Don’t laugh. The Jets may actually have a shot at this.
The New York Jets hit rock bottom in the first weekend of November with a 26-18 loss to the Dolphins.
It was the first win of the year for Miami, which spent its offseason unapologetically tanking. The Jets, on the other hand, weren’t supposed to be bad in 2019. They spent big in free agency to land running back Le’Veon Bell and linebacker C.J. Mosley, and expected Sam Darnold to make a leap in his second season. Instead, the Jets hit the midway point of the season with a 1-7 record after the loss to Miami.
The weird list of injuries Darnold suffered early in the season — including mono and an enlarged spleen — were certainly part of New York’s early struggles. But after he led the Jets to a win over the Cowboys in his Week 6 return, he threw eight interceptions in losses to the Patriots, Jaguars, and Dolphins.
Now the season outlook looks much different for New York. The offense scored 34 in each of the last three weeks of November — winning all three games, including a blowout of the Raiders in Week 12. Darnold looks rejuvenated and finally looks comfortable in Adam Gase’s new offense, which was always going to take time to get down. The recent streak of wins moved the Jets to 4-7 on the year and opened up the faint possibility of a postseason run.
The AFC East crown is out of the question for New York with the 10-1 Patriots six games ahead. The wild card isn’t out of the question, though.
The Jets would be toast in the NFC. Fortunately for them, they’re in the AFC where only Buffalo has jumped out to a significant lead in the wild card race. It’s not impossible for the Jets to catch the 8-3 Bills, but that could only happen if New York won out and Buffalo lost out.
The Jets’ only realistic chance at the postseason is to climb through the logjam of contenders for the second wild card berth. Currently, the Steelers, Raiders, Colts, and Titans all have matching 6-5 records and the Browns are 5-6.
That’s a crowded field of obstacles, but not an especially daunting one. None of those teams has shown any consistency in 2019, and the Jets have a schedule down the stretch that will give them a chance.
Here are the opponents still on the docket for New York:
A mid-December game against Baltimore on a Thursday night is a nightmare scenario for any team. The other four games don’t look that scary, however. At the very least, the Jets are set up to get to 6-7 with games against two of the NFL’s worst teams in the next two weeks. If New York wins two of its last three after that, it’s sitting at 8-8 at the end of the year.
Would that be enough? Probably not, but it’s possible.
Catching the Steelers, Raiders, and Browns shouldn’t be too difficult. The Jets already own a head-to-head tiebreaker over Oakland thanks to a Week 12 win, and could snag one over Pittsburgh too in Week 16. Cleveland beat New York way back in Week 2, but only has a one-game lead.
The Browns finish the year with games against the Steelers, Bengals, Cardinals, Ravens, and another against the the Bengals. If Cleveland stumbles at all in that stretch, the Jets could jump the line in the wild card race.
The bigger concern for the Jets should be the AFC South. The Texans, Colts, Titans trio will all likely finish with a higher conference record than the Jets and, thus, own a tiebreaker. Two of those teams will need to limp across the finish line for New York to have a shot. Interdivisional games in December could help, though.
In the final five weeks of the season, there’s a Week 13 matchup between Indianapolis and Tennessee, as well as Week 15 and Week 17 meetings of the Texans and Titans.
It’d take a perfect alignment of the stars for the Jets to make the playoffs at 8-8. Rattling off five more wins is a much more viable way to get in, although that’d mean traveling to Baltimore and leaving with a win. That’ll be challenging, to say the least.
Still, it’s incredible the Jets can even discuss the possibility of the postseason considering where the team was when November began. It’s mini-win streak has turned a lost season into one with a glimmer of hope.
