Rex Ryan saw his Jets team compile a plethora of strong finishes in 2010. The same can't be said about 2011, and it came to a head at the end of the season.
The Jets gave up 6.2 points per fourth quarter last season, which was tied for 15th in the NFL.
That wasn't too bad, except they gave up 10.7 per game over the last three games. Gang Green went 0-3 in that stretch and missed the playoffs for the first time under Ryan.
"I want this team to own the fourth quarter," Ryan told reporters Thursday, according to the team's website. "That is something that we need to do. And I think you do that by making strides in the offseason with your conditioning, with all those types of things."
Offensively, the Jets were actually pretty good in the fourth quarter, scoring 7.4 points a game in the final stanza. That was good enough for sixth in the league and was consistent with the team's 7.3 fourth-quarter-points-per-game tally in 2010.
"... it’s really on them because right now it’s almost like the old college deal about a dead period," Ryan said. "As a coach, you can’t contact your players. It’s on each other. We need to come back in shape."
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