The Philadelphia Eagles have plenty of reasons to be bitter at the New York Jets. First the Eagles destroyed the Jets on Dec. 18 to get their hopes up for a miracle playoff run, and then the Jets ruined that by losing to the New York Giants on Dec. 24. But while Philadelphia fans are stewing in disappointment, they can take solace in how New York fans – also like myself – are equally disappointed in their team.

The Jets have gone from potential Super Bowl contenders to playoff long shots in the span of just a few weeks. What’s more, New York has lived through this situation before – which pretty much triggered the Rex Ryan/Mark Sanchez era to begin with.

Before Ryan and Sanchez arrived in 2009, New York was just coming off the end of its stint in the Brett Favre soap opera. In 2008, the Jets had Super Bowl hype around them when Favre came to town, but they started slowly with a 3-3 record. Likewise in 2011, the team stumbled out of the gate to a 2-3 start. Yet in midseason, the 2008 and 2011 squads got on a roll and looked ready to make a big run.

The 2008 team was a bit hotter, as it won five straight games to go to 8-3. And since the defending champion Giants only had one loss at the time, hype for an all-New York Super Bowl was building up. However, once the Jets got their eighth win everything started to fall apart – like it has for the 2011 edition.

The outcomes aren’t completely similar, since Favre’s Jets did at least get a ninth win while Sanchez’s team is still stuck at 8-7. But in both cases, they had chances to lock up playoff berths and utterly collapsed in the month of December. Favre ran out of gas and was more hobbled up than usual, three years before Sanchez completely crumbled against the Eagles and Giants.

The 2008 Jets got so bad in their final two losses that it triggered a full scale makeover, as Favre “retired” again, Eric Mangini was fired and the Ryan era was ready to begin. New York seemed to get the better end of that deal with two straight AFC title game appearances, yet Ryan and Sanchez have now reached the low point of their tenure.

If the 2011 Jets complete their collapse and miss the playoffs as well, it might not get Ryan and Sanchez out of town like the 2008 downfall did to Mangini and Favre. However, after three years of talk and bluster and no Super Bowls for Ryan, and after another season of regression from Sanchez, their time is starting to run out. After this, New York might not forgive another year or two with this kind of ending – or any other ending before the first week of February.

In 2009 and 2010, the Jets proved to be experts at ending a season on a hot streak. But in between , there have been a pair of pretty ugly Decembers that have kept New York from January. The consequences for the horrible ending of 2011 may not be as severe as the ones from 2008. Yet Ryan and Sanchez’s window of opportunity is getting smaller, and that might be severe enough before long.

Robert Dougherty is a life-long Philadelphia resident who has followed the Eagles since he was eight years old.

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Plaxico Burress had some of his most memorable moments with the New York Giants. From his Super Bowl-winning catch to his clashes with Tom Coughlin, there’s plenty of history there.

Now a member of the Jets, Burress is on the other side of the New York-area rivalry, with lots on the line Saturday for both teams. And the wide receiver intends to have a big game against his former teammates.

He said today that he wants to score “once, twice, maybe three or four times” on Saturday and is “going to go out and try to play lights-out football.”

Burress added a bit of a playful prediction, saying that the loser of the game will “wake up with a bittersweet Christmas, and it’s not going to be me.”

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Rex Ryan and the New York Jets want a win in the worst way. Three straight losses and rumblings about possible locker room disharmony have many fans and media speculating that the Jets could be on the verge of falling apart. It’s just Week 6, but New York’s game against the winless Miami Dolphins is being considered by many as a must-win — and Ryan remains confident his team can turn things around. “We haven’t performed to our expectations, our fans’ expectations and all that,” Ryan said. “We certainly understand that, but this season’s not over. And people want to throw some dirt on us, well, we can affect how this season ends.” On the surface, a 2-3 record is far from a near-crisis situation. But, the fact the jokes haven’t been flying as frequently from the usually brash Ryan and his bunch of chatterboxes fuels the feelings that this Jets team isn’t as loose as past groups. Getting back home after a brutal three-game stretch on the road could be exactly what New York needs. “I think Monday night is the time to definitely turn it around,” wide receiver Santonio Holmes said. “The spotlight’s on us, everybody’s watching. It’s time to really play some football and turn this organization around.” Except for the fact the Dolphins (0-4) are coming off a bye-week break and hungry for a win, too. “Quite honestly, you’re talking about a caged animal, so to speak, in the Miami Dolphins and they’re looking at one when they see us,” Ryan said. “Both teams have not performed to expectations and can’t wait to play this game, so it should be a physical game.” Just as most of the other matchups between these two AFC East rivals have been over the years. That includes “The Monday Night Miracle” in 2000 at the old Meadowlands, when the Jets stormed back from a 30-7 fourth-quarter deficit and beat the Dolphins 40-37 in overtime. Miami has also won both road games between the teams in Ryan’s first two seasons as New York’s coach. “When the Jets and Dolphins are playing, you can kind of throw out the record books sometimes,” said newly signed Dolphins quarterback Sage Rosenfels. “I know we’ve had a lot of success going up there and playing these last few years, it’s been some great rivalries. There’s a reason they put this game on Monday night because the entire Eastern seaboard is interested in this game.” It also might mean a little more than usual. For the Jets, it’s a chance to prove that the last three weeks — losses at Oakland, Baltimore and New England — were nothing more than a bump in their Super Bowl road and not the start of an ugly spiral. “Nobody feels desperate,” tight end Dustin Keller said. “We just have to stick to our game plan and stick to what we do individually, and that’s worked for us in the past.” For the Dolphins, it’s an opportunity for coach Tony Sparano to turn his team around after a miserable start. He’s already working without his starting quarterback after Chad Henne was lost for the season with a separated left shoulder. Matt Moore replaces Henne — for this week, at least. “There’s no pressure on him,” wide receiver Brandon Marshall said. “We’re under, under, under, under, under, under, under, underdogs. so there ain’t no pressure on anybody.” Moore will also become the 16th quarterback to start for the Dolphins since the Dan Marino era ended at the beginning of the 2000 season, the most among NFL teams in that span. “Obviously, Marino was a great one,” said Moore, who was 10-13 as a starter with Carolina. “It doesn’t matter who’s back there, the guy who’s going to make the plays and win ballgames ultimately is going to be the guy. Whether that’s 15 guys in 15 games, or one guy, they’re going to find the right guy.” Sparano’s job might depend on it. Miami is in danger of starting 0-5 for first time since losing its first 13 in 2007, en route to 1-15 season. There has also already been speculation about Sparano’s job security. “That’s a hard place to be, 0-5,” he said. Sparano says he has been through this before, including as an assistant for Marty Schottenheimer’s Washington Redskins in 2001. That team won eight of its last 11 to finish at .500, giving Sparano some hope for this Dolphins team. “It just takes a win to get yourself going and right now that’s all we’re worried about,” he said. “We’re worried about making our football team better, using this time to develop some of our players here and figure out how to win a game.” While the Dolphins’ offense is trying to regroup after the loss of their starting quarterback, the defense has perhaps been an even bigger disappointment. Miami is ranked 28th in overall defense, and 31st in passing defense — despite having two of the best young cornerbacks in the league in Vontae Davis, who missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, and Sean Smith. New York has had its share of problems on defense, too, giving up an unexpectedly large number of big runs and being anything but dominant. But the offense has been the consistent trouble spot, with Sanchez taking lots of hits behind an inconsistent offensive line, a running game that is slow to get going and a group of wide receivers still trying to jell with the quarterback. Sanchez has one less receiver this week after the Jets traded veteran Derrick Mason to the Houston Texans after not making as big an impact as expected. “We thought we had a pretty good group of guys here, and it’s unfortunate that the organization felt another way,” Holmes said. “We have to deal with the punches that are thrown at us and continue rolling.” Otherwise, the Jets could suddenly find themselves just a half-game ahead of the Dolphins in the standings. Not that Ryan is even entertaining any of those thoughts. In his mind, his team still has its sights set on the Super Bowl. “I can guarantee that we’re going to chase it, that’s for sure,” Ryan said. “Do I think we’ll win it? Yeah, absolutely.”

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Rex Ryan and the New York Jets want a win in the worst way.

Three straight losses and rumblings about possible locker room disharmony have many fans and media speculating that the Jets could be on the verge of falling apart. It’s just Week 6, but New York’s game against the winless Miami Dolphins is being considered by many as a must-win — and Ryan remains confident his team can turn things around.

“We haven’t performed to our expectations, our fans’ expectations and all that,” Ryan said. “We certainly understand that, but this season’s not over. And people want to throw some dirt on us, well, we can affect how this season ends.”

On the surface, a 2-3 record is far from a near-crisis situation. But, the fact the jokes haven’t been flying as frequently from the usually brash Ryan and his bunch of chatterboxes fuels the feelings that this Jets team isn’t as loose as past groups. Getting back home after a brutal three-game stretch on the road could be exactly what New York needs.

“I think Monday night is the time to definitely turn it around,” wide receiver Santonio Holmes said. “The spotlight’s on us, everybody’s watching. It’s time to really play some football and turn this organization around.”

Except for the fact the Dolphins (0-4) are coming off a bye-week break and hungry for a win, too.

“Quite honestly, you’re talking about a caged animal, so to speak, in the Miami Dolphins and they’re looking at one when they see us,” Ryan said. “Both teams have not performed to expectations and can’t wait to play this game, so it should be a physical game.”

Just as most of the other matchups between these two AFC East rivals have been over the years. That includes “The Monday Night Miracle” in 2000 at the old Meadowlands, when the Jets stormed back from a 30-7 fourth-quarter deficit and beat the Dolphins 40-37 in overtime.

Miami has also won both road games between the teams in Ryan’s first two seasons as New York’s coach.

“When the Jets and Dolphins are playing, you can kind of throw out the record books sometimes,” said newly signed Dolphins quarterback Sage Rosenfels. “I know we’ve had a lot of success going up there and playing these last few years, it’s been some great rivalries. There’s a reason they put this game on Monday night because the entire Eastern seaboard is interested in this game.”

It also might mean a little more than usual. For the Jets, it’s a chance to prove that the last three weeks — losses at Oakland, Baltimore and New England — were nothing more than a bump in their Super Bowl road and not the start of an ugly spiral.

“Nobody feels desperate,” tight end Dustin Keller said. “We just have to stick to our game plan and stick to what we do individually, and that’s worked for us in the past.”

For the Dolphins, it’s an opportunity for coach Tony Sparano to turn his team around after a miserable start. He’s already working without his starting quarterback after Chad Henne was lost for the season with a separated left shoulder. Matt Moore replaces Henne — for this week, at least.

“There’s no pressure on him,” wide receiver Brandon Marshall said. “We’re under, under, under, under, under, under, under, underdogs. so there ain’t no pressure on anybody.”

Moore will also become the 16th quarterback to start for the Dolphins since the Dan Marino era ended at the beginning of the 2000 season, the most among NFL teams in that span.

“Obviously, Marino was a great one,” said Moore, who was 10-13 as a starter with Carolina. “It doesn’t matter who’s back there, the guy who’s going to make the plays and win ballgames ultimately is going to be the guy. Whether that’s 15 guys in 15 games, or one guy, they’re going to find the right guy.”

Sparano’s job might depend on it. Miami is in danger of starting 0-5 for first time since losing its first 13 in 2007, en route to 1-15 season. There has also already been speculation about Sparano’s job security.

“That’s a hard place to be, 0-5,” he said.

Sparano says he has been through this before, including as an assistant for Marty Schottenheimer’s Washington Redskins in 2001. That team won eight of its last 11 to finish at .500, giving Sparano some hope for this Dolphins team.

“It just takes a win to get yourself going and right now that’s all we’re worried about,” he said. “We’re worried about making our football team better, using this time to develop some of our players here and figure out how to win a game.”

While the Dolphins’ offence is trying to regroup after the loss of their starting quarterback, the defence has perhaps been an even bigger disappointment. Miami is ranked 28th in overall defence, and 31st in passing defence — despite having two of the best young cornerbacks in the league in Vontae Davis, who missed the last two games with a hamstring injury, and Sean Smith.

New York has had its share of problems on defence, too, giving up an unexpectedly large number of big runs and being anything but dominant. But the offence has been the consistent trouble spot, with Sanchez taking lots of hits behind an inconsistent offensive line, a running game that is slow to get going and a group of wide receivers still trying to jell with the quarterback.

Sanchez has one less receiver this week after the Jets traded veteran Derrick Mason to the Houston Texans after not making as big an impact as expected.

“We thought we had a pretty good group of guys here, and it’s unfortunate that the organization felt another way,” Holmes said. “We have to deal with the punches that are thrown at us and continue rolling.”

Otherwise, the Jets could suddenly find themselves just a half-game ahead of the Dolphins in the standings. Not that Ryan is even entertaining any of those thoughts. In his mind, his team still has its sights set on the Super Bowl.

“I can guarantee that we’re going to chase it, that’s for sure,” Ryan said. “Do I think we’ll win it? Yeah, absolutely.”

___

AP Sports Writer Steven Wine in Miami contributed to this report.

(Sports Network) – Maybe this is a good thing for the New York Jets.

Perhaps the team that’s reeling from two straight losses and burgeoning locker-
room dissension after a blemish-concealing 2-0 start, needs nothing more than a
return date with their biggest rival — the New England Patriots — to right
its collective ship.

Or maybe a trip to Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL’s most prolific offense
and a coaching staff that lives and breathes for the chance to humble Gang
Green, is the last place on Earth that Rex Ryan really wants to be come this
Sunday afternoon.

If the early-week pronouncements from the oft-bombastic New York head coach are
indicative, it’s the latter. With just a fleeting glimpse of former bravado.

“I’m subdued, but there’s probably a little more fire burning inside of me than
maybe I’m letting on,” Ryan said. “One thing about me, there’s a lot smarter
guys than me, but there’s nobody more competitive.”

Consecutive road losses to Oakland (34-24) and Baltimore (34-17) have even
prompted the third-year boss to retreat a bit from his preseason pronouncement
that the Jets are Super Bowl-bound.

New York and New England split two regular-season games last season before the
Jets won, 28-21, in a AFC Divisional Playoff at Gillette Stadium in January.

“I’m going to say this — right now we’re not going to the Super Bowl,” Ryan
said. “It’s at the quarter pole. We’re 2-2. We’re not even in the playoffs. How
can we get to the Super Bowl when we’re not even in the playoffs? But my
confidence in our football team? By the time we get to the finish line, we’ll
be right there. It’s not easy to make the playoffs, but I think that we’ll be
there.”

Of the two teams who’ll be in Foxborough Sunday, the hosts seem the surer bet
for the postseason right now.

New England finished the first quarter of its 2011 campaign at a workmanlike
3-1, running up calculator-bursting numbers while beating Miami, San Diego and
the Raiders and dropping a 65-point scorefest in Buffalo by a 34-31 count.

The output leaves the Patriots tied atop the AFC East with the Bills, a game
ahead of the sliding Jets and already four up on the headed-for-draft-day Miami
Dolphins.

“We’re excited to build on it,” quarterback Tom Brady said of last week’s 31-19
win at Oakland. “We’re so early in the season still. We’ve got a huge one this
weekend. This is one we’ve got to go get.

“I thought we did a great job balancing the game out (against the Raiders). For
the first time in four weeks, it was really a game that (running) was a big
part of what we were trying to accomplish. We were able to run the ball inside,
outside, all the different backs ran it and they ran it well. So that’s how you
become a great offense.”

SERIES HISTORY

The Jets hold a slim 51-49-1 edge in the all-time regular-season set between
the clubs but were handed a 45-3 loss in last year’s scheduled visit to
Gillette Stadium as New England avenged a 28-14 Week 2 defeat to New York at
the Meadowlands. Not counting the playoffs, the Jets have left with a defeat in
six of their last eight stops in Foxborough.

New England had won both previous postseason matchups with New York prior to
last January’s setback, delivering a 26-14 road upset in a 1985 AFC First-Round
Playoff and posting a 37-16 win at Gillette Stadium in a 2006 opening-round
tilt.

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has a career record of 16-10 against the
Jets, for whom he served as defensive coordinator from 1997 through 1999, and
is 15-9 versus his one-time employers since arriving in New England in 2000.
Ryan sports a 3-2 mark against both the Patriots and Belichick, which includes
last January’s playoff ousting, since taking over as the Jets’ head coach in
2009.

WHEN THE JETS HAVE THE BALL

Including the postseason, the Jets are 3-0 when quarterback Mark Sanchez has a
100-plus passer rating against the Patriots. Running back LaDainian Tomlinson
needs five catches to become the fourth running back in NFL history with 600
receptions, joining Larry Centers (827), Marshall Faulk (767) and Keith Byars
(610). Including the playoffs, Tomlinson averages 83.7 rushing yards per game
(836 yards in 10 games) against New England. The Jets are 5-1 when wide
receiver Santonio Holmes has a TD catch in a game, while fellow wideout Derrick
Mason needs one receiving yard to become the 18th player in history to reach
12,000. In his past four games against the Patriots, wide receiver Plaxico
Burress has six touchdown catches, including a game-winning 13-yarder in Super
Bowl XLII while with the New York Giants during the 2007 season. Tight end
Dustin Keller is second among AFC players at the position with 261 receiving
yards, trailing only New Englands Rob Gronkowski (296), while kick returner
Joe McKnight had a franchise-record 107-yard return for a touchdown last week,
third-longest in NFL history.

The 12th overall pick by the Jets in the 2000 NFL Draft, Patriots defensive end
Shaun Ellis spent 11 seasons (2000-10) with New York before joining New England
in the offseason. Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork has two interceptions
in his past three games, while safety Patrick Chung recorded his first
interception of the season last week. Fourth-year pro Jerod Mayo leads the
linebacking corps with 24 tackles and has a forced fumble, but suffered a knee
injury last week and will be sidelined indefinitely.

Offensively, the Jets are 11th in scoring (25.0 points per game), 25th in total
yards (308.0 yards per game), 16th in passing offense (237.0 ypg) and an
uncharacteristic 30th in rushing yards (71.0 ypg). On defense, the Patriots are
tied for 20th in scoring (24.5 ppg), dead in both total defense (477.5 ypg) and
passing yards allowed (368.8 ypg) and tied for 18th in rushing defense (108.8
ypg).

WHEN THE PATRIOTS HAVE THE BALL

Brady needs two touchdown passes to surpass Vinny Testaverde (275) for the
eighth-most in NFL history. He completed 21-of-29 passes (72.4 percent) for 326
yards, four touchdowns and a 148.9 passer rating in last December’s rout of the
Jets and has won 29 consecutive regular-season games at home, the longest
streak in NFL history. Since 2010, running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis ranks
second in the NFL with 16 rushing touchdowns, trailing only Houston’s Arian
Foster (17). Rookie running back Stevan Ridley, a third-round pick in April’s
draft, had a career-high 97 rushing yards last week, including a 33-yard
scoring run. Wide receiver Wes Welker aims for a third straight game with 150-
plus receiving yards, following up a career-best 217-yard performance in the
Week 3 loss at Buffalo with 158 against the Raiders. He is averaging an NFL-
best 154 receiving yards per game this season (616 total). Gronkowski leads all
NFL tight ends with five touchdown catches in 2011.

Jets linebacker David Harris had a 35-yard interception return for a touchdown
last week and had a 58-yarder for a score in the AFC Divisional Playoff win
over the Patriots in January. In his second year with the Jets, cornerback
Antonio Cromartie has a team-high two interceptions this season. Up front,
defensive end Mike DeVito has 13 tackles and a sack to lead the line.

The prolific Patriots are third in scoring offense (33.8 points per game),
first in total yards (507.5 yards per game) and passing yards (384.8 ypg) and
ninth in rushing offense (122.8 ypg). Defensively, the Jets are 15th in points
allowed (23.8 ppg), eighth in total yards surrendered (310.8 ypg), second in
pass defense (180.2 ypg) and 27th against the run (130.5 ypg).

KEYS TO THE GAME

Finding their signature running game is a high priority for the Jets, who’ve
plummeted to the league’s bottom tier in that category through four games.
Conveniently, the Patriots have been middle of the pack so far in defending the
run.

On the flip side, avoiding a shootout with Brady won’t be easy after the
reigning league MVP has ranked first in the league in passing yards and
touchdown and first in the conference in quarterback rating through the first
four weeks. Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis versus Patriots wideout Chad
Ochocinco will be a marquee matchup, but the shifty Welker is dangerous as well
and must be held in check.

Injuries are a mounting concern for New York, which learned this week that
linebacker Bryan Thomas is out for the rest of the season with an Achilles’
tendon tear. New York must replace his presence with reserves Josh Mauga,
Jamaal Westerman and Aaron Maybin.

OVERALL ANALYSIS

It was a somewhat similar situation in 2010 for the Jets, who came off a Week 1
loss to the Ravens before turning things around with a 14-point win over New
England. Problem is, the bleeding appears far worse a season later, making a
dramatic turnaround that much more unlikely. Expect a fired-up Belichick to be
more than happy to shovel additional dirt on New York’s quickly-fading Super
Bowl hopes.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Patriots 28, Jets 20

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