Mark Sanchez, one happy rookie. (Photo NY Jets)

El Bronx, NY: There is nothing like winning and New York fans love nothing better, especially when one of our teams wins a Cinderella game 17-14 triumph over the Chargers in their divisional round playoff game at Qualcomm Stadium.

At the beginning of the NFL season most of my friends and family members were not too optimistic about the NY Jets. Most of them are NY Giants fans, and we New Yorkers love to wear our NY logo like the Giants and Yankees have “NY” on their helmets and hats. Thus, I understand why I know more Giants fans than Jets fans. For me personally, I always had a soft spot for the Giants since the Giants once played in the Bronx at the old Yankee stadium and Blue is my favorite color.

The Jets remind me of the comparison between the Yankees and the NY Mets baseball team. They are like the other team, the “B Squad” of New York football. This began to change for me when the Jets made an Omar Minaya type move and traded a few players to have the 5th first round pick for Mark Sanchez in the 2009 draft. Hey a Latino quarterback in the NFL, in New York, I’m in, “Let’s Go Jets!”

However, we all know how the season turned out. The favorite NY football team, the Giants fizzled out towards the end of the season and the underdog NY Jets team with the rookie quarterback that everyone had written off is one win away from a trip to Miami and playing in Super Bowl XLIV.

The Chargers are asking themselves, what happened, how did this shocking loss occur? The answer has two major parts. One is Mark Sanchez the rookie quarterback who completed 12 of 23 passes for a trivial 100 yards, 1 touchdown and one interception, not outstanding, but enough to make his mark and show that he is on track and has what it takes to be a great quarterback for this franchise. The other key factor for the Jets win was their blitzing defensive team who held the high scoring and offensive packed Chargers to their first sub-20-point game in the last 23 games.

Coach Rex Ryan probably telling Mark Sanchez: "OK kid we got this, just stay cool," or telling him, "Tranquilo."

You also have to give credit to First-year head coach Rex Ryan. He ran a great playbook from start to finish. Though the Jets were held scoreless in the first half for the first time in 46 games and it seemed that they could not even get a first down in the first half, he adapted his plays to stay steady and keep the game close for the Jets to come back and win. You saw his leadership grit when it finally came down to this: Fourth-and-a-foot, 1:09 left. The Jets decide to go for it. That play sealed the victory for the green machine.

The Jets are on their way to Indianapolis to play for the AFC Championship.

Next Sunday many New Yorkers will stop everything and fix their eyes to their TV screens, or ears to their radios at 3 PM. Next Sunday New Yorkers will forget the team differences, the team colors and the allegiances and do what we do best, root for anything from our Big Manzana (Big Manzana) and celebrate hearing Jay-Z’s/Alicia Keys, “A New York State of Mind”

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites