Rex Ryan vs. Bill Belichick

Rex Ryan, newly hired coach of the New York Jets, has recently made remarks that have ignited a new fire in the Patriots-Jets rivalry. He recently said, "I didn't come [to New York] to kiss Belichick's rings." He continued, "Do I recognize the fact that Belichick is a heck of a coach? Absolutely. My thing is, I'm not intimidated by him or anyone else in this business. Period. I don't care who it is. Our football team certainly isn't going to be intimidated either. If there are some issues with that, so be it." In typical Bill Belichick fashion, Bill replied matter-of-factly, "It doesn't matter, I'm just trying to get ready to play, and that's it." To me, this war means absolutely nothing. As usual, the Pats will stomp over the Jets twice in the upcoming season. Once the Jets win a playoff game against us, they have no credibility. Yeah, they beat us in OT last year, and yeah it was at Gillette. But seriously, they had Brett Favre, and we did not have our best player, Tom Brady. I am not here to make excuses for that loss, but seriously, the Pats have taken the last 13 of 17 against the Jets, and to me this is not a true rivalry. I would much rather watch the Pats battle the Colts or Steelers, because those are competitive games filled the brim with intensity, and since these teams are always vying for a playoff bid, they have real significance. Even though the Jets are in our division, and we fight them for the division title, a Patriot-Jet matchup just isn't as appealing as a Brady-Manning (Colts or Giants) contest. All things considered, New England probably never play the Jets in the playoffs. Either New England or New York will make the playoffs, not both. The chances that the AFC East will produce two playoff teams this year is unlikely. Top-heavy divisions like the AFC South (Colts, Titans) or AFC North (Steelers, Ravens) will take the Wild Card playoff spots. Thus, when the accomplished team of Tom Brady and Bill Belichick go up against rookie QB Mark Sanchez and first-year head coach Rex Ryan in week 2, I'll be watching the Detroit Lions pick up their first win in over a year, as they face the Minnesota Vikings.

I want a lot of discussion about this topic, so when you read this, please leave your thoughts (not a paragragh).