More questions than answers for Jets

FLORHAM PARK, New Jersey — Doubts, uncertainty and lots of questions.

That's what the New York Jets are facing as they begin preparing for their regular-season opener against the Buffalo Bills.

Is the offense really that inept? Can Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow co-exist? What exactly will Tebow's role be? Has Mike Tannenbaum provided Rex Ryan with enough talent to return to the playoffs?

Always confident, Ryan has said this might be his best Jets team. Now, they all get to prove it.

"All that work that you've done, all the work that the players have done, the lifting and all the meetings and things, it's for this," Ryan said Monday. "It's not to win a preseason game. It's to be at your very best when the regular season starts."

The Jets went 0-4 in the preseason and scored only one touchdown — last Thursday night at Philadelphia with all the backups and third-stringers in the game.

With Tebow expected to give a boost to new offensive coordinator Tony Sparano's offense, the Jets showed little to ease fans' fears that they'll be able to put up enough points to be a playoff-caliber squad.

New York became the first team since the 1977 Atlanta Falcons to go through its first three games without getting into the end zone.

Whether it was Sanchez or Tebow, the offense just couldn't punch it in, and the Jets have been criticized for it for weeks on message boards, sports talk radio and by the media.

For games that didn't count.

"It was kind of strange," rookie wide receiver Stephen Hill said. "Like you just said, it is preseason. The games start this weekend, and we're looking to put on a show."

The way things went in the preseason, two touchdowns would qualify as a scoring barrage. Not that Ryan is concerned with any of that.

"I don't care about how many we score," Ryan said. "I just want to have one more point than the Bills do, and that's every week."

The defense is going to have to be up to the task of dominating opponents and closing out games. Ryan and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine have had some terrific units with the Jets, but they believe this one has the chance to be special.

"This is the best defense I've been around — ever," said defensive lineman Mike DeVito, entering his sixth season with the Jets. "This defense is incredible, so we're excited to get started."

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Pistorius falls, questions rival's prosthetic limbs

LONDON — Having spent years fighting for the right to race with his own blades, Oscar Pistorius is now complaining about a rival's artificial limbs after a stunning loss at the London Paralympics on Sunday.

The "Blade Runner" had never been beaten over 200 meters in Paralympic competition until Brazilian sprinter Alan Oliveira came storming down the home straight past him to win by 0.07 seconds.

The icon of the Paralympics had been dethroned and wasn't taking it lightly.

Pistorius immediately raised concerns with Paralympic officials that Oliveira's surge came through rule-bending blades helping with the late strides.

Pistorius, who won a legal battle to compete wearing carbon-fiber blades alongside able-bodied runners at the Olympics last month, suggested that Oliveira ran with longer prosthesis than should be allowed.

Oliveira won gold in 21.45 seconds after overtaking Pistorius at the line at Olympic Stadium in the T44 classification race in front of a capacity 80,000-strong crowd.

"Not taking away from Alan's performance — he's a great athlete — but these guys are a lot taller and you can't compete (with the) stride length," Pistorius said in a broadcast interview. "You saw how far he came back. We aren't racing a fair race. I gave it my best. The IPC (International Paralympic Committee) have their regulations. The regulations (allow) that athletes can make themselves unbelievably high.

"We've tried to address the issue with them in the weeks up to this and it's just been falling on deaf ears."

While Pistorius tried to be more magnanimous later, he still claimed it was "ridiculous" that Oliveira could win after being eight meters adrift at the 100-meter mark and deny him a third straight 200 gold.

"He's never run a 21-second race and I don't think he's a 21-second athlete," Pistorius said. "I've never lost a 200-meter race in my career."

The South African double amputee had the support of compatriot Arnu Fourie, who finished fourth and questioned Oliveira's lengthened blades

"Ask anyone out there — does it look weird? Does it look out of proportion?" Fourie said. "I think 99 percent of people are going to tell you, 'Yes it does.'

"If they are within the rules you can't fight the athlete, so you're going to have to fight the formula and fight the rule if we're going to do anything about it."

Oliveira insisted he had not broken the rules, and expressed disappointment with Pistorius' criticism.

"He is a really great idol, and to listen to that coming from a really great athlete is really difficult," Oliveira said through a translator. "I don't know who he's picking a fight with, it's not with me."

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