The Rex Ryan era in New York has not even begun and he already has to deal with a little controversy. Calvin Pace, one of his starting linebackers, has been suspended for the first four games of the regular season for using a banned substance, which has yet to be identified.

“Calvin Pace of the New York Jets has been suspended without pay for the team’s first four regular-season games of 2009 for violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances,” said an NFL spokesperson. “Pace’s suspension begins on Saturday, September 5. He is eligible to return to the Jets’ active roster on Monday, October 5 following the team’s October 4 game against the New Orleans Saints. Pace is eligible to participate in all preseason practices and games.”

Pace, who joined the Jets last year after signing as a free agent from Arizona, said in a statement, “This is a situation that resulted from an over-the-counter dietary supplement that contained a substance that I did not know violated the League’s policy. I am responsible for what I put into my body and I should have paid closer attention to the League’s guidelines. I regret that this has happened and apologize to my teammates, the entire Jets organization as well as the fans. Hopefully, this does not distract from our ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl.”

The Jets stated that they respected the league’s decision and look forward to Pace’s return once the suspension is served.

This may open the door for Vernon Gholston to get some quality playing time. After being selected sixth overall in the 2008 NFL Draft, he was a complete bust and fell into former head coach Eric Mangini’s doghouse. The second-year outside rushing linebacker, who already was getting a fresh start with Ryan, may benefit the most out of this.

The NFL has a long list of banned substances, which is in their “Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances.” If you have an hour or two to kill, here it is:

A team that fell apart during the most important time of the season needs a good shot in the arm, and a guy like Rex Ryan may just be the one to do it. Running the Baltimore Ravens vaunted defense the past 10 years, quality coaching runs in the family. The son of Buddy Ryan (who invented the ’46′ defense that produced a Super Bowl ring in Chicago), he was named the head coach of the New York Jets the day after Baltimore was eliminated by Pittsburgh in the AFC Championship Game.

The Jets have been a franchise that has always found a way for things to go wrong, regardless of who was in charge. For the past 40 years, that has been the case. The closest that they came to righting the ship was back in 1998 when Bill Parcells brought them within one game of the Super Bowl. Since then, it has been a mixture of nice guys like Herm Edwards and the secretive, quiet type such as Eric Mangini.

When Mike Tannenbaum sought to find Mangini’s replacement, Ryan was on a short list of favorites. Perhaps the five hour meeting they had a week ago sold the Jets general manager on Ryan, and the fact that the Ravens were still alive – even though they were supposed to be going through a rebuilding season – couldn’t have hurt his chances.

“During our search, we were looking for a great football mind and a passionate leader,” said Tannenbaum. “Rex is a coach with an established track record who is universally respected by players and coaches for his skills as a communicator and his creativity.”

The Jets defense, which had played well at some points during the season, looked extremely vulnerable during the fateful December collapse that left them out of the postseason. Ryan will instill the schemes that practically won Super Bowl XXXV single-handedly.

Of course, personnel have a lot to do with success. The Jets do have some talented players on the defensive side of the ball, such as Kris Jenkins, Calvin Pace, Kerry Rhodes and Darrelle Revis. If put in the right spot, any one or all of them can become elite.

Ryan will be officially introduced on Wednesday at a press conference at Jets headquarters in Florham Park, New Jersey.

Perhaps this is a sign of things to come. Buddy Ryan was a member of the Jets coaching staff from 1968-1975, which included the franchise’s lone Super Bowl victory in 1969.

Not falling for the ‘trap game’ mentality that has haunted so many teams over the years, the Jets totally dominated the hapless St. Louis Rams at the Meadowlands by a score of 47-3. After beating the Bills in Buffalo last week and having to go to New England this Thursday, it would have been easy to look past an out of conference 2-6 team.

That is not head coach Eric Mangini’s style. He prepares his team the same every week and was visibly happy after the convincing win. “With the completeness of the game, it’s something we’ve been stressing week in and week out,” he said.

With the largest margin of victory in team history, the Jets improved to 6-3 to maintain a share of first place in the AFC East. The second three-touchdown game of the year for running back Thomas Jones paved the way, and he gave a lot of the credit to the guys in front of him for the success.

“I’m lucky to be able to run behind those guys,” he said. “They’re one of the best offensive lines in the league.”

Jones, who finished with 149 yards on 26 carries, had a 20-yard gain on the Jets first offensive play of the game and capped off the eight-play, 80-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run to the right corner of the end zone, following a key block thrown by wide receiver Laveranues Coles.

The Jets put up 10 more points before the first quarter came to an end. Abram Elam sacked St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger on a blitz, knocking the ball loose. On a play that proved that the ball was bouncing the Jets way on this day, Calvin Pace basically had it jump off the ground and right into his hands. The linebacker took it the other way 50 yards for his first career score.

Quarter number two was even more one-sided, with three field goals by Jay Feely, another rushing score by Jones and a one-yard pass from Brett Favre (14 for 19, 167 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions) to tight end Dustin Keller. The contest became a laugher and a 40-0 advantage at halftime for the Jets.

The 78, 073 in attendance enjoyed themselves on Military Appreciation Day, and only booed when the Rams broke the shutout when Josh Brown kicked a 37-yard field goal with 9:51 left in the third quarter.

By winning five out of their last six games, the Jets have a chance to take over the top spot in the division by defeating the Patriots on national television after a short work week preparing for the game.

Thomas Jones found the endzone on three separate occasions to lead the Jets to a 26-14 win at home versus the still-winless Cincinnati Bengals. On an unseasonably warm day at the Meadowlands, quarterback Brett Favre did not have his best outing (two interceptions, one fumble) and the Jets were still able to up their record to 3-2.

“Turnovers will come back and bite you but you have to be able to overcome the turnover,” said Favre after the game. The Jets were tested on that analogy early on when Atwan Odom sacked Favre on the Jets first drive and stripped the ball, which was picked up by safety Chinedum Ndukwe and returned 15 yards for a touchdown.

On the ensuing kickoff, Leon Washington – who, along with the rest of the special teams, played a big hand in the victory – had a 46-yard return to put the offense into Cincinnati territory. The Jets drove inside the 10 and on third and goal, leading to a series of events that took place in which Favre actually threw three touchdown passes. Two penalties against the Jets nullified what appeared to be scores, and the Bengals (0-6) also committed an illegal contact infraction that gave the Jets an automatic first down. They worked the ball to the one-yard line and Favre found Jones (17 carries, 65 yards) open for his first score on the day.

The Jets, who wore their Titans throwback uniforms for the second consecutive game, took a 10-7 lead with 10:56 left in the second quarter on a 38-yard field goal by Jay Feeley. They were able to pad their lead when Hank Poteat sacked Ryan Fitzpatrick – starting in place of an injured Carson Palmer – and Calvin Pace recovered the loose ball at the Cincinnati 24-yard line.

An 11-yard run by Brad Smith off a double reverse set up a seven-yard scoring run by Jones, who took it right up the gut to give the Jets a 17-7 lead. The Bengals then went on a 14-play, 66-yard drive at the end of the first half, capped off by a one-yard sneak by Fitzpatrick (20 for 33 for 152 yards) with only eight seconds left. The Jets dominated the half, but only held on to the slim, three-point advantage heading into the locker room.

Favre (25 for 33 for189 yards) threw his first interception of the game as the Jets appeared to be headed for a score on their first drive of the second half. Marvin White picked off a pass intended for Bubba Franks at his own three-yard line. “In hindsight, I wish I would have just thrown it away, but I threw it and I thought that Bubba had as good a chance to catch it as anyone,” Favre said. The Bengals then went three-and-out and were not able to convert the turnover into points.

Another Feeley field goal, this time a 43-yarder, with just over five minutes left in the third quarter gave the Jets a 20-14 lead. Favre’s second interception came at the beginning of the final stanza off a tipped ball at the Cincinnati eight-yard line. The defense held once again and the Jets finished their scoring on the day with Thomas’ second rushing touchdown on the afternoon, this time from one-yard out.

Following the game, Eric Mangini defended his quarterback’s mediocre day. “There were some throws that were in tight coverage but you can’t be happy about that one week and then mad about it the other week,” the head coach said. “You never want it to go for a pick. It’s the cost of doing business when you’re going to throw it into tight spaces.”

The spaces were even tighter because the Jets failed to take advantage of numerous opportunities to put the Bengals away earlier, but as Favre said, “I don’t believe in ugly wins.”

When you had only four total as the Jets did in 2007, winning three out of your first five looks good no matter how you earned them.