New York Jets: Rex Ryan Takes Shot At Old Team, Mark Sanchez

Former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan took a shot at his old team and quarterback, Mark Sanchez, in the post game presser following the Buffalo Bills Week 6 win.

The Rex Ryan era for the New York Jets started off strong. He led the team to back-to-back AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010 with Mark Sanchez at quarterback. Unfortunately, that was as far as they would make it, as the Jets lost to the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers.

That would be as good as things got for the Ryan-Sanchez-Jets group. After those AFC Championship game appearances, things went downhill fast. The Jets wouldn’t reach the playoffs again with Ryan and are currently riding a five-season streak without reaching them. Sanchez missed the 2013 season because of injury and would sign with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2014.

Ryan would last one more season with the Jets than Sanchez before being fired following the 2014 season. It didn’t take Ryan long to land on his feet, as the Buffalo Bills came calling quickly after to fill their head coaching void. Ryan brought all the same bravado and confidence with him to Orchard Park that he had with the Jets.

It must have felt great for him to defeat his former team twice last season; the second of which kept the Jets out of the postseason. The Jets were able to exact some revenge this season, as they defeated Ryan and the Bills in Week 2, 37-31. It was a victory that many thought would jumpstart the Jets and potentially end Ryan’s tenure with the Bills.

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But, in fact, it has done the exact opposite. The Jets have accomplished nothing since then, losing three games in a row since. Meanwhile, Ryan has got the Bills playing good football, as they have run off four impressive victories in a row, all by double-figures.

The most recent of those blowout victories came this weekend against the San Francisco 49ers. Ryan and company throttled the 49ers in Colin Kaepernick‘s first start of the season, 45-16. It pushed the Bills to 4-2 on the season, sticking one game behind the New England Patriots, who moved to 5-1 with a victory over the Cincinnati Bengals; their only loss came during the Bills’ winning streak.

Against the 49ers, the Bills really had their running game going. LeSean McCoy ran for 140 yards and three touchdowns. As a team, the Bills piled up an absurd 312 yards on 44 carries. Following the game, Ryan was asked about the similarities between the Bills current ground attack and the one he ran with Sanchez at the helm with the Jets.

Ryan gave a dig at his former team, saying, “The difference is we don’t turn the ball over.” Turnovers were a big problem for the Jets with Sanchez under center. The lowlight came against the New England Patriots with the infamous ‘Butt Fumble’.

That was one of many turnovers that Sanchez would commit with the Jets. In his Jets’ career, Sanchez threw 69 interceptions with 43 total fumbles, completing only 55.1 percent of his passes. Even if Sanchez lost only half of those fumbles, that is still well more than one turnover per game; Sanchez started 62 games with the Jets.

That is not a formula for winning football, something Ryan also says in his post game interview. While Ryan has not yet reached a Championship game with the Bills or even a postseason, Tyrod Taylor has proven to be far superior to Sanchez holding onto the ball. Taylor has eight interceptions and 11 fumbles with the Bills, completing 63.2 percent of his passes.

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There is no doubt that Sanchez had his shortcomings with the Jets, and Ryan wants to make sure people don’t forget that. It could be taken as a cheap shot by Ryan at the Jets, but he has seemed to make it his mission to make sure they are as miserable as possible since they fired him.

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