Monday, January 19, 2009

Baltimore Ravens Loss Will Be NY Jets Gain

The loss by the Baltimore Ravens yesterday in the AFC Championship Game by a score of 23-14 to the Pittsburgh Steelers will add up to a big gain for the New York Jets. This will be apparent soon when the NY Jets announce the hiring of Rex Ryan, the Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator for the past four seasons after six seasons as an assistant there. It isn't official as of now but Wikipedia already has him listed as the Head Coach of the New York Jets. According to sources close to the Jets they have already notified the other coaching candidates that Ryan, the son of Buddy Ryan, former Head Coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals and Defensive Coordinator of the Super Bowl Champion '85 Chicago Bears, will be the successor to Eric Mangini, who now is the Cleveland Browns leader.

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This will mark the beginning of yet another new era for the perpetually cursed franchise whose soul was traded to the devil by Broadway Joe Namath when he promised a Super Bowl victory against the heavily favored Baltimore Colts, and delivered, in Super Bowl III 40 years ago. Since then (believe me I know) Jets fans have suffered through thick and thin (mostly thin). Hopefully Ryan can come in and change things around enough to bring the NY Jets to the next level while leaving most of the personnel intact (minus Favre). He won't have anything resembling the defensive personnel he had in Baltimore, but he does have a good nucleus and his coaching style seems to be extremely motivating to his players, who describe him as a players coach. It would be nice to see him do something similar to what his Ravens boss, Head Coach John Harbaugh, did in going with one of the young arms on the team as QB. Harbaugh went with Joe Flacco and rode the wave all the way to the AFC Championship with good offense and great defense, and maybe Rex Ryan can do the same with the Jets by going with Kellen Clemens or Brett Ratliff (who the Jets seem to be higher on than Clemens). I think with the right influence on the defense and some mistake free ground it out offense the New York Jets could be on their way to some good things. Only time will tell. Next year Jets fans, next year. Sound familiar. If it doesn't your not a NY Jets fan for too long. Good Luck Rex Ryan!

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