New York Jets and the Rex Ryan Era: After the Bye 2009

Nov 3, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan during the game against the New Orleans Saints at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

5-4, a record that nobody thought the Jets would have after nine games. Well, Jets’ fans saw the possibility. The “experts” had the Jets winning maybe five games all season long, not five out of the first nine games. Clearly, the Jets relish the role of the underdog. They have played far better during the Rex Ryan years when not expected to perform well.

Now that we are in the midst of the bye week, I thought it might be interesting to look back through the Rex Ryan era and see how the team has performed after the bye week. For starters, let’s take a look at a team that this year has been compared to, 2009.

Just like this year, Rex Ryan hitched his wagon to a rookie quarterback, and that wagon went all the way to the AFC title game. This team nearly missed the playoffs, and at one point coach Ryan thought the team was eliminated. This is the year that Peyton Manning was taken out of their regular season matchup against the Jets, paving the way for a come from behind win. The final record was 9-7.

That year, the team went into the bye week 4-4, let’s see the results after the bye:

To summarize, the team went 5-3 after the bye in 2009. To parallel 2013, if the Jets win five after the bye, we will finish 10-6. If the Jets can pull that off, I think we all will be thrilled, regardless of whether or not that translates into a playoff appearance.