New York Jets: Time To Put Up or Shut Up

Mark Sanchez and the Jets looked good last night despite losing to the Houston Texans 20-16 in their preseason opener. Overall, it was a balanced performance on both sides of the ball with the usual highs and lows expected during the first game of the exhibition season.  

Meanwhile in other Jets news, Mark Sanchez told GQ he wanted to fight Rex Ryan last season.  After reading this story, I'm left to wonder if anybody else getting tired of the Jets' off-field shtick.

For two straight years now we've been treated to an endless parade of Hard Knocks, tabloid gossip, and just plain nonsense ranging from Braylon Edwards' DUI, the Ines Sainz incident, Darrelle Revis' holdout drama and Antonio Cromartie's child support issues, to name a few. 

Yet through all of it, the biggest offender is probably head coach Rex Ryan given the number and bizarre nature of stories surrounding him, the most notable being him having a foot fetish, flipping off the crowd at an MMA event and most recently a leg tattoo.

Initially it was refreshing to see the Jets get some press and challenge the Giants for attention in New York while also making a name for themselves on the national stage. It's also understandable that incidents and accidents happen over the course of time for every team, but the volume both in number and in sound has grown to a point where it's getting tiresome.   

After two full seasons of this attention do the Jets run the risk of coming across as being all bark and no bite?

Perhaps it's for the best that the Philadelphia Eagles have become the media darlings early this season in doing everything in their power to make the Super Bowl with several big moves in free agency as a means of taking some of the attention away from the Jets so they can focus on the task at hand.

In many ways these Jets remind me of the '86 Mets, as a motley crew that hired a new upcoming coach in Davey Johnson who changed the team's culture following years of disappointment by loosening things up, yet also started off with two years of near misses before finally winning it all in year three.

I love the fact that Rex Ryan truly believes this team will win a Super Bowl. I also understand that all the talk/antics are part of his and the team's collective swagger and that ultimately it's not going away, but at the same time it could end up making them the laughing stock of the league if they don't deliver on their promises soon. Here's hoping the Jets get down to business, minimize the distractions and finally deliver on the field from here out to win in Indianapolis come February.