Saints’ Payton and Jets’ Ryan are aggressive masterminds on opposite sides of ball

Saints’ Payton, Jets’ Ryan are aggressive gurus

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Call it a meeting of the masterminds in New Orleans.

The Jets’ Rex Ryan has made a career of creating aggressive, unpredictable defenses that keep opposing coaches guessing. The Saints’ Sean Payton has done the same with his air-it-out offenses, putting up tons of yards and points in every way imaginable.

“I always think I’m the best in calling a game on defense,” Ryan said, “so there is that chess match.”

More like a high-speed, action-packed showdown at the Superdome on Sunday.

“Something’s got to give,” Jets linebacker David Harris said. “It’s the No. 1 defense vs. the No. 1 offense, so somebody’s got to lose and hopefully it’s not us.”

Not to nitpick, but New York’s defense is actually ranked No. 3, not that it takes any luster off the matchup — even if the coaches want to downplay it a bit.

“I think the interest level in this game is mainly because you have two 3-0 football teams,” Payton said.

Still, there will undoubtedly be lots of personal pride on the line when the two coaches square off.

“When a team is ranked as high as they are and putting the numbers that they are up, my first reaction is, ‘Well, they aren’t doing that against us,’” Ryan said. “And, we’ll see. That’s the beauty about playing on Sunday.”

Payton’s offenses have led the NFL in two of the last three seasons, while Ryan’s Baltimore defenses ranked no lower than sixth.

“It’s kind of the gurus,” Saints quarterback Drew Brees said, “kind of there’s the plan you come up with throughout the week and the way you react to certain things in the game. There are going to be some things they’re doing we haven’t seen and vice versa.”

Ryan had long been considered one of the top defensive minds in football before leaving Baltimore for the Jets job in January. Payton earned a reputation for being a creative offensive master in stops as an assistant with Philadelphia, the New York Giants and Dallas, learning from Jon Gruden and Bill Parcells before becoming the Saints’ head coach in 2006.

“He and Rex both are good because each week they change up different things,” said Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, who worked closely with Payton from 2003-05. “They have a system put in place that they’re going to do, but it creates a little bit of indecisiveness from the offensive or defensive side because they’re not doing the same things every week.”

Payton’s offense can go with an air attack, spreading the ball around the field as the Saints did in Week 1 when Brees threw for 358 yards and a career-high six touchdowns in a 45-27 win over Detroit. New Orleans can also run through opponents, as it did when it rushed for 222 yards last Sunday in a 27-7 victory at Buffalo.

“We’re going to take our shots,” Brees said. “We’re going to try to throw for completions. We’re going to try to run the ball effectively. We’re going to try to formation you to death and personnel you to death and all those things.”

The Jets’ approach is similar in that Ryan can order up blitzes to get in the faces of quarterbacks or hold back and disguise blitzes, causing all kinds of confusion for offenses.

“You always have your base defense, you bread-and-butter things that you’ll always run against every opponent,” Ryan said. “But then, you’ll also add some specific things to that opponent.”

When Payton was being considered for Oakland’s head coach a few years ago, he thought about hiring Ryan as his defensive coordinator.

“Obviously, he’s a great judge of talent,” Ryan said with a big laugh. “He is an outstanding coach, and obviously his thumbprint’s all over that offense.”

Ryan says what’s on his mind, as his father Buddy did, taking a no-holds-barred approach that has made him a success on the field and in the locker room.

“They’re really drawn to him and his personality and feel like he’s one of them,” linebacker Bart Scott said. “He’s on the front line, putting himself out there. Guys respect that.”

Meanwhile, Payton is more reserved off the field, a guy who’s big on motivational tools rather than brash talk. He’ll wear a black Saints T-shirt at practice with the word “Finish” printed in gold on the back as a subtle reminder the Saints lost five games by three or fewer points last season.

“He does a great job with relating to the person, whatever background they had,” Saints tight end Jeremy Shockey said. “He has a lot of ways of motivating.”

Once Payton gets on the field, though, he goes through a Jekyll-and-Hyde transformation, jumping around and running down the sideline when big plays occur. He can also become a bug-eyed wild man when his players mess up.

“When we do stupid things, make stupid mistakes, it’s hard to swallow,” Saints fullback Heath Evans said. “Call it bipolar, call it competitive edge, call it, ‘They’re excused because it’s Sunday from 1:15 to 4:15,’ I don’t know.”

It certainly would be fitting if it all came down to the Saints’ offense going against the Jets’ defense with the game on the line Sunday — and both coaches pacing the sidelines.

“I would want to watch it,” Ryan said. “Both teams are 3-0 for a reason. I would definitely want to watch that game.”

AP Sports Writer Jaime Aron in Irving, Texas, and Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed to this story.