Led by their snack-happy head coach Rex Ryan, the Jets have expressed one goal and one goal only throughout the 2010 offseason: "Super Bowl or bust." After their disappointing 30-17 loss to the Colts in the AFC Championship Game last season, the 'go big or go home' mantra has been drilled into the players every day since.
"We know what we got to do," linebacker Calvin Pace said, according to the New York Daily News. "We talk about it every day. It's ingrained in us. It's win or else."
All the chatter surrounding the Gang Green during the offseason has only propelled them to talk more. When Tom Brady said he "hated the Jets," the Jets responded. When Le'Ron McClain said he was glad for the Darrelle Revis signing, the Jets responded. Now that Ray Lewis has joined the chat room, it's only a matter of time before the Jets respond.
It's all an intricate strategy, the Jets claim, so might as well jump on the bandwagon as long as it's running.
"Talk or no talk, if you don't go out there and play your best, you're going to get embarrassed," Pace said. "The talk is really just making people watch, making people tune in and making people say, 'Let's take a look at the Jets … Is this team for real?'"
The hype has definitely gotten people talking and there's no doubt more NFL fans — and even non-football fans — will be tuning in to see if the Jets live up to their crystal ball predictions. They have become public enemy No. 1 in the NFL, striking a similar chord as the Miami Heat in the NBA.
"We’re the Miami Heat of football," cornerback Antonio Cromartie said, and in many aspects, he's right.
Both teams made major moves in the offseason, with one player in particular (Revis for Jets, LeBron James for Heat) taking an excruciatingly long time to make their decision on what team they will play for in the upcoming year.
They both have done a lot of talking, boosting their image in the offseason that creates the deafening buzz and blinding spotlight for the approaching season.
And finally, they have both used television shows to further increase the size of that target on their backs, embracing the "team you love to hate" status. Whether it's Ryan's expletive-laden rants on HBO's Hard Knocks, or LeBron's gut-wrenching "Decision," on ESPN, both the Jets and the Heat are completely on board with their public enemy status.
As the time for talk begins to dwindle, and the NFL and NBA seasons creep closer, neither team has proven anything yet, and their win-loss columns are still blank. So just one question remains: Will they live up to their hype?
We'll be watching.
