THIS is a week when Eric Mangini’s Jets can show us exactly what they’re made of.
This is a week when the Jets can show us they are not your father’s Jets, the ones who crumble at the first sniff of adversity.
This is a week when Mangini can show what kind of control he has over his players, one during which he can show that the five-second rule he applies to football really does work.
Because 410 is a lot for one team to get over in a matter of days.
A 41-0 loss to anyone in football is enough to jar players’ confidence, make them second-guess the coaches’ program, wonder what all of that grueling training camp was all about.
These are some areas where Mangini will be tested this week.
To date, there has been a very distinct in Mangini we trust mantra about this team and, save for perhaps the disgruntled Laveranues Coles, that doesn’t appear to be wavering right now.
Teams are always told never to look ahead, but that’s exactly what we’re going to do for a moment, because the Jets are about to embark on the most important stretch of their season in the next three weeks.
The next game comes Sunday at Giants Stadium against 1-4 Miami, a team that has lost its last two and is in throes of a quarterback change/controversy/quandary.
The following week is a home game against the 0-5 Lions, who most recently leaked away a huge lead on Minnesota only to lose going away, 26-17, on Sunday.
And then comes a road game in Cleveland against the Browns, who are 1-4 and struggling.
Those three opponents have a combined 2-13 record entering this week’s play, and, barring more slap-stick-humor play like the Jets displayed in Jacksonville Sunday, the Jets should be favored to win all three of those games.
A three-game winning streak from here entering the bye week would leave the Jets at a highlyrespectable 5-3 entering their Nov. 5 bye week at the exact halfway point in the season.
And believe it, they could use those three wins, because the Jets come out of the bye week with a game against the Patriots, whom they never beat anymore, followed by a home game against the Bears, who might be the best team in football.
So, a three-game winning streak into the bye week would go a long way toward leaving 41-0 as a mere speck in the rearview mirror.
Asked what kind of challenge he faces getting his team to come back from 41-0, Mangini said, “How we respond to this is as important as how we responded to the adversity we’ve faced in the past few weeks. It’s important you learn from it, you build on it and you move on. We’re working on Miami now. That’s where we are. We’re getting ready for the Dolphins.
“We’re trying to consistently improve and take away the things that we can take away from (41-0) and work that much harder and make sure that it doesn’t happen again.” Jet running back Kevan Barlow, who’s been a part of some pretty shoddy 49ers teams recently, said he has no doubt about the character of this Jets team he’s a part of now.
“There are a lot of stand-up guys in this organization; I see a lot of character in here,” Barlow said.
“We’ll definitely bounce back. We have great leaders on this team, so we have no choice but to. Coach E is a young guy, so he can pretty much relate to the players. I mean, he’s 35 years old and I think that’s a good quality.” Mangini’s true qualities as a head coach will have a chance to surface in these next three weeks, beginning with Sunday’s game against the Dolphins.