As soon as the Jets stampeded off the Gillette Stadium field, flipped off Patriots fans, celebrated in the tunnel and jumped in front of the microphones, they unleashed a last bit of trash talk that was aimed at New England. Then, nearly in the same breath, they showered their next opponent, the Steelers, with praise.
Yup, these were the same Jets who literally swore off the Patriots' credentials while preparing for last Sunday's divisional-round playoff game. And before the prep work could even begin for the Steelers, the Jets traded in their voodoo dolls for love letters.
"I love Ben [Roethlisberger]," Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie said in his postgame news conference at Gillette. "Ben's a competitor."
Cromartie had more: "It’s going to be a great fight. [Roethlisberger] is a great guy. He's a guy that can move outside the pocket and be accurate outside the pocket. He's a tough guy. The team is tough. They have a great defense. We'll just make sure that we've got to prepare and do the things that we need to do. They're better than what we were when we played them the first time."
Outspoken linebacker Bart Scott got in on it, too: "Pittsburgh is a tremendous team with a Super Bowl pennant and a quarterback that has won two of them. It is going to take everything we have."
Wait, who are these guys? If your jaw just hit the floor and your neck needs some Icy Hot, you, too, have been victimized by listening too much to the Jets.
Obviously, teams like the Jets that say what they want and back it up by winning, well, they can keep on talking. It's just strange that they've taken a drastically different approach with the Steelers, who have won two of the last five Super Bowls.
Are the Jets scared of the Steelers? Probably not, since they beat them in Pittsburgh in Week 15, just 13 days after a 42-point loss in New England.
Do the Jets respect the Steelers? It seems likely, especially after raining praise on them. But with that, why wouldn't the Jets respect the Patriots and Tom Brady, who has one more Super Bowl ring than Roethlisberger?
It's probably a front. Deep down, the Jets have to respect the Patriots. But by not showing it, they can try to convince themselves of whatever they'd like and boast that false bravado that makes them such a media spectacle.
There's a different logic to this strategy, too. Maybe the Jets geared up for the Patriots with everything they had. Last week's trash talk was as uncensored as ever, and their game plan and on-field performance against the Pats was nearly flawless.
These Jets were no puddle jumpers. They were nasty, revved-up 757s that broke through the sound barrier and blasted Foxboro with air strikes in the form of F-bombs.
Now, the question is, what do they have left? Did they get tired of their own trash-talking act and decide to yield a quieter approach, and how will that affect Sunday's performance at Heinz Field?
That's something we'll have to wait a few more days to find out, unless of course, the Jets get bored and unleash another verbal barrage.
Why do you think the Jets aren't talking trash to the Steelers? Leave your thoughts below.
