Jets Appearing on Hard Knocks Will Not Impact Record

Everybody from Peter King to Rich Cimini is critical of a potential Jets sequel to their entertaining 2010 HBO Hard Knocks series. They seem to claim it will keep the team from winning.

King:

"Hard Knocks & Jets would be a stupid marriage. Not for HBO. For the Jets, if they're serious about winning"

Cimini:

The Jets are getting ripped for considering HBO’s "Hard Knocks" – and deservedly so. How will another appearance on "Hard Knocks" help them overtake the Patriots? That is the only question that matters.

Appearing again on Hard Knocks will not help the Jets overtake the Patriots. It won't stop them from doing so, though. It sure didn't stop the team from having success in 2010 and beating the Pats in the Playoffs. It's like people blaming Rex Ryan's bold predictions and guarantees for the team's lack of success in 2011. When the team was winning in 2009 and 2010, they gave the team swagger. When the Jets had a disappointing year, all of the sudden these guarantees magically transformed into things that put too much pressure on the team. This stuff is side noise. If you want to make the case the Jets care more about selling tickets than winning, this is a symptom, not the disease.

The Jets might appear on Hard Knocks. They might have a disappointing year in 2012. In that event, it will probably have a lot more to do with Mark Sanchez failing to improve, Rex Ryan losing the pulse of the locker room, and offseason moves not panning out than it will have to do with HBO filming training camp.