Rex Ryan's Stubbornness Will Ultimately Cost Him His Job with the Jets

Rex Ryan has coached worse teams. He has lost more games in a row. But he has never been this close to losing his job. 

Sunday's loss to the Detroit Lions does not end the New York Jets' chances at a playoff spot or seal them away from the division title—but it was the perfect illustration of the type of season the Jets would have to produce to signal the end of the Ryan era.  

Even with a new quarterback and a new front office calling the shots, Ryan still finds himself answering the same questions he did several years ago with Mark Sanchez—raising the question of whether the only constant during that time (Ryan) is more of a problem than a solution at this point in his coaching career. 

One player has not caused the Jets to enter a three-game losing streak. His defense has yet to exert its will against an opponent not named the Oakland Raiders. His best cornerback, Antonio Allen, was playing safety a month ago. The team's top receiver, Eric Decker, has been in and out of the lineup dealing with hamstring injuries. 

However, if this is the last season of the Ryan era in New York, it will be because of the types of errors—not the quantity—his team has been making this season. The 2014 Jets are simply too resembling of the average (and worse) teams Ryan has coached since 2011 for the same reasons. For the fourth consecutive season, the Jets appear to be nothing more than an average football team.

What does this team have in common with the teams that put him in this "win-or-else" situation? They were all plagued with uncertainty at the quarterback position, forcing a young starter to play through stagnant periods in development with predictable results. 

Since starting the season fast with a completion percentage of 82.1, Geno Smith's has dropped to 63.1. His interception total (four) exceeds that of his touchdowns (three).

To Ryan's credit, he has not been inconsistent about who he believes should be his starting quarterback (unlike some other AFC East coaches). His players appear to have bought one-way tickets with Smith, hardly even entertaining the thought of a change to Michael Vick. 

His team is unified—but unity only goes so far in winning football games. 

Ryan's loyalty to one man comes to a fault. The Jets were hoping Smith would emerge as one of the better quarterbacks in the league in his sophomore season, not fielding questions about a potential change not even a month into the season. 

Ryan has been at these same crossroads with his quarterbacks before—except this time, he has one of the best (and highest-paid) backups in the league in his back pocket. He also has much less reason to feel allegiance to Smith, a second-round pick, than Sanchez, who the Jets traded up to select fifth overall in 2009. 

Despite the riper circumstances for a change, Ryan continues to flex his undying support for his young starter, hoping that he will improve in time to save the Jets' season and his career with the Jets.

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This time, however, Ryan won't last to see the aftermath of what will happen if Smith does fail to develop into a long-term starter. 

Undoubtedly, there is more going into his decision than just the on-field results. Not only is Smith younger with more room to develop than the veteran Vick, but winning with the players general manager John Idzik drafted goes a long way in winning over the man who will decide whether he will stay on as head coach.

Ultimately, however, brownie points with the boss are only going to count for so much when it comes to deciding whether Ryan will keep his job beyond this season. The results of this season will determine his job status, not the quarterback depth chart. 

If the Jets lose with Smith, Ryan will be fired. If the Jets lose with Vick, Ryan will be fired. 

Unless Ryan truly believes that Smith is a better player than Vick, there is no reason to stick with Smith for much longer—if at all. If Vick gives the Jets a better chance of beating the San Diego Chargers next week, Ryan has already made a mistake in choosing a starting quarterback.

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It is important to remember that Vick is a backup for a reason, and there is a chance he is actually a worse player than Smith—but the Jets cannot wait too long to find out. As much as the Jets are hoping they would never have been faced with this question, what is the purpose of taking out a $5 million backup insurance policy if they never planned on using it in these types of situations?

The development of Smith is more important than that of any other player on the roster, but no player is bigger than the team.

Even at his best—which no one knows for sure exactly what caliber of play that entails—Vick cannot solve all of the Jets' problems by himself, and a change should not be made simply for change's sake. Nonetheless, if the Jets start winning under Vick's watch, ideals of watching Smith flourish into a franchise player in 2014 will be quickly forgotten. 

If Ryan finds himself in the same position one week from now with a fourth loss on his record, depth-chart politics must be thrown out the window. Ryan must do whatever he can to accumulate as many wins as possible; because for Ryan, everything else is irrelevant if the Jets are losing games. 

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