Rex Ryan Proving His Merit with Upset Win over Steelers

Rex Ryan stands a good chance to lose his job after a disastrous two-month stretch of losing—but Sunday's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers proved that Ryan, for all of his flaws, is still a quality head coach.

With just one win on their record, the New York Jets had every excuse available to them to mail in the rest of the season—but they would never quit on Ryan. A team with any less respect for its head coach would not have shut down the hottest offense in the NFL with nothing but pride on the line. 

Ryan has earned his fair share of criticisms over the years, and the list of reasons for the Jets to part ways with him has only multiplied this season.

Concerns about his ability develop a young quarterback or keep his emotions out of play-calling have only grown by the week. Memories of the jolly coach who took his undermanned teams deep into the postseason have been replaced by frustration strong enough to fuel an airplane. 

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It took five-and-a-half seasons, and the last remaining coach from the hire class of 2009 had lost his team. Rex was a dead-man walking, coaching for his next job—or so we thought. 

Sunday's win over the Pittsburgh Steelers reminded the Jets of what they could be parting ways with if they underwent with the seemingly inevitable firing of Ryan. 

Sitting at 2-8, the Jets are on schedule to finish with a record poor enough to justify moving on from Ryan—but do they truly believe they can find an upgrade over him after watching such a massive upset unfold?

Firing the coach is the easy part of the transition. Finding an upgrade is the real challenge—especially when it comes to drawing up masterful defensive game plans. 

The Steelers were one of if not the hottest team in the NFL entering this game. Ben Roethlisberger had thrown six touchdown passes in each of his past two games—the first player in NFL history to do so. Aiding his cause was receiver Antonio Brown, who was atop the NFL leaderboards in catches (71) and receiving yards (996).

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And yet, despite starting the likes of Marcus Williams and Phillip Adams at cornerback (neither of whom was in Jets training camp this season), the Jets all but shut down this red-hot passing attack, not allowing a touchdown until the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. 

Ryan did not just re-establish himself as an elite defensive mind—he has proved some adequacy managing an offense as well, particularly when in terms of incorporating Percy Harvin into his offense as quickly as he did. 

The Seattle Seahawks parted ways with the star receiver in large part because they saw him as nothing more than a gadget player, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapport (h/t Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com). 

Under Ryan's watch, Harvin has broken personal records less than a few weeks into a brand-new system. 

Team	Games	Receptions	Yards	Average
Seahawks	5	22	133	6.0
Jets	3	17	184	10.8

As weird as it sounds, Ryan has been more open-minded and efficient about the use of Harvin than a Super Bowl-winning coach, Pete Carroll, ever has. 

With his job on the line, Ryan has been able to forgo the concept of playing his boss' draft picks, electing to play his favorite 11 players at any given time. Benched are Geno Smith and Calvin Pryor in favor of Michael Vick and Jaiquawn Jarrett respectively. 

Since making the move to Vick, the Jets offense has looked like a respectable—even explosive—unit. The Jets are finally getting the mobility out of the position they thought they were going to get with Geno Smith, and the on-field results reflect it. 

After failing to generate a single turnover in weeks, Ryan made the bold move to bench his first-round safety in favor of Jarrett, who proceeded to triple the Jets' turnover total in one afternoon. 

Armed with the freedom to make his own lineup decisions without being chained down by interoffice politics, Ryan's team has looked light-years better than the Smith-led group that stumbled into the game against the Buffalo Bills—leaving one to wonder exactly where this Jets team would be had Ryan been given more control over his starting 11 since training camp. 

It remains to be seen whether owner Woody Johnson is willing to part ways with his boisterous head coach, but there is no doubt that Ryan would have little trouble finding work afterward. After all, the respect Ryan has around the NFL is a big reason why he remained with the Jets after last year's 8-8 campaign:

Critics will point to Ryan's blowout losses this season as a sign of needed change, and change may very well be in the cards for the Jets. The results this season have been poor enough to warrant a total clean-out of the front office and coaching staff, but it would not indict Rex as a lesser coach than he is. 

Ryan has made his fair share of mistakes to help put the Jets in the mess they find themselves. However, most teams in the Jets' position would have curled up into a fetal position and counted the days until they could leave the facility for the offseason. Ryan's Jets played as if they still had a season on the line. 

While it would still be well within Johnson's right to move on from Ryan after the season, Sunday's result was a clear reminder of what the Jets would be missing in a world without Rex. 

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