Beisdes the question in the thread title, I do have some inquiries as a Jets fan...if you'll indulge me:
I do not speak for all Patriots fans.
1) Even with all the bluster, ego, trash talking, and the high amount of hubris Do Pats fans actually respect the coaching ability & defensive mind of Rex Ryan?
That's sort of a loaded question. I think Rex Ryan is a tremendous Defensive Coordinator. He's got a good attitude for it, his players like him and they buy into his defense, which is good.
What I don't think is that he's a good head coach. He's not. He does bonehead things and makes bonehead decisions throughout the course of games. Off the field, setting the creepy foot fetish stuff aside - he's good because he's got the media eating out of his hand. Truly like no one since Parcells that I've seen. However, the constant not only bragging but the disrespect for other opponents will be his undoing.
He also has a nasty habit of doing things "his way" and not adjusting the way the Jets do things. That makes them predictable.
2) Another Rex Ryan question: The Superbowl guarantees he makes every year: Good or bad for the NFL and the Jets?
You should ask this again at the end of the Jets season after another failure. Once is cute, Second is "well at least we did this!"...after this year, the NY Metro media is going to turn on him. I imagine ESPN will be first.
It's fine for the NFL because it gets exposure. Whatever.
It's bad long-term for the Jets, because twice now he's guaranteed SB wins, and twice the Jets have failed. Not "Wow, 2 AFCCGs in a row!" But no Super Bowl = Failure. Again, after this year, it won't be received quite as well as the novelty wears off.
3) Mark Sanchez seems to be a quarterback who plays between the range of poor and average during the regular season but then plays between good and very good during the playoffs. He is the opposite of Joe Flacco, who plays between the range of good - very good in the regular season and then plays poor in the post season. But this is just a Jets fan's opinion. Going into his third season, what is your frank opinion on Mark Sanchez and his future as an NFL quarterback?
I think Mark Sanchez could be the worst starting QB in the NFL right now.
The numbers don't lie. If you take Sanchez' stats from last year, and then line-up the potential starting 32 QBs and compare their numbers from last year - Sanchez would finish dead last in QB Rating, dead last in Completion Percentage, and near the bottom in attempts, completions, yards, TDs, INTs and TD-INT ratio.
That's pretty much every stat in which you can measure a QB. There are others, but you don't rank this low across all these basic categories if you're not pretty bad.
His playoff "performance" can be directly associated with the Jets stronger commitment to the run in the playoffs, and far, FAR fewer pass attempts by Sanchez than in the regular season. That's a coach that doesn't trust his QB.
I think Sanchez has good instincts, he's an athletic kid; but he's immature at best, and dumb as a box o' rocks at worst. He's not smart enough to play the position at an acceptable Pro Level. He's fine as a caretaker QB. Well, sort of fine, he still isn't good enough to leave it at quite that. But were you really worse off with Kellen Clemens? Is there THAT drastic a difference? It's certainly not worth trading what they did to get him. "Mark Sanchez" will be in the opening montage of "Jets 1st Round Picks" during ESPN's coverage of the NFL Draft after "Johnny 'Lam' Jones" and "Roger Vick" within 6 years. I think some idiot team will take a flyer on him and give him another 2 or 3 year deal.
He'll be on the montage.
4) Was the 28-21 Jets win over the Patriots in the playoffs last season a case of 'the better team won' or was it more a case of 'any given Sunday?'
First, that's such a silly cop-out. Why not just ask "Do you respect us now?? Do ya?!?!" My answer is, "not really".
Second, the Jets came out more conservative. Someone reigned in Rex Ryan during that game. It was smart, the Patriots made a couple of dumb mistakes; spotted the Jets a 2 TD lead, and it was just a matter of not screwing it up from there.
It was basically the 2007 Jaguars approach to the playoff game vs. the Patriots - except the Jets have a) better players b) a better coach c) got an early interception that seemed to deflate the whole team d) didn't screw up.
5) From the outside looking in The Patriots could do with a pass rusher,
Thanks, ESPN! Are they still old and slow, too?
especially seeing how they were unable to get to Sanchez in the playoff game?
This just in: 1) Your line was pretty damn good last year 2) The Patriots were running out Vince Wilfork and 2 street free agents on the line. It's not surprising.
Then they released Tully Banta-Cain, who to me was more of a scheme sack guy than a natural pass rusher.
He's also kinda old and kinda lazy. That's why the Patriots let him go the first time. Also, he had 4 sacks last year.
How do you feel about the Patriots not adding a proven a pass rusher yet?
The Patriots don't tend to drop $15 mil/yr on a guy just because he's a "name". Is that what you mean by proven?
I personally think that the answer to your question is either currently on the roster or will be within the next week or so.
A pass rush would be nice, but a lack of pass rush isn't why the Patriots lost to the Jets. Not effectively stopping the run and good defense by the Jets is why.