There’s no Disgrace in “Wait ‘till next year” -- Sports Thoughts for January 24, 2011

Let me congratulate the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers for representing the AFC and NFC, respectively, in Super Bowl XLV. Both teams won hard-fought conference title games. Both teams outlasted their opponents and held on when they needed to in the closing minutes of their games. Both teams are talented, play bruising defense, and can move the ball by ground or air. It should be a fun game February 6 in Dallas. Still two weeks from kick-off, it’s a toss-up in my mind who will win, but rest assured, points will be at a premium, so don’t be surprised by a 10-7 contest.

But I’m not here today to write about the teams who will play in Super Bowl XLV. I’m here to write about one team we won’t see in Dallas, the New York Jets, who fell short 24-19 at Heinz Field Sunday evening. I’m also here to write about another team of an era long ago, a team many tend to think about when we look at Rex Ryan’s Jets, the 1967-1977 Oakland Raiders.

At first glance, most folks think Ryan’s Jets are distant cousins of those Raiders teams, constructed by General Manager Al Davis and coached by John Rauch (1967-1968) then John Madden (1969-1977). Remember those Raiders? They shot their mouths off at will, hit opponents hard (perhaps even dirty), and the roster seemed like a collection of outlaws, misfits and cast-offs. During an eleven-year stretch, the Silver-and-Black Pride-and-Poise Boys went 119-28-7, appeared in ten postseasons, won nine AFL-AFC Western Division crowns, and played in nine AFL-AFC championship games. Commitment to Excellence was their motto, and boy, did they excel.

But a funny thing happened on the way to excellence during those eleven years. The Raiders post-season record was a mere 11-9, and they lost seven of those nine AFL-AFC championship games. You see, Commitment to Excellence may have been the motto in the San Francisco Bay area, but the rest of professional football knew the Raiders as “Next Year’s Champions.”

Now, there’s nothing exactly wrong with the moniker “Next Year’s Champions.” After all, the Brooklyn Dodgers wore that moniker well during the 1940s and 1950s, forever being the Yankees’ foils until ‘Dem Bums finally won their first world series in 1955. If it was good enough for Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges and Roy Campanella, it was good enough for Erasmus High School alum Al Davis and his “Raidahs” -- Gene Upshaw, Art Shell, Jim Otto and Fred Biletnikoff. But while the Brooklyn Dodgers multiple heartbreaks against the Yankees almost seemed poetic and romantic, the Raiders championship game losses earned a rueful reputation of “can’t winning the big one.”

It all started with the 1967 AFL championship game, the Raiders beating the old Houston Oilers 40-7. Afterwards, infamous defensive lineman “Big Bad” Ben Davidson declared, King Kong and ten gorillas couldn’t beat us! Well, Davidson and company earned a trip to Miami and Super Bowl II against Vince Lombardi’s Packers and were roundly whipped, 33-14.

From 1968 to 1975, the Raiders made the playoffs seven out of eight seasons (they missed the playoffs in 1971). Each post-season ended as follows:
1968: Lost AFL championship game to the Jets, 27-23 (Jets won Super Bowl III)
1969: Lost AFL championship game to the Kansas City Chiefs, 17-7 (Chiefs won Super Bowl IV)
1970: Lost AFC championship game to the old Baltimore Colts, 27-17 (Colts won Super Bowl V)
1972: Lost AFC divisional game to the Steelers, 13-7 (Steelers lost AFC title game to Miami Dolphins)
1973: Lost AFC championship game to the Dolphins, 27-10 (Dolphins won Super Bowl VIII)
1974: Lost AFC championship game to the Steelers, 24-13 (Steelers won Super Bowl IX)
1975: Lost AFC championship game to the Steelers, 16-10 (Steelers won Super Bowl X)

Oh the pain. Oh the wounded pride. Seven post-season exits, six championship game losses, two separate three-peats (and not the good ones).

Along came 1976. The Raiders went 13-1-0, winning yet another AFC West crown, survived a divisional playoff game they should’ve lost, beating the New England Patriots, 24-21 (avenging their only regular season loss, 48-17, in Foxborough), and hosting their post-season albatross, the Pittsburgh Steelers. The defending two-time champions were 10-4-0, and had perhaps the greatest defensive season of all time, giving up only 138 total points, a mind-boggling TWENTY-EIGHT during the final nine regular season games. After a 1-4-0 start, the Steelers closed the regular season with a nine-game winning streak that included FIVE shutouts and beating opponents by a composite score of 234-28!

The Steelers were fresh off a 40-14 pasting of the Baltimore Colts, but unfortunately lost both starting running backs, Franco Harris and Rocky Bleier, to injuries. Without their two thousand-yard rushers (Harris and Bleier combined for 2,164 yards and 19 TDs), the Steelers offense could not compete with the Raiders. Lo and behold, the Raiders finally returned to the Super Bowl, beating the Steelers 24-7. Two weeks later, the Raiders won Super Bowl XI, defeating the Minnesota Vikings 32-14 (FYI: that was the Vikings’ fourth Super Bowl loss, but that’s for another story).

And the Raiders lived happily ever after, right? Well, the Raiders returned to form in 1977, losing another AFC championship, 20-17 to the Denver Broncos, then missed the playoffs in 1978 and 1979. But the Raiders returned to the Super Bowl after the 1980 and 1983 seasons, winning two more titles and reinforcing their legend (FYI: The Raiders haven’t won a Super Bowl since, and haven’t had a winning season since losing Super Bowl XXXVII after the 2002 season).

Are you starting to see some resemblance to Rex Ryan’s Jets?

Why did the Jets lose last night? Well, as was the case for the 1967-1977 Raiders, the other team was more physical at the line of scrimmage, ran the ball better, made fewer mistakes, made key plays when they needed to, perhaps had more lucky breaks... Oh, and the other team perhaps was simply better.

Were the Jets emotionally flat last night after beating the Colts and Patriots on the road during the first two rounds? I don’t necessarily think so. Just looking at the Steelers first offensive drive — 15 plays, 66 yards, 7 first downs, 9:06 time of possession — it was clear the Jets didn’t have a solution yet for running back Rashard Mendenhall, who ran roughshod through arm tackles just like he did back in week 15. Despite winning that week 15 game 22-17, Rex Ryan admitted his defense didn’t play as well as he wanted. Mendenhall rushed for 99 yards back then; he rushed for 95 yards in the first half alone last night. Rex Ryan may have finally figured out a way to beat Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, but he needed extended time for Mendenhall.

With Mendenhall able to run, the Steelers built a 24-3 halftime lead, outgaining the Jets in total yardage, 231-50. More evident of which team controlled the line of scrimmage was the Steelers defense held the Jets to ONE yard rushing. Granted, many thought the 106 yards the Jets rushed for in week 15 was somewhat of a fluke, but ONE yard? Was the Steelers rush defense that good?

In the second half, a completely different Jets defense came out of the locker room, holding Mendenhall to 26 yards. In fact, it almost seemed like the teams switched uniforms — the Jets outscored the Steelers 16-0, and outgained them 239-56. The Jets even rushed for 69 yards, showing they were indeed capable of running on the Steelers defense. Unfortunately for the Jets, the Steelers offense made the last two key plays for first downs — a second-and-twelve completion from Ben Roethlisberger to tight end Heath Miller, and a third-and-six completion to rookie receiver Antonio Brown — and a valiant Jets comeback was snuffed out.

Could the Jets come all the way back from a 24-0 hole and win the biggest comeback in conference championship history? If the Jets defense prevented one of those last two first downs, there was hope, even if with less than a minute left, no timeouts, and possibly the length of the field to go for a winning touchdown. Perhaps Rex Ryan should’ve opted for the onside kickoff when it was 24-19 and three minutes left. Perhaps he should’ve rolled the dice against a gassed Steelers defense instead of his own defense running on fumes.

When the clock ran down, the Steelers outlasted the Jets more than beat them. The Jets offense certainly had the Steelers defense on the ropes. But 24-0 proved too much of a hole to climb out of. The Steelers DID beat the Jets last night before halftime; the Steelers simply never got to put the final stake in Gang Green’s heart until the bitter end.

What does this tell us about Rex Ryan and his merry band of Jets? Well, just as they made off-season moves to shore up the defense for a playoff battle against Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, they’ll need to make a few more moves in order to handle running backs like Rashard Mendenhall better. They could use a real pass rushing defensive lineman. The secondary, outside of Darrelle Revis, needs to play more consistently. Offensively, they may need to tinker with the running game, diversify it beyond Shonn Greene and L’Danian Tomlinson (i.e., let’s see more Joe McKnight) and get more depth on the offensive line. Maybe they need to upgrade the kicking game.

Of course, perhaps it might help to win the AFC East and guarantee a home playoff game. If the Jets beat the Patriots back in week 13, rather than get blown out 45-3, would it have made a difference? The Patriots might still have won the division at 13-3. The Jets needed to be better than 11-5. They needed to avoid laying eggs at home against the Ravens (week 1), Packers (week 8) and Dolphins (week 14). If the Jets managed to score a single touchdown in each game, they could’ve been 14-2, even with getting their heads handed to them in Foxborough in week 13.

But the team is loaded with talent, especially at the skill positions, not to mention a steadily maturing franchise quarterback. Unlike championship-caliber teams with short shelf lives (e.g., the 1986-1989 Cleveland Browns), the Jets are built to be among the top 3-4 teams in the AFC for at least the next 4-5 years. And despite what some members of the fan base think, the Jets have a very solid and smart coaching staff. Would it be nice if Rex Ryan and company did less yakking? Sure, but it’s hard to argue with two straight AFC title game appearances, something no other Jets team has ever done — not under Weeb Ewbank, Walt Michaels, Joe Walton, Bill Parcells, or Herman Edwards, the only other head coaches to produce consecutive winning seasons.

Sure, it’s a little silly for Ryan in his post-game press conference to tell folks they “have no right” to criticize the Jets, but he was right on the money on one thing: they will be back next year to chase a Super Bowl, and the next year, and the next year, and for every year Rex Ryan serves as head coach. You have to give him and the team credit for setting their goal, talking about it ad nauseum, and never backing down. Just the way they came back from 24-0, kept fighting until the end, and kept the outcome in doubt until the Roethlisberger to Brown completion, you see a team driven, a team on a mission, a team thoroughly committed to not going away.

Do I guarantee we’ll see the Jets in Super Bowl XLVI, or XLVII or XLVIII? No, but I like their chances, better than I like Baltimore’s with Joe Flacco at quarterback, or San Diego’s with A.J. Smith as general manager, or the Colts’ with limited defensive depth. Are the Chiefs more than a one-year wonder? Are the Raiders really on the upswing? Are the Titans, Jaguars and Dolphins above mediocrity? Will we honestly hear from the Bengals, Browns, Bills, Broncos or Texans anytime soon?

The Patriots and Steelers are both built to remain a perpetual part of the discussion. The Patriots began this millennium winning three Super Bowl titles in a four-year period. The Steelers are in position to win their third in a five-year span. The Jets are also part of the discussion.

For Jets fans who can’t take the disappointment of two straight title game exits, I suggest you study your history, and not just the history of “Same old Jets.” Take a look at teams who had periods of falling short and see how things eventually paid off — the 1967-1977 Raiders, the 1966-1983 Cowboys, the 1971-1992 Redskins, even the 1990-1994 49ers or 1992-1998 Packers. Lots of teams had a few years of title game heartbreak before finally winning it all. The Jets don’t even crack the top-5 on the list for perseverance. So crawl out of your dark closets, look out at the sunny sky, and look forward to next season. I’ll guarantee you Rex Ryan already is.