Rex Ryan has his players - and maybe just about everyone else these days - believing in the New York Jets.
The brash, confident coach has pumped up his team all season, and after receiving some lucky breaks to simply get into the playoffs, the soaring Jets (11-7) are a win away from the Super Bowl.
"The fact of the matter is we're here," defensive end Shaun Ellis said Monday. "We're doing good things while we're in the tournament, and we feel like this has been our destiny."
They'll first need to get past Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts (15-2) in the AFC title game, a rematch from a highly debated Week 16 meeting. That's when coach Jim Caldwell pulled Manning and other starters in the second half, and the Jets rallied to hand the Colts their first loss of the season.
Despite trailing only 15-10 when Manning & Co. took a seat, the Jets kept hearing about how the Colts handed them that win - and subsequently helped them get into the playoffs. Now, New York has a chance to silence those critics.
"This is the perfect script for us, man," right tackle Damien Woody said. "We couldn't have asked for a better script right now, getting a chance to play the Colts again. Everybody was talking about, 'Oh, you know, they laid down for us,' and all that type of stuff. Now, we've got a second opportunity against the Colts at their place again. This could be a redemption for us."
But Ryan, the former Ravens defensive coordinator, said the Jets don't need any of that to get them fired up.
"This is the AFC championship," he said. "The motivation is going to come from the fact that the winner of this game advances to the Super Bowl. That's probably motivation enough."
The fact the Jets are even in this position can make people shake their heads in disbelief, especially when Ryan mistakenly thought the playoffs were no longer an option after a 10-7 loss to the Atlanta Falcons almost a month ago.
The win over the Colts was further magnified when several teams ahead of the Jets in the playoff race lost, putting New York suddenly in control of its postseason destiny.
"To get to the Super Bowl, no team really has an easy ride," said linebacker Bart Scott, another former Raven. "If you want to earn the right to go to the Super Bowl, you have to go through teams you're not supposed to beat."