Rex Ryan Isn’t Fired Yet … But Impetus Grows After Latest Loss
Rex Ryan hasn’t been fired yet, but after yet another loss, it appears the push to get Rex Ryan fired is certainly growing. The New York Jets lost to the New England Patriots on Thursday night, thanks to a blocked field goal and a missed two point conversion. The loss sent Ryan’s team to a 1-6 record and their sixth straight loss.
Rex entered this season with some fans of the team already wondering why he wasn’t fired after another poor 2013. Those same fans have been wondering why he continues to start the likes of Geno Smith at quarterback, despite the fact that the former West Virginia Mountaineer has been bad, at the very best.
Despite the poor start to the season, the head coach has been trying to get his team to believe they still have a chance at the playoffs.
Before the game on Thursday night, Rex Ryan said “[H]ey, we might be counted out, (but) we’re not dead. We are going to fight our tails off.”
The squad did indeed fight their tails off against the Patriots, losing just 27-25, but the Jets also made plenty of mistakes that fans of the team have been pointing out as a reason he should be fired for months, if not years.
Mental mistakes have been a big part of Ryan’s career in New York, and they continued against the Patriots including a touchdown surrendered on 3rd and 19. After the mistake-filled game, Rex did seem to admit the truth about the season.
According to the New York Post the coach said of his season, “It’s been a big failure, obviously. The season’s not over, but you don’t want to be 1-6. If you’d ask me, I was thinking we’d be the other way. We expect to win every game.”
The sunny outlook sounds like a coach who doesn’t want to be fired, and he might know the axe is likely to fall at any time. It has largely been the affable coach’s personality that has allowed him to avoid the chopping block so far. There have also been some signature wins that have shown quite a bit of promise for the team. The biggest problem over his tenure has been a rather weak corps of quarterbacks, including a failed experiment with Mark Sanchez, this year with Geno Smith, and the signing of Michael Vick during the offseason. If he can’t right the ship, it seems likely Rex Ryan will be fired soon.
