Moment of Strange

A year ago at this time the New York Jets were not on the radar of too many pundits. And why would they be? They were coming off of a disappointing 9-7 season that saw them miss the playoffs for the 3rd time in 4 years. They had fired head coach Eric Mangini, replacing him with 1st time head coach Rex Ryan. They also had to replace quarterback Brett Favre, who after one up down season with the Jets decided to start throwing around the “retirement” word yet again in order to get his release. They boldly moved up in the draft to select QB Mark Sanchez, and then made it known he was probably going to be the starter from day one. Rookie head coach, rookie QB. A recipe for disaster, right? Not exactly. By employing a smash mouth running game that took much of the pressure off of Sanchez and relying on a league leading defense, the Jets peaked at the right time and went on a spirited playoff run that saw them end up in the AFC championship game, where they came up short against the Indianapolis Colts. Ryan himself opened a lot of eyes by basically becoming the Peter Griffin of the NFL, a fat guy with the balls and lack of tact to say anything at anytime. Being the son of infamous red ass Buddy Ryan, the man credited with building the 1985 Chicago Bears defense that is thought of by many to be the best of all time, Rex and his twin brother Rob followed their dad to the NFL. Rex won a Super Bowl ring as the Baltimore Ravens defensive line coach back in 2000 and eventually worked his way up to defensive coordinator. Rex has carved out his own identity in the NFL. While he shares a few of his father’s traits (quick wit, quicker tongue) I don’t think we’ll see him punching out an offensive coordinator on the sideline anytime soon. With a gregarious head coach and a number of eccentric players, the J-E-T-S are the perfect subject for the 2010 edition of HBO’s Hard Knocks.