading into a much needed bye week. I believe they can get to 10 wins, maybe even 11, and make the playoffs, and who knows from there. It’s all in front of them, but as this list will remind all of us, until proven otherwise, nobody crashes and burns like… well you know.
