Lupica Calls Rex Ryan Out (Finally Someone Does)

[SAR I]

Now there is Rex. And even though he seems to have lost more than just a ton of weight this year, you still know he is in town, whether he is calling out second-guessers or getting back into it with Reggie Bush in the days leading up to what is such a huge game for Ryan’s football team today, MetLife Stadium, against the Dolphins.

Because here is where we are with Ryan’s Jets:

They try hard to become a 4-4 team going into their bye week, which would make it 12-12 over their last 24 games, try not to fall to 3-5 and face the prospect of winning in Seattle to not fall to 3-6. If that happens, Ryan might begin to realize something Steinbrenner himself found out in all the years before the Yankees were back on top in the late ’90s:

You’re a great loud newsmaker showman when your team wins. When it doesn’t you just come across as a loud, needy loser.

Maybe that’s why a coach who was such a great defensive coordinator in Baltimore and still might turn out to be a great head coach, sounded a bit defensive earlier this week when asked about the perception that his team played scared in the closing minutes of a bad, bad loss to the Patriots last Sunday in Foxborough.

Ryan: “That’s not even close. We go down (there) to win. I think saying we played scared is somebody who has probably never played the game in his life. That’s a ridiculous comment. That’s certainly not what we do. Everything we do is to play to win the game. ... Again, if you lose, people have the right to any opinion they want. They can make that (assumption), but to say we were scared, that’s not even close to being accurate.”

We can talk all we want about the Jets offense, about the lack of playmakers on it, about Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow and the new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano. But it wasn’t offense that lost the game last Sunday to Tom Brady and the Patriots, it was defense, which is supposed to be Rex’s specialty and was not last season when he still had Darrelle Revis and is not this season without Revis.

The Jets are 19th in total defense and 30th against the run and ninth against the pass and eight teams in the league out of 30 have given up more points than the Jets have so far. And not one of the teams that have given up more than the 170 points the Jets have given up is going to the Super Bowl this season. Or maybe even to the playoffs.

Of course Ryan is not in any kind of job trouble, even though it is kind of fun sometimes to listen to him talk about himself as if he is going to coach here longer than Tom Landry coached the Cowboys, as if he is somehow tenured forever because he made it to two AFC Championship Games his first two seasons in Jersey. For now, Woody Johnson — who seems to have adopted Hal Steinbrenner’s be-happy ownership style — still seems pretty sweet on his colorful coach, and it is unlikely that will change anytime soon.

But the Jets should have enough to make the playoffs this season even without Revis and Santonio Holmes. The Jets are playing in a mediocre division in a mediocre conference and what they need to do, even just trying to get back to .500 this afternoon, is show that they’re not just another NFL mediocrity themselves this season.

There are nine games left for the Jets in this regular season, and there is a chance for Ryan to be a great coach — on both sides of the ball — the rest of the way. But there is no way that happens if the Jets lose to the Dolphins, a team with a rookie quarterback they were lucky to beat in Miami when the two teams played earlier in the season.

Bill Parcells once said, “Nobody cares why you lost, they just remember that you lost.”

The Jets haven’t turned back into losers, even at 3-4, even as annoying as some of them can be sometimes, enough guys in the locker room still acting as if any unspoken thought is against the law. Still: For a season-and-a-half now, they have only grown the perception around their league — and this starts with their coach — that they talk a better game than they play.

They need to show today, or might be 3-6 in a couple of weeks. Once we got predictions from their coach about winning pro football’s big game. Now the big game is getting to 4-4 against the Dolphins.

SAR I

[RussianGreen]

I am shocked that Lupica pulled his face from Obama arse just to watch this game. Or did he?

[Digetydog]

Lupica is a doocher. It is hard to take anything he says seriously.

In terms of the Jets, I think that their problems do not revolve around coaching. Primarily, their problems revolve around a lack of talent on offense and at LB. That is on Tanny.

If I was to evaluate the record v. the talent - they are about right.

[Green + White]

Originally Posted by Digetydog

In terms of the Jets, I think that their problems do not revolve around coaching.

I count clock management and play calls to this topic. So there's enough to improve here.

[LSJF]

Originally Posted by Digetydog

Lupica is a doocher. It is hard to take anything he says seriously.

In terms of the Jets, I think that their problems do not revolve around coaching. Primarily, their problems revolve around a lack of talent on offense and at LB. That is on Tanny.

If I was to evaluate the record v. the talent - they are about right.

The coaching towards the end of the new england game was atrocious ... conservative offense, shotgun by the goal line....the defense stopped attacking and went into prevent allowing Tom to march right sown the field ...

[FMJets]

Rex has his faults, but the game against NE was a travesty in NFL officiating. Lombardi himself would not have won that game.
You can blame the defense all you want but if the NE drive would have started after the 2min warning, strategically it would have been a different game. Once again people have already forgotten about all the bad officiating and just look at it as a loss. Why was there no articles from the Post or Daily news, about this? A shame really.

[JetsNeedNewton]

[usapaw]

You lost me at Mike Lupica...the hater of anything JETS.

[fidelioion]

Originally Posted by usapaw

You lost me at Mike Lupica...the hater of anything JETS.

Agreed. I used to like Lupica, but listening to him on his Radio show is just the worst. He does honestly dislike the Jets and LOVE the Giants.

[GuidoYaztremski]

Originally Posted by FMJets

Rex has his faults, but the game against NE was a travesty in NFL officiating. Lombardi himself would not have won that game.
You can blame the defense all you want but if the NE drive would have started after the 2min warning, strategically it would have been a different game. Once again people have already forgotten about all the bad officiating and just look at it as a loss. Why was there no articles from the Post or Daily news, about this? A shame really.

Horrible officiating on BOTH sides so you can't use that excuse for the loss. I re-watched the kickoff returns of that game and the clock keeper was slow to start for both sides. The returner was always between the 5 and 8 yd. line before the clock stopped. For BOTH teams.

The ref nearest to the play kept his flag in his pocket on 3 plays, when the ref 20-30 yards away threw the flag.

No calls for both sides, the one on Cro with the 2nd quarter almost over when he clearly grabbed Llyod twice was one of the worst. The Lloyd "push off" in the 4th qtr was a horrible call and no flag was thrown by the ref right there, but was thrown by the ref 50 feet away from the play.

No excuses. Sucked for both sides. You have many other reasons to blame the loss on than the refs.

[VERMONT JET]

[C Mart]

Originally Posted by FMJets

Rex has his faults, but the game against NE was a travesty in NFL officiating. Lombardi himself would not have won that game.
You can blame the defense all you want but if the NE drive would have started after the 2min warning, strategically it would have been a different game. Once again people have already forgotten about all the bad officiating and just look at it as a loss. Why was there no articles from the Post or Daily news, about this? A shame really.

oh please...Stop blaming the loss on the refs...Rex's D was atrocious!!! All they had to do was make a stop for the win...And like MANY times since '09 his D DIDN'T!

If his last name was Smith and not Ryan he'd being coaching college somewhere and not regarded as a defensive "genius"...

[Green Bandit]

Lol Mike Lupica.

Like saying, Bill O'Reilly calling out Barack Obama (finally someone does it)

It doesn't matter what's being said, it's who's saying it. For every bad article I can find here, I can find another one just talking the Jets up.

It's the articles that balance both the good and the bad that are worth reading.

[JetsMakeMeCry]

if mark was a legit nfl qb, it would cover a lot of our flaws and all the pressure wouldn't fall on rex and the defense

[Mainejet]

DUMP

[C Mart]

Originally Posted by Mainejet

DUMP

Why? Because Rex is above criticism?

[shuler82]

Originally Posted by C Mart

Why? Because Rex is above criticism?

because the article isn't criticizing Sanchez

[LSJF]

Originally Posted by shuler82

because the article isn't criticizing Sanchez

[Mike D]

Originally Posted by Digetydog

Lupica is a doocher. It is hard to take anything he says seriously.

But let's take the Head Coach seriously...? Right.

[Borgoguy]

Originally Posted by C Mart

oh please...Stop blaming the loss on the refs...Rex's D was atrocious!!! All they had to do was make a stop for the win...And like MANY times since '09 his D DIDN'T!

If his last name was Smith and not Ryan he'd being coaching college somewhere and not regarded as a defensive "genius"...

+1