Talk is Cheap

Rex Ryan isn't the only Jet taking a shot at the Patriots,
Braylon Edwards and Antonio Cromartie have joined in as well. 

In a span of four short days, the New York Jets have gone from making subtle digs at the Patriots to all out insulting them. Prior to their first round playoff matchup with the Colts, Ryan managed to credit Peyton Manning while also taking a shot at Tom Brady. If his low blow somehow slipped by you, chew on this one more time:

"There's nobody like (Manning) in the league. Nobody studies like him. I know Brady thinks he does. I think there's probably a little more help with Belichick with Brady than there is with Peyton Manning."

While the fact can't be denied that Belichick has helped Brady, Rex seems to have forgotten that Manning was mentored by Tony Dungy from 2002-2008. Not a bad guy to have in your corner.

Then, just minutes after defeating the Colts and officially advancing to face New England, Ryan chose to stoke the fire by declaring that Sunday's matchup between the Patriots and Jets is "personal." More closely, it's about "Bill Belichick vs. Rex Ryan."

On the outside looking in, one would diagnose Ryan's remarks and most likely come to one of two possible conclusions. First, Ryan is an overweight, loud-mouthed idiot who can't help but put his ego on display for the whole world to see, selfishly putting himself above his players in terms of importance and worth. Or, secondly, Ryan is strategically placing the spotlight on himself in an attempt to deflect the attention from his players, thus allowing them to focus more on the game and less on the media attention they're receiving.

I'm going with the former, not the latter.

Growing up the son of Buddy Ryan, who won two Super Bowls (one as a linebackers coach with the Jets in 1969 and another as the defensive coordinator of the 1985 Chicago Bears), Rex may possess football smarts due to his thick bloodlines, but make no mistake, he is by no means an intelligent man. Anyone who watched the HBO documentary series Hard Knocks knows this fact cannot be disputed. Half the time spent in his office was devoted to devouring peanut M&M's and finding a good restaurant to order delivery.

Does anyone really think Rex stays up late at night lamenting which strategy to employ against his opponent?

Didn't think so.

Taking after the unsportsmanlike standard set by his coach, wide receiver Braylon Edwards tweeted on Sunday: "All you hatin a$$ people....J-E-T-S. And let new England know we are coming." Then, just a day later, Edwards couldn't help himself and said "I'm not going to lie- I remember what happened (getting blown out by the Pats 45-3 on Dec. 6), but at the end of the day, I know we're better than them."

Today, cornerback Antonio Cromartie took the trash talking reigns for himself and laced into Brady with a string of well-known obscenities. First, when asked what kind of guy he thought Brady was, Cromartie answered: "An ass****." Then, he eloquently added, "F*** him." Comments like that certainly don't mean much coming from a guy who, as Globe writer Shalise Manza Young noted, has fathered nine children with eight different women and needed the Jets to front him $500,000 in order to pay back child support.

As expected, Belichick responded by demanding that his players remain silent and not play down to the Jets level by engaging in a battle of words. Even Brady failed to respond to Cromartie, stating "I've been called much worse."

Still, Rex couldn't help himself and found yet another way to dig into Belichick. When asked today about his thoughts on Cromartie's middle-school tantrum, Ryan stated "We let our guys speak and we don't try to tell them what to say or what not to say."

Have it your way, Rex. As if Belichick, Brady and the rest of the Patriots needed any more bulletin board material leading up to Sunday, you just gave it to them.