NFL New York Jets

Rex Ryan Doesn’t Deserve to Get Fired

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Rex Ryan deserves another year

Alan Maglaque-USA TODAY Sports

As the New York Jets head to Foxborough tonight to take on the New England Patriots many people have already concluded that writing is on the wall for Jets head coach Rex Ryan. Sitting at 1-5 his Jets are in last place in the AFC East, with little hope of earning a trip to the playoffs. Most General Mangers, after a season such as this, and especially after not making the playoffs for what would be three straight years, would figure to fire their head coach. However, firing Rex Ryan would not be in the team’s best interests.

First, lets talk about the only thing that matters in the NFL, and that is winning. Winning, albeit something that Ryan has not achieved much of lately, is something that Ryan has shown he can do.

Take a look back at Ryan’s first two years in the NFL as head coach of the Jets; he got his team to the AFC Championship both years. And in 2010 he knocked off both future hall of famers Peyton Manning and Tom Brady in consecutive weeks. This didn’t happen by accident, and Ryan devised two defensive game plans that dismantled both the Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. Many people during that time were saying that Ryan’s team really only needed one piece on defense to become truly dominant, and that was a pass rusher, which he eventually got years later in Muhammad Wilkerson.

Speaking of years later, Ryan now coaches a team that is completely devoid of talent (except for the defensive line, which, after both former General Manger Mike Tannenbaum and current GM John Idzik listened to Ryan and got him the players he wanted, Ryan has coached into being the best D-line in the NFL). He has no wide receivers, or cornerbacks and his quarterback’s situation is the worst in the NFL; his starter averages almost two turnovers a game (40 turnover to 22 games played) and his backup is admittedly not ready when called upon. In today’s NFL, those three positions have become the most important in the game. It’s a passing league, and Rex was given a knife to bring to a sixteen round gunfight. Yet he still manages to get the best out of the players he has, as anyone who watched the Jets play Denver last week can tell you.

Nobody can blame GM John Idzik for holding back on the player spending this year. Ryan wasn’t his choice at HC, and it didn’t bode well for Ryan that owner Woody Johnson had to step in and state that he would be the head coach for this current season after Ryan was able to get last year’s Jets to 8-8. However, Idzik would be foolish not to give Rex another shot. We’ve all seen what Ryan can do when he has quality NFL players. If given a team with a decent roster, he will win a Lombardi Trophy – whether he’s with the Jets or not.

 

Alasdair Thornton is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @Alasdairthornto, or “Like” him on Facebook

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