Jets Keep Soaring

A bad bounce, an ill-advised penalty, maybe a field goal that clanks off an upright, and the team that was left for dead by its own coach will represent the AFC in Miami in Super Bowl XLIV.

The Jets are just 60 minutes -- and a fortuitous break -- away from the franchise's first trip to the Big Game in over 40 years.

Can the Jets beat the Colts straight up in Indianapolis with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line? No! But, then again, Gang Green wasn't going to beat the Chargers in San Diego.

In sports -- and life -- capitalizing on fortunate situations is key to moving forward.

Whether or not the Jets should have ever been in the playoffs is debatable. What's not up for discussion is that Rex Ryan's club took advantage of every handout that came its way.

All too often, teams get a gift only to let it slip right through their collective hands. This loud-mouth Jets squad seizes every bit of good fortune and makes the most of it.

The Jets would not have beaten the Colts had the teams matched-up in, say, Week 12 of the regular season. But the Jets took full advantage of Bill Polian's questionable philosophy to rest the starters in a meaningless game -- at least from Indy's viewpoint.

Next up was a back-to-back with Cincinnati. While the Bengals were a legitimate playoff team early in the season, Cincy hit a rough sport late in the season losing two of three -- albeit to good teams -- before facing the Jets.

Once again, the Jets took full advantage: First beating the Bengals to garner entry to the postseason, then winning the Wild Card Game in Ohio.

The Bengals weren't playing as well as they had while getting off to a 7-2 start. But the Jets didn't play down to the competition nor make a key blunder to lose the game.

Moving on to San Diego, once again, Gang Green played mistake free -- for the most part -- and let the Chargers stumble, bumble and kick the game away.

The Colts have the next opportunity to break the glass slipper of the only Cinderella left standing. And Indy has what to worry about: One misstep, a single errant throw and the Jets will take full advantage.

With the way things have been going for this charmed team, don't count 'em out.

Playoffs Expectations Too High For Jets

What's with New York football teams and losing in gut-wrenching fashion. Last week it was the Giants against the Chargers, this week the Jets vs. the Jaguars.

Neither team played dominant football for the first 55 minutes, yet both were in position to walk away with a victory late in the fourth quarter.

For Gang Green, it was the Maurice Jones-Drew Show early and a lack of communication in the end that did them in -- and ended any dreams of a playoff run.

While in ordinary times having a decent season with a rookie head coach and quarterback is acceptable as part of the growing pains, there is a sense of disappointment surrounding the franchise.

In the past, starting a first-year QB from Week 1 was suiciding the year. And a head coach with no experience as the top-dog would be given a year to figure himself out.

Not for these Jets, not this year.

There are several reasons why expectations were higher than usual for this bunch:

1) Hot start: At the start of the season, there were no high expectations for this team, after getting out of the gate 3-0 that changed.

While many Jets rooters were attempting not to let it get to their head, it certainly changed the perception of the year. No longer was there the thought of this being a throw-away season, a playoff berth was certainly within reach.

2) Talk is cheap: Following the lead of Rex Ryan, many Jets were quite boisterous early on. Ryan was speaking of winning "multiple championships" before winning a game.

Sanchez wasn't exactly keeping a low profile himself. Posing for GQ before taking an NFL snap is no way to keep the pressure off yourself. Although appearing in a magazine is not the reason the Jets have lost four out of the last five, it did add unnecessary exposure (read: expectations).

3) Last year's success: Matt Ryan in Atlanta and Joe Flacco in Baltimore have many believing that putting quarterbacks behind center as a rookie is the wave of the future.

While the belief is true, few teams will duplicate their feat of going to the postseason with a novice head coach and first-year signal caller.

Despite the seeming disappointment, the Jets are actually having a decent season. With several eminently winnable games remaining on the calendar a .500 record is not out of the question.

There is obviously an issue closing out games as the numerous narrow losses prove. Many of those games come down to a play or two deciding the outcome.

Will the added experience change the Jets' fortunes in a close game later this season? Time will tell.