The New York Jets and their fans have been taught to expect the worst, and generally it is the case. However, this year, things have been different.
The Jets received plenty of offseason hype after an unlikely run to the AFC Championship game last season. At points during last year, it almost seemed the Jets were on a magic carpet ride with the way things fell into place.
It took the Colts to pull out their starters and the Bengals to be a no-show for the Jets to even make the playoffs, but once they entered the party, they sure knew how to make a lot of noise. With road wins over the Bengals and Chargers, the Jets showed they were worthy of making the playoffs.
They even had the Colts on the ropes at halftime before the Colts showed the Jets they were not quite in their class—at least not yet. HBO recognized the hype around the Jets and felt they would be the perfect team to chronicle in their Hard Knocks series. The hype the Jets received, not only from the show, but from their own mouths, made them public enemy No. 1.
They crashed back to earth on the first Monday night of the season in a one point loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Memories from promising years past entered the brains of many Jets fans. They no doubt envisioned the last time they had hopes of a Super Bowl run when Vinny Testaverde injured his Achilles in the first game of the season.
However, this Jets team has shown the fortitude and resiliency never before seen in their history. When things have gone wrong for the Jets in the past, they have just laid down and taken the most brutal of hits. Not so this year.
With an injury to star corner Darelle Revis and the defense under performing, it has been the Jets offense which has picked up the slack. Mark Sanchez went the first five games of the season without throwing an interception while throwing eight touchdown passes.
It has not been all about Sanchez because a rejuvenated LaDainian Tomlinson has captured the starting role. Many laughed when Tomlinson, before playing a single game as a Jet, decided to get a tattoo of the Jets symbol. No one is laughing now as the starting job once seemed destined to go to bruising back, Shonn Greene, has now been taken over by Tomlinson.
Tomlinson has been the big back on campus for the Jets by scoring five touchdowns while running for 5.3 yards per carry. The Jets needed clutch play from both Tomlinson and Sanchez versus Denver to move their record to 5-1.
With Sanchez struggling for the first time this season and the running game not performing at its usual pace, it seemed the clock was about to strike midnight on the Jets. Then they had a drive, which is what championship teams are made of.
Sanchez took his team down the field with a shade over three minutes left in regulation, down by three and scored a touchdown which would be the deciding score. During the drive, the Jets were able to convert plays behind their second year quarterback, which would not have been made last season.
Sanchez converted some big third down passes and none better than the one he did not complete. On a fourth-and-six, the Jets had all their receivers run straight down the field hoping to find a one on one opportunity.
The opportunity was not there at first, so Sanchez bought time with his legs before correctly finding man to man coverage on Santonio Holmes. He threw a laser towards Holmes in which the defender pulled Holmes down by the face mask. Pass interference was called, and replays showed Holmes would have caught the pass if there was no interference on the defender.
Sanchez and the Jets stole a game by having a fourth quarter comeback, and in the process, showed the rest of the NFL they have the mark of a winner.
