Pointing at the other bench (The Jets/Pats Saga)

[Defensewins]

Shanahan, are you watching?
My hat is off to Rex Ryan. He knows how to motivate his troops.
Yes, he can be a rather disgusting human being at times, but his relationship with his players comes first and it is their key formula to winning.
What really impressed me was in an interview that was aired before todays game, Ryan took 100% responsibility for the early season blow out loss to the Patriots. He went on to say, 'when we lose it is always my fault and the other coaches for not preparing the players and game plan correctly.' He said it is never the players fault. Shanny? Thrown anyone else under the bus lately for your teams failures? Shanny look up the word team.
I realize Rex Ryan is not being 100% honest, but it is the message that this sends to his players that is worth its weight in gold and wins on the football field.
Playing football at this level is a lot like going to war. Players are putting their health, careers and life on the line and it can be a very physically painful sport to play. Rex Ryan seems to recognize this and backs his players. His players appreciate it and love to play for him at a very high level... most of the time.

Then in the post game news conference he was clear that the smack talking coming from his team this week was based on his players confidence and not being afraid of the big bad Patriots. That in fact he and his players really respect the Patriots.

My final observation: The top of the AFC is much better then the top of the NFC. Not just slightly, but much better.