J is for Just Keep Your Mouth Shut

So did you know the Jets got a new coach in the offseason, a fiery, no-nonsense guy by the name of Rex Ryan? Corpulent fellow who used to be the defensive coordinator for the Ravens? Defensive mastermind who convinced Pro Bowl linebacker Bart Scott to follow him from Baltimore to New York?

Yeah, you know him. You probably also know about his brash persona and his attempts to insert a little swagger into a franchise that's 40 years removed from its only Super Bowl.

Commendable. But sometimes, swagger can lead to stupidity. Case in point: Kerry Rhodes.

The Jets' safety told reporters on Wednesday he wanted to 'embarrass' the New England Patriots, who come to Giants Stadium on Sunday. Rhodes went further, singling out star quarterback Tom Brady and saying the Jets will knock him down "more than six times."

Rhodes is probably right about getting to Brady more than the punchless Bills did in Week 1. And I'm sure Ryan loves the swagger-ific move by one of his players heading into a rivalry game. But that doesn't change the fact that it was monumentally moronic.

Take away the bravado, and this is what you get: A free safety with no Pro Bowl appearances, who plays on a team with no Super Bowls in 40 years, calls out a four-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl MVP, the quarterback of a Pats' team that's won three titles this decade. Brady's 18-0 in his last 18 regular-season games, for God's sake.

It'd be one thing if Rhodes' comments were merely harmless, a fly buzzing around your ear. But Brady and New England coach Bill Belichick have a history of using trash talk to fire the Pats up. This is the kind of game where Brady will finish 31-44 for 410 yards and three touchdowns and pick on Rhodes all day.

The Pats are a lot like Tiger Woods when they get pissed off. Woods famously demolished Stephen Ames 9&8 at the World Match Play Championship after Ames suggested Tiger was playing poorly enough for him to win. Tiger birdied seven of the first eight holes, and that was that. And you can tell he loved every minute of it.

The Jets looked very good in a 24-7 thrashing of the Texans in Week 1. They could have kept their mouths shut and let their play do the talking, and maybe even pulled off the upset. But now, there's no way Brady and Co. will lose. To borrow from my earlier metaphor, Rhodes' buzzing pissed the Pats off. Now he and the Jets are going to get swatted.