This is the wrong week for Jets' cockiness

After shellacking by Pats, NY players shouldn't get cocky about stopping Tebow

Chris Trotman / Getty Images

Aaron Maybin looks on during the Jets' defeat to the Patriots on Sunday.

By Josh Alper

NBCNewYork.com

updated 5:09 p.m. ET Nov. 16, 2011

No one expects the Jets to become a different team in light of Sunday night's humiliating loss to the Patriots.

It didn't happen when New England embarrassed them last year, it didn't happen during their three-game losing streak this year and it probably wouldn't happen if they turned into this year's Indianapolis Colts.

The Jets talk and complaining about it is about as likely to create change as complaining about Donald Trump's hair.

Having said that, it would be nice not to hear the team already crowing about stopping Tim Tebow on Thursday night. It's never good to count your chickens before they hatch, but it is especially dangerous to count your chickens a couple of days after they all died in the coop of some rare brand of avian flu.

The Jets defenders got their rear ends handed to them on Sunday night, but they weren't showing the least concern about facing Tebow and the Broncos on Tuesday.

Darrelle Revis led the charge by flatly saying that the Broncos can't beat them by running the option offense with Tebow at quarterback and he got help from his friends.

"Up front, it?s going to be a fun game for us," said defensive lineman Marcus Dixon.

There's every reason to believe the Jets are correct about their ability to handle the run-heavy Broncos attack better than the Raiders and Chiefs have been able to do during two straight Denver wins. But there was also every reason to believe that they could have done a halfway decent job against the Patriots after watching the Cowboys, Steelers and Giants shut them down in the three games leading into Sunday night's matchup.

In fact, we heard plenty of talk last week about how the Jets knew just the way to stop Brady and company. We heard it from Revis, from defensive coordinator Mike Pettine and others in the days leading up to the game.

It didn't happen, though, and the Jets' chronic lack of preparation was a big reason why. The short week coming into the Denver game felt scary enough for a team that rarely shows up ready to play its games, but throw in overconfidence about stopping the other team and the fear factor goes through the roof.

Remember, the Raiders were a run-only attack when the Jets faced them earlier this season. How'd that work out for them?

Like we conceded up top, there's no way that you're ever going to shut up the Rex Ryan Jets. Love it, hate it or somewhere in between, we all have to make our peace with it and go on with our lives.

Doing so will be a lot easier if they actually live up to their word this time around.

Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City. You can follow him on Twitter and he is also a contributor to Pro Football Talk.

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