New York Jets: Rex Ryan Gets It Right, San Diego Chargers Get What They Deserve

Rex Ryan is well known in the world of sports as well...a bit of a loudmouth. Bold, brash and never one to sugar coat his statements and the opinions within them, Ryan's mouth can elicit laughter or a chuckle. It can also grate on one like so many nails on a chalkboard or be downright offensive. 

In the wake of the Jets' comeback win against the Chargers this past Sunday, Ryan was, for the most part, merely amusing. "You stay classy San Diego," an ode to Ron Burgundy from the movie "Anchorman", was Ryan's signature statement following the game. A harmless utterance in comparison to  some less amusing comments from both his own New York Jets, as well as the San Diego Chargers.

Rarely does Rex hear this, but in this circumstance, the people who shouldn't be saying anything are the San Diego Chargers. That's because the Chargers came into New York this past weekend with as many reasons to want to beat the Jets as any team should rationally need.

In the buildup to the game, Ryan had made some fairly arrogant statements regarding both his own coaching ability as well as the coaching ability of Chargers head coach Norv Turner. When Ryan, who once interviewed for the Chargers' head coaching job, was asked about not getting it, his reply was classic Rex: "Well, I think I would have had a couple rings. I'm telling you, those teams were loaded."

Rex may have intended to boast of his own coaching acumen, but he also overtly made light of the coaching ability of current Chargers' head coach Turner. Turner, to his credit, in advance of the game both deflected Ryan's critique and shot back with his own sly remark.

"I hadn't seen his quote and I was a little bit surprised by the call, and after I saw the quote I didn't have the chance to ask him this, but I was wondering if he had those rings with the ones he's guaranteed the last couple of years."

By game time this past Sunday, the fury surrounding the little tete-a-tete had usurped most of the legitimate analysis of what was a big matchup between two of the AFC's perennially stronger teams.

The Jets wasted no time at all in living up to their new found reputation for offensive futility and poor all-around play. At the half, it was Chargers 21, Jets 10.

The second half was a different game all together, as the Chargers seemed not just off their game, but absent mentally from it as well. The offense seemed content to play it safe, lapsing into what appeared to be a prevent defense in the third quarter.

This softness was something that the Jets, in spite of inconsistent play from their offense all season, could easily exploit, and exploit they did, eventually rolling off 17 unanswered second half points to win the game 27-21.

Most troubling of all for Chargers fans was their final drive, a poorly managed, poorly executed drive in which they operated with zero sense of urgency or purpose.

Play clocks were run down to single digits, passes were completed in bounds for very little yardage and the final fourth-down play of the game was almost comical in its futility as quarterback Philip Rivers, operating under only moderate pocket pressure, threw the ball away! Out of bounds. It's almost as if he had no clue his team was losing and that that play was their final hope.

In the aftermath, the war of words between the two teams continued to escalate. First, there was this set of quotes from Chargers tight end Randy McMichael on Sunday.

Their secondary isn't anything," McMichael said, according to metro.us. "It's our fault. It had nothing to do with anyone on their team. The guys in this locker room, we lost the game.

"We had them down and we took our foot off the gas," he added. "I'm not giving credit to anybody. This is our fault. ... You can ask any question you want to ask. The San Diego Chargers beat the San Diego Chargers. Nothing to do with the New York Jets. It's embarrassing, but it is what it is.

"They won. I'm not giving anyone credit. I'm taking the credit away from us."

All of that might be true, but guess what? You guys lost. Be quiet, accept the loss and move on. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who Randy McMichael gives credit to—all that matters is who won.

In addition, the Jets made some big plays in this game. True, the Chargers were terrible in the second half but the Jets still had to score some points and the Chargers still had to not score any for the final result to end up where it did.

Not giving the other team credit for a win is classless, even if your opponent has a reputation for running their mouths that team still deserves credit for being able to back up their talk when the ball is snapped. The Jets fulfilled their part of the bargain this past weekend. The Chargers? They haven't been seen since halftime in New Jersey this past Sunday—only heard, and that's not enough.