EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The Jets had played some horrendous football the previous two games. The kind of football that produced embarrassed locker rooms, provoked a postgame tirade from their coach and prompted their hirsute quarterback to trim a beard more prolific than their offense.
But however much the Jets had seemed to fade from the playoff chase, one fact was obscured. Measured against their peers, the Jets, for all their troubles, resided in the middle of the league standings.
Many teams are better, but many are worse, and one of them happened to visit MetLife Stadium on Sunday.