New York Jets: Losses and Incidents Could Doom Coach Rex Ryan

With friends like that, who needs enemies?

Jets strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi must be saying that to himself. He is serving his suspension indefinitely, and he may not get his job back after tripping Dolphins cornerback Nolan Carroll.

Alosi did the wrong thing, but if he did not follow orders, Rex Ryan would have screwed him. It seems like he is screwed now.

Ryan and Tannenbaum are trying to protect themselves from the league, and this can't make Alosi's job secure. Odds are Alosi will be out.

This is not going to end well for both sides. Alosi will likely sue the Jets, and he will rat them out to the league. Ryan could be out of a job if his team is not playing in January. Even if he survives, he may lose his players in the process.

After this incident, it's hard for players to trust Ryan. They have to wonder about him as a leader right now.

Ryan hasn't been himself since the Jets lost to the Patriots. He has been despondent at games. He is already undermining Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer by talking to Mark Sanchez about the offense. He has no answers after losses. Now, he is starting to call out his defense for not doing anything enough.

This sounds like a man that can't lead during a crisis. Once that happens, players find out this coach is a fraud. A mark of a great coach is leading when times are tough. Giants coach Tom Coughlin serves as a good example. When the media and several Giants players complained about him, he went to work by coaching instead of worrying about it. It paid off for him when the Giants won the Super Bowl in 2008.

That's how a coach does it. Ryan has not shown he can get it done. He had success last year, but it helped that the Colts and the Bengals bailed him out by resting their players. The Jets qualified for the playoffs, and they had a good run in January. The coach received praise for it, and rightfully so.

Now, he's enduring another crisis. Can he handle it? This is not about losing the Patriots. It's about getting the team together after an inexcusable loss to the Dolphins and that incident.

That may not be easy this time around. The schedule gets tougher now. There won't be teams bailing the Jets out this year.

For one thing, the Steelers are trying to get the No.2 seed. They certainly want to plant the seed of doubt for the Jets. They have that opportunity. With the offensive line being a mess, the Steelers will attack Sanchez at will.

It's hard to think the Jets are going to win this Sunday. It will be a close game, but it's hard to think Sanchez will fare well against a physical defense.

The Bears could give the Jets a hard time the following week. They are a good home team. Their defense has been good all season, and their offense has come together.

That game is a tossup. If that's a game the Jets have to win, it's the Chicago game. It would be better if the Jets win Sunday of course. Maybe that win can give them a strong finish.

If the Jets play the Bills with their playoff hopes on the line, that is not going to end well. They can win that game, but that may mean nothing. They could lose out on the tiebreakers.

If the team misses the playoffs, they may fire Ryan. If he loses his players, that will be it. These incidents will take a toll too.

Jets owner Woody Johnson is a proud man. He tolerated all this nonsense by Ryan because the team was winning. In fact, he embraced it. With all those incidents that took place this year, he is going to be embarrassed if he does not get another playoff run.

He can't be happy with what's going on. An owner can put up with so much.

Right now, Ryan is secure. He should hold on to his job right now. Still, things change in sports. Love is only conditional. If he loses his team after this, there's no getting it back.

Just ask Eric Mangini and Brad Childress. Both coaches tried their best to work well with the players, but it did not work in the end. Players found them to be untrustworthy after they got off to a rocky start.

Ryan has had their respect since day one, but things change after awhile. He has to win some guys back, especially Mark Sanchez and Shaun Ellis. When a head coach talked about changing quarterbacks, that can't make the quarterback happy. When he calls out the defense, it would be insulting after playing a great game.

There's nothing worse than publicly calling guys out. That's what desperate people do. They jump ship when the going gets tough. This is the same coach that proclaimed his team dead last year after a frustrating loss to the Falcons.

Now, he deserves the benefit of the doubt. If the team wins on Sunday, all of this goes away. No one thinks about Alosi anymore. No one worries about his job security. That's how it works.

But if the Jets lose Sunday, it's going to be tough to recover. This is a team that has a bad history when it comes to collapses. Remember 1986, 1997 and 2008. They got off to a great start, but in the end, they did not play in the second season.

If they miss the playoffs, it will be embarrassing. This is a team that talked about winning a championship. They promoted themselves as the team in NY. Their coach signed a signature saying "Soon To Be Champs".

Many football teams will laugh at the Jets if they miss the playoffs. Bill Belichick and Tony Sparano will have a nice brewski by talking about this. If the Dolphins get the last playoff spot, Channing Crowder will run his mouth.

Someone is going to pay for it. It won't be Mike Tannenbaum. He put that roster together, but he earned Johnson's trust. He can go back to getting guys with character.

Ryan orchestrated this renegade image. He is the one that embraced coaching bad boys. It will be on him.

The buck stops with the coach.

Will it be fair if he loses his job? No, it wont. It's not fair if Alosi loses his job for a stupid mistake, especially if he was following orders. Why shold Ryan be different?

If Ryan told Alosi to do this, he should be held accountable. He will pay for it by not making the playoffs, and he should too. There's no point keeping him if he can't lead if things are bad.

We are going to find out about what Ryan in the next few weeks. His job should depend on it.