Sports Then and Now

I wonder why there is so much fuss about a team that has reached the halfway point in

Rex Ryan and the Jets have their work cut out for them.

the season and has gone four and four. It must be a New York state of mind. Perhaps I’ve been away from the Big Apple too long to remember that all New York sports fans want to and expect their team to win every game no matter what. That’s what makes them New Yorkers.

There are many fans out there before the beginning of the season who would have been very satisfied with a .500 record before the bye week. The fact that the team started 3-0 including a huge win against the New England Patriots raised their expectations through the roof.

Well the Jets have backed down to earth despite the fact that they totally out played the Dolphins on both sides of the ball in their 30-25 defeat. Somebody, however must have forgot to tell them that Special Teams also need to be on the same page.

This is what Special Teams Coordinator Mike Westhoff said, ”This was the absolute worst performance by any of his units in his 27 NFL seasons.” Ouch!

When a return artist like Ted Ginn Jr returns one for 100 yards and a score that’s a pretty good deal. When he does a second one for 101 yards in the same quarter that’s certainly great for him and the Dolphins, but an unimaginable for Jets Special Teams Unit.

This was the first time in my memory that this achievement has been accomplished during my football watching days.

Now Head Coach Rex Ryan has beaten himself up and down and behind the barn, he has given his team the next 6 days to get away from football. He expects that the rest is a good thing and his team will come back invigorated and ready to make a run at the playoffs in the second half of the season.

The Jets have Jacksonville, Carolina, Atlanta and Cincinnati at home and New England, Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Indianapolis on the road.

A 4-4 record seems to be achievable but Ryan and his Jets expect more. They will need to go at least 6-2 and possibly even 7-1 to get tho this years dance. Based on the first eight games, the odds of the Jets getting to the playoffs this year are slim to none.

Jet’s fans will have to demonstrate a little more patience with their patient. He is right now in stable condition with a pretty good chance for a full recovery. How long until fully recovered remains to be seen. Consider this however, they are not on life support and in many areas showing marked improvement every week.

That’s okay by me.

Each week, Sports Then and Now picks one NFL matchup and looks through the history books to find an intriguing past meeting between the two teams. We recap the game and hopefully help reintroduce (or introduce for you younger readers) you to some of the greats (and in some cases not so greats) from the history of professional football.

As rivals in the AFC East, the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets have played some memorable games through the years.

Many of those memorable games, including the game we will feature, included Dan Marino firing passes for the Dolphins.

In 30 career games against the Jets, Marino connected on 58.3% of his passes for 8,651 yards and 72 touchdowns. Those numbers are by far the most of his career against an individual opponent.

Marino passed for 521 yards and three touchdowns in a 1988 game against the Jets, but also had five interceptions as the Jets won 44-30.

The two squads have met in the playoffs only once, with Miami posting a 14-0 shutout in the 1982 AFC Championship Game.

Our Classic Rewind looks at a matchup in 1986 when both Dan Marino and fellow member of the 1983 quarterback class Ken O’Brien were both at the top of their games. The result was an offensive explosion that still ranks among the greatest in NFL history.
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Mark Sanchez and the Jets made short work of the Oakland Raiders.

My long weekend trip to the Bay Area was topped by an outstanding performance on the part of the New York Jets defense as they completely shut down an already suspect Oakland Raiders offense with a shutout performance in front of an almost half empty Oakland-Alameda County Stadium. I know, as I said, I was there.

First off before game details I need to dispel some very untrue rumors, or urban legends if you chose, regarding the fans of the Oakland Raiders. Is it true they have their own section called the “Black Hole’ where even the most frenzied fan dresses up in costumes that would have any trick or treaters on Halloween looking over their shoulders? Yes it’s true.

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Rex Ryan and the New York Jets hope a visit to Oakland is what the team needs to get back on track.

Some media are saying that the Jets, after only six regular season games, have reached the crossroads to the 2009 season. After starting 3-0 and on such a high note with victories over Houston, New England, and Tennessee, the Jets have come crashing towards the ground with three consecutive losses against better teams for sure in New Orleans and Miami and the far less competitive Buffalo Bills.

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The Jets led 13-3 at halftime, but couldn't put away the Bills.

While I was getting ready to sit back and watch my two favorite teams The New York Jets, and the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday afternoon I was reminding myself why I loved living and following sports in Las Vegas.

On any given day of the year I can get in my car and in about the same time you can get to a Walmart near you I can be sitting comfortably in the Sportsbook Lounge at the Alliente Station Casino and Hotel. I’m sure they appreciate the plug.

On two rather giant screens, I couldn’t fit into my apartment, I was going to get to watch both my teams side by side for the rest of my afternoon. Other than being at either game, I figured it couldn’t be better than this.

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After a last second loss to the Dolphins, Mark Sanchez and the Jets will look to get back on track against the Bills.

There hasn’t been much talk around Jets land this week about this upcoming game with the Buffalo Bills Sunday. I can think of two reasons for this. One, the last time Jets players opened their mouths about an opposing team, the Miami Dolphins put a 31 on their pie holes and the talking suddenly stopped as fast as it started.

The second thought is that nobody is taking Buffalo very seriously. They have the 25th ranked defense in the league and their offense has been virtually non-existent. Ever since they blew a fourth quarter lead against New England in week one, the Bills have looked like they don’t even belong in the NFL.

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