Jets Past Point of No Return, Rex Ryan Now Coaching on Borrowed Time

The Buffalo Bills have a theme song: "The Shout Song."

At this point, the New York Jets should take up one of their own. Here's a suggestion: "Funeral March."

The Jets fell to the Bills Monday night in Detroit, 38-3, in what may have been the most lopsided, embarrassing loss of the year. In some ways, the game was a microcosm of their season. Every flash of brilliance was followed by a bout of futility.

Example No. 1: With his team down 24-3 in the third quarter, Jets quarterback Michael Vick completed a 47-yard pass to wide receiver Eric Decker, who made a beautiful catch down the left sideline. Three plays later, Vick threw a crushing interception.

Example No. 2: Defensive tackle Leger Douzable and defensive end Quinton Coples combined for a 10-yard sack of Bills quarterback Kyle Orton in the red zone in the second quarter. The next play, Orton hit tight end Scott Chandler for a 19-yard touchdown pass.

Monday's loss may have seemed like only another blip on the radar, but with a 2-9 record, New York is past the point of no return. The Jets are officially eliminated from the playoffs (if there was any doubt) and are staring the reset button in the face once again.

It's only a matter of time before big changes are made. The only question is: Exactly what changes will those be?

For the time being, one will not be head coach. It appears Rex Ryan is set in his position for at least the next month, and Ryan seems to believe this too, according to his comments, courtesy of Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports 1:

Whether that holds true after the season remains to be seen, but it feels like a waiting game at this juncture. Ryan's teams are 16-30, beginning with a three-game skid that knocked the club out of the playoffs in 2011. And despite Ryan's claims, the Jets were no better Monday than the team that was blown out 43-23 earlier in the season.

They may have been worse.

There were receivers running free through the Jets secondary, highlighted by a spectacular performance by Bills wide receiver Robert Woods (nine catches, 118 yards, one touchdown). There were Bills defenders breaking through the Jets' offensive line, and Buffalo logged seven sacks as a team.

Over the years, Ryan has earned his prestige as a head coach by his masterful deployment on defense, his exotic blitzes and his stout units that ranked in the top 10 in total defense four straight years (2009-2012). The excellent performance on defense was enough for observers to gloss over the shortcomings on offense—for a while. But as Ryan's tenure has gone on, he has not rounded out his game as a head coach.

The Jets have ranked among the 10 worst teams in scoring offense each of the past three years, including 2014.

Ryan's robust attitude is not showing up in press conferences as much, but his aggressive, undisciplined coaching style is beginning to wear off on his players and is showing up on the field. The Jets have committed 84 penalties this season, the sixth-most in the NFL, per The Football Database. That lack of discipline falls on Ryan as a head coach, a sentiment Brian Costello of the New York Post agrees with:

Individual players had their moments. As mentioned earlier, Coples and Decker made great plays that were later wiped away by breakdowns elsewhere.

But despite some talent in spots, the Jets are not getting any closer to being a competitive team as a whole. The only areas that have improved in the past four seasons are the defensive line—where the Jets have used three first-round picks—and at wide receiver—where they have recently splurged to load up for the future.

Of course, all of the problems up front and recent defensive shortcomings wouldn't be as prominent with better quarterback play. The Jets may have the worst depth chart at the position in the NFL—the numbers bear it out, with both Vick and Geno Smith ranked in the bottom 10 in the NFL in passer rating.

Player	Comp %	YPA	TD	INT	Rate
Geno Smith	58.8	6	7	10	68.6
Michael Vick	52.9	5	3	2	68.3
Total	56.9	5.7	10	12	68.5

Quarterback controversy aside, the Jets don't have much talent at other positions to help conceal their lack of a top-end quarterback. The Bills, on the other hand, have enough talent at the other spots that they are above .500 at 6-5 and a potential (if minor) threat for the playoffs, despite the lack of an elite passer.

That being said, some of the blame falls on general manager John Idzik. The Jets' problems in the secondary can be traced back to the team's lack of urgency when addressing the depth chart at cornerback, which has grown gradually thinner under Idzik's watch.

The lack of a quarterback also falls on Idzik, who swung and missed on Smith and Vick. 

Given the short-handed roster Idzik was dealt when he arrived in New York, it would be understandable to give him another opportunity to prove himself as the Jets' general manager. Unfortunately, that would prove to be a sticky situation for the team, because that would ultimately mean that whichever head coach ultimately replaces Ryan could be entering a potential one-and-done scenario if Idzik is on the hot seat.

The Jets have to answer some pretty significant questions for the future of their team, and we're not likely to get those answers until the season is over. For now, it's just a waiting game while the rest of the season takes shape before heads roll at MetLife Stadium.