The 2009 New York Jets: Cope with Season by Enjoying the Turbulent Ride

For New York Jets fans, the best part of the year is usually the offseason. It is filled with hope, promise, and, most importantly, devoid of the heartbreak that the regular season will inevitably result in.

This year, not only did the Jets have a productive draft in which they selected a player who could solidify the quarterback position for years to come, but they also put together a three-game winning streak to start the season and made another blockbuster trade to acquire an extremely talented Braylon Edwards, the playmaking wide receiver that they sorely lacked.

Recently, though, hotshot rookie coach Rex Ryan has looked overconfident and underprepared, the franchise quarterback has looked skittish and in over his head, and the self-proclaimed best defense in the league has looked ordinary.

Throw in a season-ending injury to arguably the defensive MVP, the irreplaceable Kris Jenkins, and it's about that time we hear the "Same Old Jets" mantra that bandwagoners and die-hards alike always turn to.

But step back for a minute and look at the big picture.

It took a delusional, uber-optimist to consider the Jets a championship contender before the first kickoff of the season. With their hot start came the burden of new expectations and the apparent negligence of their fans (and their offensive coordinator) that the team is run by a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback.

Despite the downward spiral that the team has undergone in recent weeks, it is important to keep those facts in mind.

Jets fans are so used to having their seasons marred by failure and misery that it's easy to get sucked in once things start going well. I know because I am one. It's become second nature to believe that this time it will be different when even the slightest glimpse of positivity enters the picture.

This happens because Jets fans need a reason to keep coming back, to keep watching, to keep enduring what the franchise has put them through. 

When agony is the norm, a few wins tend to get blown out of proportion. When the glimmer of hope flames out in the form of a losing streak, though, it's easy to then overreact the opposite way and chalk it up to "Same Old Jets" rather than looking at the facts.

The facts are, I believe, that the 2009 New York Jets have a lot of talent and potential, but they lack the experience and familiarity with each other and the systems they run to be a contender this season.

A good start and a few heady plays by the rookie quarterback does not change the fact that Mark Sanchez is 22-years-old and is going to endure growing pains and have bad, sometimes terrible, games.

A few well-executed game plans will not prevent Rex Ryan from occasionally getting outcoached and having to learn head coaching as he goes.

Jets fans can take solace in the fact that some of the pieces are in place, and for the first time in a long time, the franchise seems to be moving in the right direction...even if it doesn't look that way every Sunday.

There are many adjectives used to describe Jets fans (most of which are not fit for publication), but "rational" is usually not one of them. We tend to switch from gloom-and-doom to world beaters depending on the outcome of each game. And in that transition, we lose ourselves and our sanity.

Somewhere between the flashes of greatness and the episodes of ugliness lies where the team really stands. The frustrating part is that we won't know where that is until the rollercoaster season ends.

I'm no optimist, but the best thing to do, and maybe the only thing to do, is just enjoy the ride and keep the antacids handy.