The point is - this one hurts badly because, just as with the 06 Mets, there are no guarantees. To get this close, to be (arguably) the best team and lose, you might not get there next year.

You think the Jets were (arguably) the best team?! Really?

Out of the Jets, Pittsburgh, Green Bay and the Bears? It's not much of a stretch.

But still a stretch.

I dunno if this was Tej's intention, but I think the two teams the Jets beat to get to the AFC Championship were as good, if not better, than the Steelers.

So to win 2 like that, and then lose to ARGUABLY (only arguably) an inferior team (regardless of where you place the Jets in that group of 4...before the playoffs, most people would put them 4th of the 4), is frustrating, and I get that. I think if you look at the road the Jets took to get there, its frustrating not to take the next step because you've shown 2 weeks in a row you can "beat the best" on the road, whereas Pitt basically got into the game because of a self-destruction in the 3rd quarter in a game the Ravens should've had easily.

I don't know if the Jets, on paper, are "arguably the best team", but I think they showed in their road to the AFC Championship that they can beat the best. They didn't exactly get to the game on smoke and mirrors (like the pretty much did in 2009-2010, beating a vastly overrated and overmatched Bengals team and then taking down what can only be described as a terrible playoff team in San Diego who just did not come to play at all). They won 2 games they were not picked to win, and had an opponent who, while really good themselves, they had already shown an ability to beat just a few weeks prior.

Colts were not as good as the Steelers and the Pat's defense was no where near the Steelers.
I do agree that the Jets were good enough to beat the best but they had to get pretty much great games from their teams to do it.

Pat's defense might not be as good, but when the Steelers played the Pats this season the Steelers D gave up 39 points, the Pats only 26.

Yes that is primarily due to to LeBeau's stubbornness to not change his scheme. Although an amazing DC-- HoFer, he is, to a fault believes his defense can impose their will on teams and not adjust. I was very excited for the Steelers to play the Jets in the AFC championship game due to the fact the Steelers do not match up well against the Pats and do against the Jets.

Well, regardless of why, you can't just blanketly say the Steelers are better than the Pats, which was my point.

Of these "4" teams we're talking about, Jets beat the Pats twice, Steelers once, and Colts the only time they played. 4-2, and all but one of these games were on the road. They deserved to be there, they proved it in their run in the playoffs, and they definitely had a claim to be considered "the best", at least in the AFC.

The Jets are a very solid team with a very good coaching staff. They are very solid and above average in many spots. They definitely deserve their accolades and were one of the top teams in the league.

I think the Packers and Steelers are both good teams, but this was the first time I've watched a Super Bowl in a long time and said to myself, "The Jets could have beaten either of these teams."

Obviously, the Jets played the Steelers twice and beat them once and the Jets also lost to the Packers, so it's pretty clear the Jets could lose to those teams, too.

I guess part of what I mentioned is that there were no great teams this year, only a handful of good ones. And the Jets were one of the good ones.

I think the challenge going forward will be to keep as much of the 2010 group together as they can and add some athletic linebackers and/or pass rushers.

Big offseason for Mr T