ESPN.com is reporting that Jets’ defensive coordinator Bob Sutton will be fired and the soon-to-be-fired Raiders’ defensive coordinator, Rob Ryan, will be hired.

Ryan and Jets’ Head Coach Eric Mangini were defensive assistants together for four seasons in New England.

Both teams’ defenses struggled against the run in 2007. The Raiders finished 31st, allowing 145.9 yards per game. The Jets finished 29th, with 134.8 yards per game allowed.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.

The dismal Jets ended their dismal season in dismal weather conditions with a dismal 13 – 10 OT victory over the dismal Kansas City Chiefs.

In what should come as no surprise to Jets’ fans this season, their victory at the Meadowlands actually cost them in the long run, as they dropped from 3rd to 6th in the 2008 draft pecking order. Ironically, with San Francisco’s first-round pick this year, the Patriots will draft #7. My guess is the two head coaches will not be calling each other to share their thoughts on talent.

The 2008 draft must be used to bolster an anemic offensive line and possibly secure another QB of the future. Kellen Clemens (13-25, 115 yards, 1 TD) was average at best yesterday, and in fact, average at best the last half of the season after taking over the starting QB position. Those who think with the glass half-full will say it was the poor blocking in front of him.

Speaking of glasses half full or empty, fans found out when they arrived to the stadium yesterday that it was family day. Simply put, no beer sales. I had just finished telling my friend, attending his first Jets’ game, that they usually do something special for the fans at the last game. They sure did ~ no beer and cold Mountain Dew handed out on the way to the parking lot. At least they were smart enough to put people in position at the gates to hand it out after the first quarter, when the march to the lot slowly began. I don’t recall a family day in recent history and you would think of all seasons, this would not be the one to upset the fans even more. Maybe they ran out of beer after the Giants’ game on Saturday night?

The ramp at gate D was closed, which meant the chanters had to go elsewhere. Ironically, the entertainment on the ramps was our only flash (no pun intended) of national fame this season. I blame Fireman Ed. Without him leading chants in the stadium, fans were forced to lead chants outside of it. “Show your….” is close to J-E-T-S, I guess.

The PR department brought in an 11-year-old girl to sing the anthem. As good as she was I couldn’t help but wonder if that’s the best we could do living within a Chad Pennington-floater of NYC. And I’ll plead one last time (for this season) to please introduce players individually. There is nothing more anti-climatic than watching the entire team jog into the stadium together. 

Two other odd events: One of Ben Graham’s practice punts clamored off the net and onto the field, briefly halting play. Mike Nugent was warming up for his 2nd-half kickoff, only to have Mangini decide at the last minute the Jets were going to kick the other direction.

It was a day full of confusing decisions and happenings, topped off by a win that nobody wanted. 

To quote Herm Edwards in his post-game press conference when he was asked if he was glad the season is over:

“Yes, I’m glad it’s over.”

So are we, Herm.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.

As I ponder what to wear in today’s unpredictable weather in Piscataway, I started thinking about some questions that I’m waiting to see answered by 7pm tonight. 

So without further ado, some questions heading into today’s season finale at the Meadowlands. Some serious and at 3 – 12, most not.

Did the grounds crew even bother changing the logos on the field after last night’s Giants game?

Will the shuttles even be running today or will they let the few cars driving to the game just come park as close to the stadium as they want?

I have an extra ticket for today’s game. Will I even be able to give it away?

Will the lines for the fun activities under the bubble be short enough that even I will have the patience to kick my first field goal of the season (if so, I hope the medics are still working).

Will I be able to take attendance by a show of hands from my seat in row ten of the lower section?

Will the Jets continue to play hard for Eric Mangini? After all, other than game #1 against the undefeated Patriots and the basting they took on Turkey Day, the Jets have been in every game.

By the end of the day, where will the Jets sit in the draft order? A win, as nice as it would be, could cost them several slots. A loss will just place into doubt many deposits on next year’s seasontickets.

Will Fireman Ed make an appearance or go “oh for” in attendance this year. As far as I’ve been able to tell, he has yet to attend a game.

Assuming Kellen Clemens starts, if he really stinks it up, will we see Chad Pennington. Or maybe Brad Smith? And if so, what message does that send about the quarterback situation for next year? I can tell you this, not a good one.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.

The Tennessee Titans came into today’s game playing for their playoff lives. They got help from the Bengals earlier in the day as they defeated the Browns 19 – 14. That meant, with a victory, Tennessee would be in control of their own destiny, needing only to defeat the Colts in week 17 to get into the playoffs as the last AFC Wild Card team.

As expected, Kellen Clemens’ rib injury kept him out of the lineup and Chad Pennington was put back into familiar territory as the Jets’ starting QB. He often looked like the Chad of old, completing 26 of 32 passes for a very high percentage. But also like the Chad of old he had a costly red-zone interception and a horribly underthrown pick to end two drives. The red zone interception came after Eric Mangini chose to take 3 points off the board. Mike Nugent had converted on a 37-yard field goal but a Titan penalty gave the Jets an automatic first down. Mangini chose to take the first and goal at the Titan 9 and three plays later Pennington threw an interception in the end zone.

The Jets were only trailing 10 – 6 late in the 3rd quarter when they pinned the Titans on their own 2-yard line. The Titans put together a long drive, but penalties hurt them and they were forced to punt the ball back to the Jets.

Neither team scored on their next drives and the Jets got the ball back on their own 16 yard line with 4:37 left in the game, down by 4 points. The Jets picked up two first downs but on 4th down and game-to-go with under two minutes to play, Pennington was sacked for the 6th time.

The Jets used their final timeout when the Titans had 3rd and 6 on the Jets’ 41 yard line with 1:40 to go. A stop there and the Jets would get the ball back for one last attempt. In typical Jets’ fashion this season, the Titans needed 6 yards, the defense gave up 7, and the Titans ran out the clock.

The Jets, at 3-12, finish at home against the 4-11 Chiefs next Sunday. In what is sure to be a poorly attended game, the Jets will try to get their 4th victory against former coach Herm Edwards’ team.

Maybe what the Jets will take out of this game is remembering how a team fought hard all season to put themselves into a position to still be in the playoff hunt heading into week 17. And when given the opportunity to control their own destiny with a win, did just that.

With this season a wash, hopefully the Jets will remember the Titans.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through is website at www.jonbuzby.com.

The NY Jets will head into their 4:15pm showdown in Tennessee without the services of captain Laveranues Coles. Following a concussion against the Bills, an ankle injury against the Patriots, and limited playing time in between and after, Coles has been placed on injured reserve and will miss the final two games of the season.

Chad Pennington won the team’s Dennis Byrd award for the most inspirational player on the team, clearly an indication of his upbeat commitment to the squad following a benching midway through the season. It is Pennington’s second Byrd award in a row. He won it last year after starting all 16 games for the Jets following what many thought would be a career-ending shoulder injury and surgery.

To no one’s surprise there is no update on who will be Sunday’s starting QB. As expected, it will be a game-time decision. In fact, don’t be surprised if nobody knows until the first series. All reports are indicating there is no way Kellen Clemens will be able to effectively play QB, so don’t be surprised to see #10 trotting out on the field.

With a very winnable game next Sunday against the Chiefs, a victory against the Titans would enable the Jets to come away with five wins this season. Only half of last year, but if you asked many, about 5x more than most would have expected early in the season.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.

Second-year RB/KR Leon Washington has been voted MVP by his NY Jets’ teammates. On Friday, Washington was awarded the Curtis Martin Most Valuable Player award in an apparent landslide vote.

Via Bart Hubbuch of the NY Post, Washington had this to say about the prestigious award:

“So many great guys in this long history of this organization have their name on the hallway of [the team's practice facility], so it says a lot about what your teammates think of you.”

Filling in for the injured Justin Miller in week 2, Washington set a club record with three kickoff returns for touchdowns and averages 28.2 yards per return, second best in the league behind Cleveland’s Joshua Cribbs. 

Washington has come a long way from his infamous lap-running days at training camp for frequent fumbles and stupid penalties. So far in fact, that he might be heading to Hawaii should something happen to Cribbs. Washington was voted the first reserve as the AFC kick returner.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.

With only three wins there wasn’t much hope of any Jets heading to Hawaii in February. The Jets only chance was kick returner Leon Washington. 

Washington is the first alternate at kick returner behind Cleveland’s Joshua Cribbs.

Kerry Rhodes is the third alternate at safety. The three safeties on the AFC roster are starters Ed Reed of Baltimore and Bob Sanders of Indianapolis and reserve Troy Polamalu of Pittsburgh.

Nick Mangold is the third alternate at center. The conference’s two centers are starter Jeff Saturday of the Colts and backup Dan Koppen of the Patriots.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.

Chad Pennington came in and played admirably in place of the injured Kellen Clemens on Saturday in Foxborough. It was later learned that Clemens could have returned, but Eric Mangini chose to stick with Pennington in a game that was close until the very end.

One can only assume that Mangini felt Pennington gave his team the best chance to hand the Patriots their first loss of the season. Although it didn’t happen, what did come out of Pennington’s valiant effort is a swirling QB controversy. Who will start on Sunday in Tennessee? Who should start? And why?

Mangini was asked several times who his starter will be in the Monday press conference, and in typical Mangini-fashion, like a Rockette at Radio City, danced around the question. Via Mark Cannizzaro’s column in the NY Post:

“We’ve got to see where Kellen is in terms of the injury,” Mangini said. “I think Kellen has done a lot of good things and there’s a lot of things that he’s still growing into and learning about with experience.

“On the other side, I thought Chad did a really nice job in the role that he has, to have limited reps and come in and execute all the different things we asked him to execute. That to me is classic Chad.”

Obviously, you have some thought (about who’ll start) in your head, right?” Mangini was asked.

“No, it’s really just about evaluating where he is injury-wise, then we’ll go throughout the whole week, we’ll see where it is,” Mangini said.

Will the decision to play Clemens or not be based on his medical condition?

“Yeah, that will definitely play a big part in it, to see where he is in terms of the injury and all those things,” Mangini said. “We’ll just see how the week plays out.”

Mangini’s reason for benching Pennington was to give Clemens the opportunity to play and the Jets a chance to see if he could be their QB of the future. By doing so, the Jets more or less made the statement that Pennington is not the QB of the future, and in fact, unless he’s willing to take a big pay cut to stand on the sideline with a clipboard next season, most likely will be playing in a Ravens’ uniform.

If Clemens is healthy enough to start and doesn’t, the assumption now becomes that the Jets have decided Clemens is not the QB of the future. His statistics are average at best (52% completions, 4 TD’s, 10 INT’s, 59.0 QB rating), and certainly the Jets can’t comfortably state from what they’ve seen that he will go into camp in July as the #1 QB.

So that being said, Clemens needs these last two games to prove he is the QB of the future, or demonstrate to the Jets that he’s not.

Mangini did state that he hopes to know today if Clemens is healthy enough to go and “have a good idea” who will go as the starter. But don’t expect him to announce it.

My prediction is that Mangini, in his best Rockette performance, will dance around Clemens’ injury prognosis all week, allowing him the opportunity to make a game-day, or even in-game, decision without further rocking the boat (or jet, in this case).

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.

The weather outside was frightful, the Jets’ offense not delightful. Thomas Jones had no place to go, and so the Patriots are 14 and oh. 

In a game that was billed as “Bill’s Revenge” with predictions of a 20+ point differential on paper, the defenses and special teams were the stars on the field. Blocked punts, interceptions and fumble recoveries highlighted a game that was played in a driving sleet storm. The only 20+ stat was the wind gusts.

Kellen Clemens’ first and only pass was picked off and returned for a TD on the Jets’ second play of the game. On the play, he was knocked out with a rib injury and replaced by Chad Pennington, who went the distance and was 25/38 for 186 yards and no interceptions.

New England’s offense was held in check by the Jets’ defense, but an interception and blocked punt deep in their own end of the field, and a fumble in the red zone, cost the Jets a chance to hand the Patriots their first loss of the season.

On a day when the running game was so critical due to the weather, Thomas Jones rushed for a paltry 19 yards on 10 carries. Leon Washington’s 57 rushing yards in the box score are misleading since 47 of them were on one run early in the game. After that run, Washington, for some reason, was handed the ball just three more times (7 touches total).

Midway through the 3rd quarter, with the Jets down by 10, Darrelle Revis picked off a Tom Brady pass to set the Jets up in good field position, but six plays later TE Chris Baker fumbled the ball right back over to the Patriots.

The teams would trade field goals and late in the 4th quarter the Jets were down 20 - 10 and driving, but Mike Nugent’s missed field goal (35 yards) with a little over two minutes to go put the nail in the coffin and the Patriots escaped with their 14th win in 14 tries.

Tom Brady was held to a season-low 140 passing yards but Laurence Maroney ran for a season-high 104 yards and a TD in a driving sleet and wind storm.

Even the much anticipated post-game handshake between Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini was uneventful with both coaches smiling at each other and exchanging a “Great game!” My guess is their families won’t be exchanging Christmas cards this year.

With Miami beating the Ravens in OT and Brett Favre passing Dan Marino’s career yardage mark, the Patriots march to an undefeated season is the last milestone to watch as this season winds down toward the playoffs.

The Jets head to Tennessee where the Titans will be playing for their playoff lives, and then home to close out against Herm Edwards’ Chiefs team.

The way this season has gone, my prediction is the Jets will lose to Tennessee and then beat the Chief at home, to knock themselves from the 2nd or 3rd draft pick to out of the top 5.

It would be the perfect ending to a less-than-perfect season. And we’ll have Herm to thank. How ironic.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.

The NY Jets head to Foxborough following the season’s first major snow storm and anticipate another afternoon of difficult weather. The forecast calls for, at a minimum, high winds and freezing temperatures. Along with this could be a mix of rain, sleet and snow.

The weather could work to NY’s advantage as the one area where they might have an advantage over New England is in the running game. Although Thomas Jones has not lived up to his billing, he has begun to rack up the yards (944) and will look to add to his one rushing TD this season.

The Pat’s passing attack will never be halted, but certainly could be stalled with the weather. Darrelle Revis played respectably against Moss in his first pro game, but more importantly, his recent physical performance shutting down Terrell Owens on Thanksgiving Day, should give him more confidence to slow down Moss, who has 82 catches and 19 TD’s.

Whenever Tom Brady can’t find an open Randy Moss and has to complete a pass, he usually looks to WR Wes Welker. It will be critical that whoever is covering Welker, most likely David Barrett, shuts him down. If not, Revis’ job on Moss will be futile, as Welker, on any other team, is a #1 receiver capable of big plays.

Spygate aside, Bill Belichick will want to revenge last year’s home loss to his former assistant coach, Eric Mangini. While the Patriots are playing for immortality, the Jets are merely playing for respect. Unlike their division rivals to the south, the Jets aren’t playing this week for their only win of their season. However, they also don’t want to be remembered as the Patriots’ biggest margin of victory in what will go down in the record books as a team’s best single season in the history of the NFL.

Look for the Jets to use the weather to their advantage and play their rivals tough. But no amount of sleet or snow is going to shut down the Patriots, which is what the Jets would need to have any chance to win.

My prediction, the Patriots will shovel their way to win #14, but not without a struggle and they won’t cover the spread. Patriots – 27, Jets – 16.

Jon Buzby is a nationally-syndicated columnist who can be reached through his website at www.jonbuzby.com.