New York Jets: 9 Reasons They Will Clinch a 2011 Postseason Berth

With four weeks remaining in the 2011 NFL season, the roller-coaster ride that has been the New York Jets season is about to come to an end.

The road left to travel is unmistakable and the objective is clear: win and keep winning. Consecutive victories against division rival Buffalo and cross-conference rival Washington have given the Jets plenty of reason to believe that reaching the playoffs is within their grasp, but there is no questioning that there are pieces to the puzzle that have yet to be placed.

Here are the nine puzzle pieces the Jets will fit into position before reaching the 2011 AFC playoffs.

Tom Moore

Fans unfamiliar with the New York Jets coaching staff may not understand the significance of the former architect of the vaunted Indianapolis Colts offense during the '90s and this decade. Others would question the influence Moore has on the Jets product.

Perhaps the reason why the addition of Tom Moore to the everyday Jets coaching staff is so crucial to the Jets' postseason hopes is the motivation that it provides current offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.

It is impossible to believe that Schottenheimer has not heard the jeers of Jets faithful or read the many published calls for his removal as primary offensive play caller. Regardless of the ability NFL coaches and coordinators have to tune out the critics and the cynics, Schottenheimer must feel the heat radiating from beneath his seat.

The introduction of Moore into a more prominent role on the Jets coaching staff will accomplish either of two goals that will benefit the Jets' final push this season.

Moore could cause Schottenheimer to question the stability of his position with the Jets and subsequently his marketability as a future head coach. If that’s the case, most Jets fans would be fine with Schottenheimer unleashing his offense if only out of fear for his own job.

The second, more peaceful possibility is that Schottenheimer simply listens to the input of Moore, an offensive wizard who is credited with facilitating Peyton Manning and the Colts' remarkable ascent to greatness.

Either way, the score listed for the Jets on scoreboards league wide should benefit greatly.

Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes

The equation has been the same since the NFL first opened its doors, and it is sure to never change. The biggest games are won by the biggest players making the biggest plays at the time it means the very most. There may be no other pair of wide receivers in the National Football League that have been fit into that formula more often than Plaxico Burress and Santonio Holmes.

No game played by the New York Jets is ever too far out of reach as long as these two future Hall of Famers are on the field and there is an arm that can throw them the football (more on that later). Both of these players seem to thrive when teams have begun to divert their eyes ever so slightly.

With Santonio Holmes producing less-than-stellar statistics so far in this 2011 season, it is at times like these when he comes to life most often. His touchdown catch last week was the result of an absolute exhibition in route running and may serve as the catalyst for a late-season rerun of every Jets fan favorite show, Tone Time.

Even though there are a few more years on this model, the 2011 edition of Plaxico Burress still often gets the Jets where they want to be—in the end zone. There still may be no greater red-zone threat in the league and no defensive back that can match his physicality and size. It becomes a simple matter of pitch and catch to the much taller Plaxico, leaving only a certain cornerback, a fellow Jet, being capable of covering him when it matters most.

Defensive Line

The Jets defensive line might be the most overlooked reason why they have found success on seven occasions this season against opponents. The defensive end combination of rookie Muhammad Wilkerson and third-year Jet Ropati Pitoitua has been extremely dependable.

The play of nose tackle Sione Pouha has been a delightful surprise this season as Pouha has controlled the line of scrimmage against some of the best centers in the league and is a certifiable run stopper.

Defensive Tackles Mike Devito and Marcus Dixon have turned in one of the most undervalued seasons collectively on the Jets. Devito is among the most consistent Jets tacklers and has done an incredible job closing the typically vulnerable three techniques.

The Jets have only allowed one 100-yard rusher this season (Helu's numbers vary from 99 to 100 depending on the source), a Darren McFadden aberration in Week 3 that included a freak 70-yard gallop that accounted for many of the 170 yards he gained.

Offensive Line

The offensive line for the Jets has been a staple of its success for the past six seasons. Without it, the Jets do not get to the last two AFC Championships, plain and simple. Anchors Nick Mangold, D’Bricksaw Ferguson and Brandon Moore have begun to reestablish themselves as one of the elite offensive lines in 2011.

When it is taken into account that the Jets running back corps is not built for hugely impressive breakout performances that will swallow hundreds of yards at a clip, the Jets 1,205 total rushing yards is something of an achievement.

Additionally, third-year guard Matt Slauson has begun to establish his own identity on the Jets line, and while tackle Wayne Hunter has seemingly done everything he can to hamstring his own offense at times this season, he has not been the immediate source of failure recently.

Scheduling

Unless there is a near-miracle act of God or nature, the New England Patriots will be this year’s AFC East champions. It is a pure abomination to football itself that they have been able to once again reach that plateau with the shamefully hideous defense they have fielded this season, but it is because of their front-loaded schedule that they can easily coast through these last four weeks into the upcoming playoffs expecting a home game.

The fact remains, though, that the Jets stand to benefit greatly from their own schedule. While it is comprised of four teams who have established a pattern of occasionally strong play against preoccupied teams, Kansas City, Philadelphia, the Giants and Dolphins are all completely beatable teams if the real New York Jets decide to appear.

A Renewed Drive

Less of a statistical computation and more of an instinctual observation, there is a story to be told in the facial expressions seen on the Jets sidelines over the past two weeks. Never too up, never too down, the Jets seem to maintain an even keel as of late that depicts intensely-focused soldiers intent on a singular goal.

There are no grandiose proclamations of what the Jets will do and who they will do it to; even Jets resident playboy Mark Sanchez seems to find little time to smile these days as there is a job to be done.

Aaron Maybin

The effect of Aarron Maybin on the Jets' fortunes is not all that dissimilar to the effect that Tom Moore provides, offering distraction and doubt as to what the Jets are capable of. Like Moore, teams now must take Aarron Maybin and his talents into account when game-planning. Maybin has six sacks this season, all of which have come at crucial points in games that were until that point still up for grabs.

Void of any real single-edge rusher, Rex Ryan and his defensive coaching assistants were forced to scheme and blitz in order to generate any form of pressure on the quarterback. That in turn allowed coaches to respond accordingly in a way that is now in need of immediate thanks to Aarron Maybin and his sudden realization of his true game-breaking talent.

He may not always make the play that tilts every game in the Jets' favor, but because of the corrections opposing coaches need to make in order to account for him, he just might tilt it just the same.

Mark Sanchez

The previous nine reasons I have listed are reasons the Jets should make the playoffs. If they come together as the Jets expect, there is no reason to believe that Gang Green won't reach the expectations placed upon them before this season began.

With Mark Sanchez, though, the entire weight of the Jets' world hangs on his shoulders. If the 2011 New York Jets make it to the playoffs it will be because of Mark Sanchez, because without him playing up to the level he is capable of, there is just no chance.

The significance of the touchdown heave to Santonio Holmes in the fourth quarter of the Washington game last week cannot be overstated. It was a microcosm of everything that Mark Sanchez has accomplished in his three-year career as the quarterback of the New York Jets, both good and bad: good because it showed that he is capable of such masterful play, and bad that he doesn't play like that way more often.

Sanchez needs to spark that postseason magic that he has shown since 2009, just a few weeks earlier than normal this time around.

Rex Ryan

For all there is for Jets fans to love about head coach Rex Ryan, there is the haunting recurring image of him fading into the menagerie of coaches last January in the AFC Championship game.

As his team fell further and further behind in the early stages of their efforts against Pittsburgh, Ryan seemed to concede his squad’s unpreparedness and sank into oblivion. The Jets had no fire, no passion and most obviously no leadership. The New York Jets have become such a motley group of miscellaneous personalities that without strength in leadership at the helm, they are destined for implosion.

In previous weeks though, the Jets' fearless leader has shown exactly that, an unabashed admittance of the obstacles in front of him and his team in order to make a playoffs. Ryan has exhibited a restrained, quiet confidence that his team will prevail as they have in years prior and has given the Jets fandom every reason to believe. Rex knows that it all comes down to these final four weeks and he will undoubtedly have Gang Green prepared for battle.