Jets' Richardson emotionally defends Rex Ryan, but is it a lost cause?

After a 38-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills in Detroit, the New York Jets officially were eliminated from playoff contention — and the end looks closer than ever for head coach Rex Ryan.

Although Jets players largely say they have supported Ryan as their coach, the team's putrid effort on Monday didn't match their words.

But defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson vehemently and emotionally supported Ryan after the game, saying the Jets players let Ryan down "big time," per the Star Ledger.

"I don't know what we're playing for, but I don't want this organization broke up in no type of way," Richardson said. "That's what happens when you have seasons like this. They clean house. I don't want it. I play for a lot more. All I am is a number on my back and my name on my jersey. I play with my heart. I don't take L's [losses] like this, especially to the Buffalo Bills. My god, man.

"I've never lost nine games. That's not me at all. I didn't get drafted to lose games, period. If it don't hurt nobody [else] like it hurts me, then they shouldn't be on the team with me. I really play with everything I've got. That's it."

Richardson was said to be on the verge of tears, according to multiple accounts.

Ryan, however? His response to the brutal loss appeared to be fairly muted. Almost as if he knows he's a dead man walking and has come to peace with it. Or perhaps he knows there's nothing he can do and he's trying to get Jets owner Woody Johnson to fire him.

"It was just an awful performance," Ryan said, fairly unemotionally. "I'm the guy responsible; I know that. ..."

And:

"One thing I know for a fact, unless it changes drastically: I'll be the head coach for the next five weeks. That's what I know. I'm going about my job like I always do. ...

"I'm the coach here and that's all I do. My team will get everything I've got."

So there you have it. A thousand miles south, as the crow flies, brother Rob Ryan, the Saints' defensive coordinator, was having an equally miserable night in New Orleans' loss to the Baltimore Ravens, and the talk there is that he and head coach Sean Payton are not seeing eye to eye on that situation.

Not a great night for the Ryan boys, who both could be coaching elsewhere next season. We suggest a tag-team setup, naturally, because that would be a lot more fun than the two guys we saw Monday night.