Sports Radio Interviews is a streaming independent sports blog which provides analysis on breaking sports news, upcoming games, and sporting events from a sports radio perspective. SRI articles frequently appear on SportingNews.com.
Rex Ryan says his New York Jets are built to win in the playoffs.
The New York Jets are ahead of schedule. They’ve made it to the NFL playoffs with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback in the country’s biggest media market. No matter what happens against the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, these Jets are now saddled with the burden of expectations.
Head coach Rex Ryan joined ESPN Radio in New York with Michael Kay to talk about making it to the playoffs in his first year as head coach, why he has so much confidence in his team, whether or not he is concerned with his rookie quarterback, and whether or not his team can win a Super Bowl this season.
On making it to the playoffs in his first year as head coach:
"It’s hard to get into the playoffs. It took a lot of things for us to get in there besides having to play really well. They don’t come around all the time. You can’t assume that you’re always going to be in it, that’s for sure. You’d like to think you would be, but it is difficult. It’s one of the most difficult things to do in team sports.
You can look at last years, somebody was telling me, the top four teams in last year’s tournament, none of them made the playoffs this year. It just goes to show how difficult it is. Being my first year and all that kind of stuff, absolutely, I’m excited about it. But that’s not our goal. We’re in it to win it.
We’ve got a tough task in front of us going to Cincinnati. I believe in this football team and I think were built for this time of year. We’ve said that. Be able to run the football, play great defense, do a good job on special teams, protect the football, and make plays down the field when we need to."
On whether or not they showed too much Sunday night against Cincinnati:
"When you know the systems the way we do and the way Brian [Schottenheimer] knows our offense, trust me, it seems like an endless bag of things that he can come up with. Then on defense, we’ll have enough tricks for them as well and do different things. We’ll be dialed in. I think were a difficult team to prepare for. We’re multiple on offense, defense, and special teams as well. It’s a short week, we’ll see the adjustments they make and we’ll already have some adjustments as well."
On people saying that they backed into the playoffs:
"People can think what they want. That’s fine. It’s hard to say you backed in when you lead the league in defense and it’s not even close. We gave up on average 252 yards a game against us on defense and the next closest team is probably 35 yards away per game. This defense has been spectacular. I know we haven’t finished some of the games the way we wanted to, but trust me, there isn’t a team in this league that wouldn’t trade our defense for their defense. I think that’s not backing in. I think leading the league in fewest points allowed and also, by the way, giving up seven or eight touchdowns in returns and still leading the league in fewest points allowed is also not backing in. Having the number one rushing attack in the league is not backing in.
That’s how I feel about it, but again everybody can have their opinions. That’s fine. We’re not making an apology for getting into the playoffs. We’re just focused on putting our best foot forward on Saturday."
On whether his quarterback is ready for the playoffs:
"I believe he is. I really do. He had a big throw earlier in the game [this past weekend], but it was tough … I think Braylon would have caught that thing eight out of ten times.
I had a lot of confidence in our passing attack, but the way the game was going we really never needed to risk anything down the field. We were just going to run the football and our guys did just a phenomenal job. Two of the best drives that I have seen into the wind, in those conditions."
On whether or not he believes his team can win a Super Bowl this year:
"I believe that. I believe we’re gonna win every game. It doesn’t always happen but I believe it. You’ve earned that right to be one of those teams in there. One of the final twelve teams, and why not? We have the number one defense by far in this league. We have the number one rushing attack in this league. We’re protecting the football, getting takeaways now, and playing good special teams. That’s what you have to have. I think we’ve peaked at the right time and we’re ready for this."
Listen to Rex Ryan on ESPN Radio in New York with Michael Kay
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More from SRI
Brandon Marshall on how he’s perceived
Philip Rivers on going into the playoffs with a bye week
Sports Radio Interviews is a streaming independent sports blog which provides analysis on breaking sports news, upcoming games, and sporting events from a sports radio perspective. SRI articles frequently appear on SportingNews.com.
Rex Ryan says his New York Jets are built to win in the playoffs.
The New York Jets are ahead of schedule. They’ve made it to the NFL playoffs with a rookie head coach and a rookie quarterback in the country’s biggest media market. No matter what happens against the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend, these Jets are now saddled with the burden of expectations.
Head coach Rex Ryan joined ESPN Radio in New York with Michael Kay to talk about making it to the playoffs in his first year as head coach, why he has so much confidence in his team, whether or not he is concerned with his rookie quarterback, and whether or not his team can win a Super Bowl this season.
On making it to the playoffs in his first year as head coach:
"It’s hard to get into the playoffs. It took a lot of things for us to get in there besides having to play really well. They don’t come around all the time. You can’t assume that you’re always going to be in it, that’s for sure. You’d like to think you would be, but it is difficult. It’s one of the most difficult things to do in team sports.
You can look at last years, somebody was telling me, the top four teams in last year’s tournament, none of them made the playoffs this year. It just goes to show how difficult it is. Being my first year and all that kind of stuff, absolutely, I’m excited about it. But that’s not our goal. We’re in it to win it.
We’ve got a tough task in front of us going to Cincinnati. I believe in this football team and I think were built for this time of year. We’ve said that. Be able to run the football, play great defense, do a good job on special teams, protect the football, and make plays down the field when we need to."
On whether or not they showed too much Sunday night against Cincinnati:
"When you know the systems the way we do and the way Brian [Schottenheimer] knows our offense, trust me, it seems like an endless bag of things that he can come up with. Then on defense, we’ll have enough tricks for them as well and do different things. We’ll be dialed in. I think were a difficult team to prepare for. We’re multiple on offense, defense, and special teams as well. It’s a short week, we’ll see the adjustments they make and we’ll already have some adjustments as well."
On people saying that they backed into the playoffs:
"People can think what they want. That’s fine. It’s hard to say you backed in when you lead the league in defense and it’s not even close. We gave up on average 252 yards a game against us on defense and the next closest team is probably 35 yards away per game. This defense has been spectacular. I know we haven’t finished some of the games the way we wanted to, but trust me, there isn’t a team in this league that wouldn’t trade our defense for their defense. I think that’s not backing in. I think leading the league in fewest points allowed and also, by the way, giving up seven or eight touchdowns in returns and still leading the league in fewest points allowed is also not backing in. Having the number one rushing attack in the league is not backing in.
That’s how I feel about it, but again everybody can have their opinions. That’s fine. We’re not making an apology for getting into the playoffs. We’re just focused on putting our best foot forward on Saturday."
On whether his quarterback is ready for the playoffs:
"I believe he is. I really do. He had a big throw earlier in the game [this past weekend], but it was tough … I think Braylon would have caught that thing eight out of ten times.
I had a lot of confidence in our passing attack, but the way the game was going we really never needed to risk anything down the field. We were just going to run the football and our guys did just a phenomenal job. Two of the best drives that I have seen into the wind, in those conditions."
On whether or not he believes his team can win a Super Bowl this year:
"I believe that. I believe we’re gonna win every game. It doesn’t always happen but I believe it. You’ve earned that right to be one of those teams in there. One of the final twelve teams, and why not? We have the number one defense by far in this league. We have the number one rushing attack in this league. We’re protecting the football, getting takeaways now, and playing good special teams. That’s what you have to have. I think we’ve peaked at the right time and we’re ready for this."
Listen to Rex Ryan on ESPN Radio in New York with Michael Kay
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More from SRI
Brandon Marshall on how he’s perceived
Philip Rivers on going into the playoffs with a bye week
