Couldn’t Rex Ryan have waited until around 8 p.m. Thursday to get that lap band removed? Keeping Rex from the sideline would help the Jets’ cause, as Gang Green’s former head coach appears to have their number.
Rex’s Bills didn’t do much in his first season in Buffalo in 2015, and he’s already said to be on the hot seat awfully early in year two. Still, against the Jets, he’s Vince Lombardi. Buffalo swept the Jets last year with identical 22-17 outcomes -- the second one in the season’s last game, where Ryan Fitzpatrick literally threw away his team’s postseason hopes with three fourth-quarter interceptions.
If Rex did as good a job of coaching vs. his old team when he was still coaching his old team, he’d still be the coach of his old team.
Make sense?
Still, even when Rex is 350 miles away from the Big Apple, he doesn’t really seem to have left -- at least not twice a year, when the Jets and Bills meet up.
Then, it’s once again Rex, short on wins but big on headlines. This week, you had all the talk about a documentary on Rex and brother Rob reuniting, featuring a flurry of F-bombs that made “Sausage Party” sound as wholesome in comparison as a Hebrew National ad. Then, it came out that the formerly very round Rex would dump his lap band in solidarity with Rob -- now the Bills’ assistant head coach -- who got rid of his because of complications with the device.
Even with the band, Rex says he’s gained 30 pounds since his brother joined the staff just after last season. Besides a bevy of tasty snacks, it’s not too obvious what Rob brings to the table. While he leads all NFL coaches in hair and hype, the results he has had as defensive coordinator for a host of franchises haven’t quite stood up.
Still, it was the Bills’ offense, not its D, that didn’t come to play in Week 1. Buffalo scored just one TD and accumulated a meager 160 yards of total offense in the 13-7 loss at Baltimore. To his credit, QB Tyrod Taylor still isn’t making many mistakes. But he’s not making many big plays either.
Sports
The Jets play at Ralph Wilson Stadium Thursday needing a W after opening the 2016 campaign with a tough loss to the Bengals, when Gang Green was done in by special teams mishaps. After Thursday's game, the Jets face the Chiefs, Seahawks, Steelers and Cardinals. In other words, if New York doesn't get by Buffalo, the team may be staring at 0-6 before long -- and watching playoff hopes fade away.
While it’s 70 degrees and sunny in Buffalo -- no, that’s not a misprint -- it won’t be a walk in the park for the visitors. Rex may be lacking in an array of traits that make a consistently successful head coach, but he may well be the best at one thing: getting his players fired up, especially when the Jets come to town.
Suffice it to say, the Jets will need to make all their extra points to win this one.
