Friday, December 9, 2011

Jets' Rex Ryan: We've been down this road before

By Nick St. Denis

Since Rex Ryan took over as head coach of the Jets two and a half years ago, December in New York has been a bit more stressful for fans than they'd prefer.

It's also been a lot more exciting.

In 2009, the Jets had to win six of their last seven games to get into the postseason. Last year, New York clinched a playoff berth a little earlier than that but had some critical divisional and conference games late in the season. Both times, New York got hot at the right time and reached the AFC Championship game, falling just short of the Super Bowl.

This year, the Jets (7-5) are in a similar predicament as Ryan's rookie campaign.

"We've been down this road before," Ryan told the media Thursday. "I think it's urgency, a sense of urgency without question, but it's just a purpose, a focus and everything else. That's where we're at. We know what's at stake. We have to win this game."

The Jets will likely need to win at least three of their four remaining games, but it's possible they'll need to win out. The Jets host the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday before facing the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants and Miami Dolphins to close out the season.

"All the scenarios in the world, they say well, three out of four, you might get in," Ryan said. "There's no scenario of where you can lose an AFC game. We have to win the two remaining AFC games and we'll worry about the other stuff later. We know we have to have this game. So with that understanding, I think that's dialed up the intensity and the focus."

Here's a look at the playoff picture for the Jets.

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