With all the expectations and controversy swirling around the New York Jets, it's a good thing that they reside in the city that never sleeps. It may take all day, plus a giant bottle of Mountain Dew, to go through their issues.

This is the team that expects to win a Super Bowl this season, the team with the defense nobody wants to face, the pretty-boy quarterback ready for stardom, the HBO reality show and the coach with the big waistline and an even bigger mouth.

The Jets fully expect to be great this year and are riding a run through the playoffs and an appearance in last year's AFC title game as proof that they are worthy of such adulation. It's no wonder that, as a result, the Jets are fully ready for the season to start and to begin their quest.

"I want to make sure the guys are fresh and popping out of their skin in Week 1," Jets coach Rex Ryan told the New York Daily News.

Here's the question: Are they even worthy of the expectations?

This is a team that doesn't know if its best player, cornerback Darrelle Revis, will play this season, much less the first game. One of the best defensive backs in the NFL, Revis is locked in a bitter contract dispute with the Jets. And although there has been some movement in the past month, Revis seems intent on accepting nothing short of being the highest paid cornerback in football.

Then you have Mark Sanchez, that pretty-boy USC quarterback. He's got the tools, but he's yet to prove that he's the playmaker behind center that most title teams seem to have. Sanchez has been good in spurts during the preseason, but he's also been spotty at times and there were games the Jets won last season in spite of him.

And of course, you can't forget Ryan, who has the mentality of a bulldog, and a propensity to feud with anyone who questions him or his team. Ryan's current target is Hall of Fame quarterback and FOX analyst Terry Bradshaw. There will surely be others.

New York is the perfect place to be the center of attention. And before the Jets have played a single game, they've accomplished a victory of sorts, knocking the rival New York Giants off the back page in a city where they've been an afterthought for so long.

The Jets have done things to make their trust in Sanchez known, such as giving him the chance to call his own plays, giving him more input in the decision-making process and giving him more freedom within the offense.

"It's stuff like that which keeps you in the game," Sanchez told the New York Times. "Thinking like a play-caller helps you a lot."

Even with all of the questions surrounding the Jets, there are plentiful reasons to go with them. They have one of the best defenses in the NFL, with great players on the defensive line, at linebacker and in the backfield.

The Jets have a great running game that will potentially get better with the addition of LaDainian Tomlinson. The Jets also have Braylon Edwards as a game-breaker at wide receiver — when he isn't dropping passes, of course.

Most of all, the Jets have swagger. They fear nobody, and they think that every game should result in another notch in the win column.

With that, the Jets have secured themselves on the radar of anybody who cares about the NFL. And should they get Revis back, they'll be that much more dangerous.

And irresistible to watch.

tjones@sltrib.com

Twitter: @tonyaggieville —

Following the Jets

• After a slow start last season, the team finished strong and won the wild card. The Jets made the AFC title game, where they lost to the Colts.

• Star DB Darrelle Revis is in a contract dispute with the team and seems intent on being the NFL's highest-paid cornerback.

• The team is giving QB Mark Sanchez more freedom and the chance to call his own plays.

• The fearless, compelling Jets are the stars of the HBO reality show "Hard Knocks" this year. —

Baltimore Ravens at New York Jets

P Monday, Sept. 13, at New Meadowlands Stadium, 5 p.m.; TV • ESPN