Jets Have Blueprint For Playoff Run - 2009 on Astini News

Jason Szenes for The New York Times

Fullback Tony Richardson, no longer with the Jets, was a veteran leader on the team in 2009.

At almost the same point two years ago, Ryan thought the same thing, declaring that the Jets' playoff hopes were "barely breathing."

The Jets had just lost in the final seconds to the Jacksonville Jaguars and would soon lose their next game, against the New England Patriots, to fall to 4-6. Four weeks after that, Ryan rushed to judgment and incorrectly stated that the Jets were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention.

Of course, the Jets did make the playoffs by winning five of their final six regular-season games, and eventually advanced to the A.F.C. championship game for the first time in 11 years.  Now, after demoralizing losses to the Patriots and the Denver Broncos have left them with a 5-5 record, the Jets find themselves in a familiar position.

"It's tiring," safety Jim Leonhard said. "You don't want to be in Week 11 or 12 and playing everything like it's do or die. But we've kind of thrived in that. When we've put ourselves in that position, where our backs are against the wall, we've played our best football. This is when we've come alive." 

The Jets are tied for ninth in the A.F.C., and their final six opponents have a combined .373 winning percentage (19-32). Of those teams, only the Giants (6-4) have a winning record. In the final six games in 2009, the Jets faced only two teams with winning records, the Indianapolis Colts and the Cincinnati Bengals, who rested their starters against the Jets after clinching first place in their divisions.   

"Somebody's Santa Claus wish was granted that game," Ryan said Friday, referring to how Indianapolis took Peyton Manning out for most of the second half. 

While the Jets are in a similar position to the one they faced in 2009, they are marginally better in some offensive categories. They are averaging 22.8 points per game compared with 21.3 through the first 10 weeks in 2009. Although Mark Sanchez has raised his completion percentage from the 52.1 percent he had as a first-year starter after 10 games, his current 56.7 completion rate ranks 29th in the N.F.L.

The running game has struggled even more. Through 10 games in 2009, Thomas Jones had 884 yards rushing. This season, the Jets have a total of 966 yards rushing. The Jets are also missing much of the veteran leadership — personified in players like fullback Tony Richardson, defensive lineman Shaun Ellis and offensive linemen Alan Faneca and Damien Woody — that had a stabilizing effect despite two three-game losing streaks in 2009.

 "It's different now," said tackle Wayne Hunter, who called Richardson and Faneca two of the best leaders he had known during his eight-year career. "That makes a big difference, too. For the most part, the veteran experience and leadership isn't there." 

The Jets' defense is still one of the most feared in football. But the scheme Ryan employed during his first year as coach, one that regularly stymied running backs and sealed off receivers, has been around long enough that opponents have found ways to exploit it. Four teams have scored 30 or more points against the Jets this year. Only three did so in all of 2009.  

"It's a different monster because that year we made the playoffs at 9-7," linebacker Bart Scott said. 

He added, "Now, 11-5 may not get you in. We may play our best in these six games and not go." 

Ryan, though, is clear about what the team needs to do. After all, he has been in this position before.  

"I never thought we'd be in this spot right now, but we are," he said. "We have to win the rest of them. That's the mentality." 

EXTRA POINTS

C. J. Spiller will start at running back for Buffalo on Sunday after Fred Jackson was placed on injured reserve with a fractured fibula. ...Rex Ryan said that running back LaDainian Tomlinson was unlikely to play against Buffalo because of a sprained ligament in his knee. ...The Jets extended the contracts of the offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and the defensive coordinator Mike Pettine through at least 2012, a decision that was reached during the off-season, but publicly acknowledged on Friday.