Flip Bondy says Jets fans shouldn't get too high based on their start.
You say, "How's college treating you, Al Groh?"
Consider that a cautionary quip, and not the only one available to a skeptical columnist. Jets history is filled with fast starts and silly, fitful finishes. This is the fourth time they are 3-0. The previous three teams made the playoffs exactly once, while capturing zero championships.
They were 4-0-1 under Weeb Ewbank in 1966, only to end at 6-6-2. They were 4-0 under Groh, whose 2000 Jets dropped six of their last nine. They were 8-3 last season. The only good thing - make that, the only very good thing - about that collapse was Eric Mangini's eventual migration to Cleveland, and Rex Ryan's arrival from Baltimore.
Ryan's upbeat, boisterous presence has made for the most delightful honeymoon. But you can't really blame the bookies, who looked at the Jets this week and decided they were definitely not for real. These are people with actual money on the line, and they are not about to be swept up in any sentimental Subway Super Bowl Mania.
They made the Jets 6-1/2-point underdogs at New Orleans.
I think just about every Jets fan suffers from sky is falling syndrome. Anybody who has read this blog knows I certainly do. Of course it's important to keep the start in perspective. I've said the same thing.
At the same time, I think Bondy's reasoning is poor. Rex Ryan isn't Al Groh. Ryan worked hard and paid his dues to become head coach of the Jets. Groh got the job because Bill Parcells was scrambling to find a coach he knew when Bill Belichick bolted. This isn't 2000. Just because something happened in the past doesn't mean it will happen again. Otherwise, we'd just hand the Steelers the Vince Lombardi Trophy again and not play the season.
The notion because the Jets are underdogs they're in trouble is ridiculous. How many times does an underdog win? The Jets have done it twice in those three games.
Of course, we're not even a quarter of the way through the year. Bondy's reasoning may be off, but he is right about it being too early for Super Bowl talk. What concerns you most about the Jets and their ability to maintain this hot start?