The New York Jets this year have kind of been on cruise control. There have been lingering questions. Mark Sanchez: is he worth the hype? The Jets’ D: Are they the real deal or a project? As the season has gone on, these questions have kind of drifted around our consciousness, but have never been answered.  As of today’s game against the Panthers, the Jets were kind of struggling, as were the Giants. The fans that showed up at the Meadowlands for the most part had an air of outright complacence. Fans of all New York teams are essentially one and the same, and ever since the Yankees wrapped up their 27th World Series earlier this month, there hasn’t really been much to talk about among the New York masses. In that same sports complex, there may be a team to set an NBA record for most consecutive games lost to open the season.

The Nets’ suckitude may have carried over to Giants Stadium, which will soon be trashed in favor of a new, shinier palace for fans of two football teams that right now seem to be caught in the middle. Both the Jets and Giants can boast an impressive victory once in awhile, like today’s 17-6 Jet drubbing of the Panthers.

But there are also painful losses, like the Thanksgiving Day Massacre of the Broncos over the Giants. Unlike fans of other cities, ahem, Bahston, when a New York team doesn’t offer something worthy of a rah-rah salute, the fans move on. They have business to do, career ambitions to fulfill, a life in the world’s biggest media market outside of sports.

With two minutes left in the game, with Jay Feely’s game-icing field goal, the majority of the fans headed for the exits, like a one-hit wonder had just played their only hit. An air of indifference settled back over the crowd, like eh, that was that, now back to life. That’s because the masses have been appeased by other teams in other sports, but these Jets, as impressive as they might appear once in awhile, may not be ready for prime time, ready for a glorious ticket-tape parade like the Yankees and G-Men have enjoyed in recent years.

In terms of the AFC playoff race, the Jets are in the middle. At 5-6, they do not appear poised to make a push the kind of which legends are born. For awhile early on it appeared that this would be a special year, with a special coach and a special young quarterback pushing the franchise to new heights. But like a lot of things in life, this season hasn’t exactly panned out being as special as the fans thought. After all, with the Knicks taking center court every night at Madison Square Garden, New Yorkers know plenty about having a team in a “rebuilding phase”.

If the Jets can build off today’s win and make a strong playoff push, maybe next time they win the New York crowd will not head for the exits so fast.