Rex Ryan isn't the only person who thinks the Jets are going to win the Super Bowl this season.
Clifton Brown of the Sporting News got an early jump on the NFL prediction season this week by locking in his choice for the winner of Super Bowl XLV and, as you probably guessed from the opening sentence, it is the New York Jets.
Brown cites the infusion of veteran talent this offseason, the hunger ignited by last year's run to the AFC Championship Game and the defense as the reasons why the Jets will be dancing on the field in Dallas come February.
That defense got a nice boost on Tuesday when Darrelle Revis returned to practice after skipping a day last week as part of ongoing negotiations for a new contract. Whether these bold predictions about the future (and their ancillary financial bonuses) make that contract come any sooner remains to be seen, but Revis's reappearance is certainly a good sign that he isn't planning to skip any or most of the mandatory minicamp or training camp.
According to Brown, they'll have to beat the home team to do it. The Cowboys are his choice for the last team standing in the NFC, something that would make them doubly historic as the first team to both play and lose a Super Bowl on their home field. That's a small sliver of saving grace for Giants fans who would obviously prefer to see just about any other matchup on Super Bowl Sunday if Big Blue isn't playing in the game.
There isn't much you can make of predictions on a season that's still three months away from starting other than the fact that executives at HBO are probably wetting their pants with excitement about the bar for the Jets rising ever higher in advance of this season of "Hard Knocks." They didn't hitch their wagon to the Jets because they were one of the Top 20 Small Company Workplaces in the country, after all.
You can put as much stock into as you like, but we'll still wait for Broadway Joe to make a Groundhog Day-type appearance. If he sees his shadow, then we'll officially get excited about the team's chances this season.
Sports
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
