“I’ve said it for three years now: I don’t care if I’m known as the luckiest coach in the league,” Ryan said Monday. “That’s great. As long as we win, that’s fine with me.”

New York (6-5) kept pace in the AFC playoff race with the win that snapped a two-game skid, but the Jets realize they need to be a lot better if they intend to make it to the postseason for the third straight year. They entered the game against the Bills with many players saying they needed to win all six of their final games to reach the playoffs.

The Jets got the first one, but it was hardly convincing — especially when Ryan Fitzpatrick was driving the Bills down the field in the closing seconds.

“It was scary,” cornerback Darrelle Revis said with a laugh.

It was a victory that was filled with lots of juicy story lines including Johnson mocking Burress by pretending he was shot during a touchdown celebration, Mark Sanchez having another mediocre performance despite setting a career high with four TD passes and Burress coming up with a one-handed grab for a first down that saved the Jets’ season, at least for now.

There was also the Jets’ defense appearing as if it was about to have another late-game collapse. But this time, the Jets survived three close calls. A wide-open Johnson dropped a pass in the middle of the field that might have gone for a touchdown. Fitzpatrick misfired on a pass to Johnson a few seconds later, zipping the ball just behind the receiver in the end zone. Johnson was open again on the last play of the game, but Fitzpatrick’s throw was way over his head.

“It wasn’t real pretty,” Ryan said, “but we’ll take it.”

Many expected the Jets to win easily, considering the Bills had several starters sidelined with injuries and New York has played its best under Ryan in desperate situations. Instead, it was a nail-biter that left the Jets and their fans drained.

Few players showed up in the locker room during media availability Monday, and those who did weren’t exactly celebrating.

“I think there’s still room to push our team,” Revis said.

The win also had some in the media far from convinced that this is a playoff-caliber team, saying that it could easily be 5-6 without a little bit of luck.

“It is funny how if we make a mistake, we’re horrible and it’s, ‘Oh, they’re terrible,’” Ryan said. “That could be bad luck there, too. But if we make a play, it’s, ‘Oh, we’re just lucky.’ So, maybe it’s the green (team colors). I don’t know. I hope karma is with us. I hope we continue to be lucky, and we’ll take that.

“The old saying, ‘I’d rather be lucky than good.’ I’d rather be both, and I think we are.”

But there were moments, particularly early, when it appeared Sanchez could be headed to the bench because of poor throws, bad decisions and the offense just being ineffective. Despite taking away some snaps in practice last week to fire up the quarterback, it was more of the same old Sanchez. That is, until the final drive.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP)—Rex Ryan wants his defense to be feared every time
it steps on the field.

That has always been the New York Jets coach’s philosophy: Play the meanest,
most physical and aggressive group of guys you can and dare offenses to beat
you.

“If you look at yourself that way, as soon as you get the lead, game
over,” Ryan said. “That has to be the mentality.”

He watched defenses dominate that way back when he was with the Baltimore
Ravens, particularly the 2000 Ravens team that won the Super Bowl. The Jets also
had some elite-type moments in each of Ryan’s first two years in New York.

New York is ranked seventh overall in defense this season, but has been far
from dominant.

“Are we there yet?” Ryan said. “No, we’re not there yet.”

The best example of that was last Thursday night when the Jets stifled Tim
Tebow(notes) and the Denver Broncos for nearly 55 minutes. Then, it all fell apart as
Tebow drove 95 yards for the winning touchdown, capped by his 20-yard run that
came as the Jets sent an all-out blitz—its first of the game.

It was a critical error, one defensive coordinator Mike Pettine has taken
full blame for. It was also a moment that showed the difference between a good
defense and an elite one.

“That’s on me as a play caller, and that’s on our guys to be able to rise
up in those critical situations,” Pettine said. “Most defenses, you’re going
to have a drive like that a game. It can’t be the last one, and that’s something
that we need to get fixed starting from the coaching part of it down to the
execution and the players’ part of it.”

Even in 2009, the Jets had their moments of frustration, when they would
allow teams to get back into games and, in some instances, win. Just as they did
when they went to Miami and allowed the struggling Dolphins to drive down the
field and pull out a 31-27 victory in the closing moments.

“It’s similar to that, like, `Hey, if we get the lead, I don’t care when
they get the ball in the fourth quarter, you’ve got to close it out,” Ryan
said.

That’s the expectation, and that goes for the players as well as they
coaches.

“We’re still making a few mistakes that are hurting us in the end,” safety
Eric Smith(notes) said.

New York’s defense was solid in the first two games of the season, wins over
Dallas and Jacksonville, as well as closing out the victory over San Diego a
month ago. Three weeks ago, the Jets stopped the Bills, one of the league’s most
dynamic offenses at the time, and sent Buffalo’s season spiraling.

New York hasn’t won since, though, and the defense needs to step up and be
dominant—especially with Mark Sanchez(notes) and the offense struggling a bit lately
— again on Sunday against the Bills.

“We’re really confident,” defensive end Mike DeVito(notes) said. “I mean, we put
together a great game (against Denver). We just didn’t finish, so we went back,
looked at that and fixed that and now we’ll be ready to put a full game in on
Sunday.”

Buffalo will be without injured running back Fred Jackson(notes), who’ll be
replaced by the speedy C.J. Spiller(notes). That presents a different challenge for the
Jets, who held Jackson to 82 harmless yards the last time the teams played.

“If we want to be elite, and I have been around some elite defenses in
Baltimore and two years ago and we were close to it and not that far away from
it last year, it’s the closing games part of it,” Pettine said. “As bad as the
circumstances were (last) Thursday night, that was our game to win, defensively.
That’s the inconsistency.”

A look at the numbers and one might think the Jets are indeed dominant, or
at least close to it. They rank second in allowing third-down conversions, sixth
in yards passing per game and seventh in total yards per game.

“I think we’ve been solid,” Pettine said. “But I also think there’s so
much room for improvement. We’re young at some positions and I think we’ve had
some inconsistencies, but I think statistically you look at us, I think there
are a lot of teams around the league, you could ask: `Statistically, would you
take this defense?”’

But as both Pettine and Ryan have pointed out, it doesn’t matter what the
statistics say. It’s the play on the field and the numbers on the scoreboard
that count in the end.

“Our standards are different,” Pettine said. “From what we’ve built and
the reputation that we want to have and the standards that we compare ourselves
to, we compare ourselves to our own.”

NOTES: While some players think the Jets must go 6-0 down the stretch to
make the playoffs, Ryan thinks 5-1 might still be good enough. That’s even with
three teams in the AFC North—Baltimore (8-3), Pittsburgh (7-3) and Cincinnati
(6-4)—having better records than them. “I’m not afraid of any of those
teams,” Ryan said. “There’s a couple of real good teams in there. Obviously,
Baltimore and Pittsburgh, but beyond that, I’ll take our division over any of
them.” … Ryan had “quite a few” people over his house for Thanksgiving
dinner, which included his favorite side dish: green bean casserole. “Whew, the
lap band was in trouble,” he said, laughing. “It got stretched out. I was
stretching that bad boy out.”

By DENNIS WASZAK Jr.
NEW YORK — Rex Ryan still couldn’t believe it, stunned even 12 hours after his Jets left Denver with a devastating loss.

Too many mistakes. Too many blown opportunities. And, now, there’s serious doubt whether this is even a playoff-caliber team.

“It was obviously a huge, huge loss for us,” Ryan said Friday.

After the Jets (5-5) allowed Tim Tebow to cap a 95-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run in the final minute of a 17-13 loss Thursday night, Ryan knew exactly what went wrong: pretty much everything.

“Obviously, we had some breakdowns in protections,” Ryan said during a conference call. “We had a turnover for a touchdown, we fumbled another special teams play on a kick return after we had a huge return, and then obviously, the 95-yard drive, which is, it’s still hard to really fathom. I mean, it really is.”

At this time last week, the Jets were riding a three-game winning streak and looking to establish themselves as one of the premier teams in a wide-open AFC. Consecutive losses to New England and Denver in five days have New York instead suddenly in the middle of a muddled postseason picture.

“Our playoffs start right now, there’s no question,” Ryan said. “We have to beat Buffalo. I don’t see any breathing room. We’ve already used that up.”

Ryan wishes his team could play its next game this Sunday, but the Jets must wait until Nov. 27, when they host the Bills. That might be a good thing, considering all New York needs to clean up.

“Every area of our team has certain issues,” Ryan acknowledged.

That was clear on the field in Denver as the Jets couldn’t put away a Broncos team that was outplayed for the first 55 minutes. Then came Tebow’s latest comeback, one that could have been quashed on the first play.

The Broncos quarterback threw an ill-advised pass to Eddie Royal in the end zone, and Jets safety Jim Leonhard got him — and then lost him as Royal broke free for an 8-yard gain. It was a bad omen for a defense that had played well up until that point, but appeared gassed as Tebow started running around the field.

“It’s very disappointing,” cornerback Darrelle Revis said after the game. “A lot of people are disappointed in here of how the outcome came for the game.”

New York still had a chance to make a huge play and go back home feeling fortunate to squeeze out a win. But on third-and-4 from the Jets 20, Tebow spotted New York dialing up its first all-out blitz of the night. So he took the snap, got past safety Eric Smith, cut back and then rumbled into the end zone.

“Hindsight behind 20-20, obviously, we would’ve done something, anything but that,” Ryan said of the decision to blitz. “I even told the defense before (the play), ‘This kid is not going to take the ball out of his hand. He is going to keep it in his hand,’ and that’s exactly what he did. He ended up just making a great play. None of us saw it coming.”

So Ryan and his staff will spend the next several days trying to turn things around in what has been a mediocre 10 games of a season that the Jets’ bold and brash coach promised would be special.

“When you look at it, are we going to change a few things? Yes, I think we need to,” he said. “I think we really need to look, study some things. I won’t get into the particulars, but I think we really do, and also learn from our past, how we did things, and really try to look at that and try to get better.”

On defense, that means being able to close out games and keep consistent pressure on the quarterback. On special teams, that means holding on to the ball and clamping down on opponents’ returns. And, on offense, it’s improving the running game — granted, Shonn Greene was injured early — and making sure quarterback Mark Sanchez starts to show signs of progress.

After the game, Sanchez took the blame, something he has done a lot lately. His poor pass to Plaxico Burress in the third quarter that Andre’ Goodman picked off and returned 26 yards for a touchdown tied the game at 10 and immediately swung the momentum in the Broncos’ favor at a time when the Jets could have taken total control.

“It’s an embarrassing play on my part,” Sanchez said. “I hurt the team and lost the game.”

Ryan acknowledged that it was a bad decision by Sanchez on the play, but refused to blame him for the loss.

“It absolutely doesn’t belong on Mark’s shoulders,” Ryan said. “He’s just a player. He’s a big piece of the puzzle, but it wasn’t all on Mark Sanchez.”

But Sanchez did little to assert himself as a game-changing leader, a criticism he has heard even while he helped take the Jets to the last two AFC title games. He has not regressed in his third season, but he has made little progress behind a spotty offensive line and with some new wide receivers. That has many fans and media members wondering if Sanchez will ever be a championship-caliber quarterback.

“I’m extremely confident,” Ryan said when asked of his trust in Sanchez. “We’ll go out there and play tomorrow. That’s how I feel about Mark. This is our quarterback. He’s going to be our quarterback for as long as I’m here, which I hope is a long, long time.”

While Ryan looks for answers, his belief in his team remains typically high. It might be desperate times for the Jets, but they’ve proven the last two seasons that’s when they’re at their very best. They’ve got six games now to save their season.

“We all have to get better,” Ryan said. “There’s no doubt. We all have to get better. Again, I’m confident that this group wants it in the worst way, and it’s a resilient group. We’ve done it before, and we just have to do it again.”

DENVER (AP) – There’s a new Comeback Kid in Denver, and John Elway’s proudly looking on as this plucky quarterback wins with his legs, not his arm.

Tim Tebow’s 20-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds left capped a 95-yard drive and sent the Broncos to a 17-13 victory over the stunned New York Jets on Thursday night.

“I like winning,” Tebow said after his third comeback in a month, “but I wish it wasn’t this stressful.”

The Broncos had punted on their eight previous possessions when they got the ball with less than 6 minutes and 95 yards to go. Tebow calmly drove Denver down the field, thwarting a Jets defense that had throttled him all night.

“We played them well, through the whole game, until that last play,” Jets star cornerback Darrelle Revis said. “We played them well. Tim Tebow’s legs took them to victory, ran them to victory.”

On third-and-4 from the Jets 20 and under a minute left, the Broncos got an extra minute to think about things when a fan ran onto the field and was corralled by security.

During the break, the Jets dialed up their first all-out blitz of the night.

Tebow took the snap from the shotgun with 1:06 left, read the blitz and outflanked safety Eric Smith around the left edge, then cut back and bulled his way past other Jets into the end zone.

“He shocked me,” Revis said, “probably shocked a lot of people.”

Not Jets coach Rex Ryan.

“You know he’s going to keep it in that situation. That’s what he does. You keep the ball in your playmaker’s hand,” Ryan said. “We thought he was going to carry the ball and he didn’t disappoint us. But he ran for a touchdown. The kid’s a competitor and makes big plays with the game on the line.”

The Jets (5-5) lost for the second time in four nights.

The Broncos (5-5) are 4-1 since Tebow replaced Kyle Orton, and at .500, they’re a-half game behind Oakland in the AFC West race.

“He’s a competitive dude,” Broncos coach John Fox said. “He’s super competitive. He never lays his sword down. He’ll fight you to the death. That’s just his nature. He’s a great young man.”

Mark Sanchez’s desperation pass toward the end zone was batted down as time expired and the Jets trudged off the field with their playoff hopes dimmed just a week after they were brimming with optimism.

Nick Folk’s 45-yard field goal had broken a 10-10 tie with 9:14 remaining, and the Broncos found themselves facing a daunting task when they got the ball back with 5:54 left at their own 5.

New York safety Jim Leonhard could have quashed Denver’s winning drive on the first play when he wrapped up Eddie Royal in the end zone on a throw to the right flat, but Royal wiggled free for 8 yards.

Tebow ran just twice for 11 yards until the final drive, when he carried seven times for 58 yards in a performance reminiscent of his miracle in Miami, when he was ineffective for 55 minutes, then led the Broncos to two TDs in the final 5 minutes of a game Denver won in overtime.

“I think it was just a bunch of guys that kept fighting, that had been knocked down a bunch of times and got back up,” Tebow said. “I’m proud of these guys for their resiliency and determination.”

After completing just two passes in a win at Kansas City four days earlier, Tebow completed 9 of 20 passes for 104 yards Thursday night.

“I said before, I trust him. I trust him with everything,” teammate Von Miller said. “No matter how many interceptions he throws, no matter how many touchdowns he scores, that’s Tim Tebow and I’m going to ride with him to the end. I hope he shut up a whole bunch of critics today.”

The debate across the NFL is whether the option is sustainable? After all, when Elway joined the team’s front office this year, he said Tebow had to become a pocket passer to make it in this league.

“I want to run whatever’s going to work,” Tebow said, disputing the notion advanced by Hall of Famer and TV broadcaster Steve Young that he must be mad that Fox isn’t letting him throw the ball more like a conventional quarterback.

Before Denver’s unorthodox option offense prevailed again, it appeared the Jets were going to win this one thanks to an oddball touchdown.

Left guard Matt Slauson recovered rookie running back Bilal Powell’s fumble at the 1 and dived across the goal line early in the third quarter to give New York a 10-3 lead.

“It was awesome at the time,” Slauson said. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean anything now.”

Denver tied it at 10 when Andre’ Goodman stepped in front of Plaxico Burress and picked off Sanchez’s ill-advised pass and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown.

“I shouldn’t have thrown it,” Sanchez lamented. “It’s an embarrassing play on my part.”

It was the third pick-six Sanchez and thrown this year, and the Jets followed that with their fourth lost fumble on special teams when Joe McKnight coughed it up on the kickoff return at his 41. Cassius Vaughn recovered for Denver, but the Broncos couldn’t capitalize this time, going three and out.

McKnight and Powell shared snaps after New York’s backfield took another hit when starting running back Shonn Greene took a knee to the ribs and didn’t return. They were already without LaDainian Tomlinson (knee), so Powell was activated for the first time all season.

With each game, the Broncos mold their offense more and more to fit Tebow’s unique skill set that made him the most successful combination college quarterback in NCAA history, just as former Florida coach Urban Meyer once suggested an NFL team would have to do.

And they keep watching him run roughshod over defenders who are bigger, faster and stronger than they were in the SEC.

“He did it to us in college and he’s doing it here,” said teammate Robert Ayers, who went to Tennessee. “It doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t have to be Aaron Rodgers-like. As long as we get it done, that’s all that matters.”

Notes: Broncos WR Eric Decker’s girlfriend, country singer Jessie James, performed at halftime. … Greene said X-rays were negative. … No Jets offensive lineman had scored on a fumble recovery since guard Randy Rasmussen smothered running back Cliff McClain’s fumble in the end zone against Miami in 1972.

Tim Tebow(notes) and his Denver Broncos go up against the New York Jets on Thursday, Nov. 17. Some NFL fans might see this as an easy game for the Jets to win, but those are the people who have bought into the sale pitch from Rex Ryan and far too many NFL analysts. The Jets are simply not a very good football team, and they play much worse on the road than at home.

The Broncos fans are going to go crazy during this game, especially with how much trash talk is coming from the other side of the field. That should help pump up Mr. Tebow and help spur him to another good game on the ground. This brings us to the recommendation that he needs to receive the start in fantasy football leagues during Week 11. Two main reasons support that conclusion, and they are the weak Jets rush defense and the impressive rushing offense of the Broncos.

The Jets give up 116 yards per game on the ground, and aren’t as good as some might think. The Jets have also given up nine rushing touchdowns this year, tied for seventh worst in the NFL. Look for that number to increase thanks to Tebow and running back Willis McGahee(notes) . It seems likely that McGahee will take the field on Thursday, even though he has gone through some injuries recently. Having him on the field is important to Denver, because it allows the option to really work.

The final result of this game is going to come down to how many passes Tebow can complete, and if the Jets secondary takes advantage of his inexperience. If Tebow tries to force too many passes he is going to get burned, so it is all about making smart decisions and simply throwing the ball away if he doesn’t have an open man. While the Jets are average on the defensive line, the team has 13 interceptions thanks to a secondary considered one of the best in the league. That is where Tebow has to avoid putting the ball in the hands of Darrelle Revis(notes) and his cohorts.

Tebow is going to get tested against the Jets, but he still will get the chance to put the ball in the end zone. Even if the Broncos don’t win this game, Tebow should have a nice week.

More From YCN :

5_Frustrating_Players

5_Great_Fantasy_Players

Tim_Tebow_Rewards_Owners

Sources:

Week_10_NFL_Scores

Yahoo! Fantasy Football

Note: This article was written by a Yahoo! contributor. Sign up here to start publishing your own sports content.