If someone were to tell you during the offseason that the Jets would be 4-4 by week nine, there would probably be some skeptical reactions – but somehow, the Jets are 4-4. The Jets have had some great moments, but they’ve also had some pretty terrible ones.
The Jets need to find a winning formula – and quickly – if they hope to be a wildcard team. There weren’t any expectations for this team before the season started, but the beauty of sports is when you perform well your expectations go up – and those expectations have gone up for the Jets with their surprising start.
Is that unfair? Probably not, considering the quality of the wins the Jets have had this season. Their game against the Falcons was very impressive, with rookie Geno Smith putting together his best game as a pro against the Falcons in the 30-28 win.
Then there was the controversial win against the Patriots. Forget about the penalty call, the fact that the Jets were in that game at all gave the indication that this team is a little better than most expected.
But they’ve had their disappointing games as well. They lost badly to the Steelers, Titans, and the Bengals. There appears to be two different teams going into each week with the Jets so far this season.
There’s the team that looks anemic offensively at times and lost defensively. Then there’s the team that’s clicking on all cylinders offensively and grinds out wins thanks to a gritty defensive effort.
However they do it, the Jets need to find some consistency – and soon. The flashes of what this team could be have raised the expectations for them.
Looking at the AFC East playoff picture, the Jets are right behind the Patriots and tied with the Dolphins for second in the division. It’s unlikely that the Jets with overtake the Patriots, so they need to go on a string of wins to put themselves in the best position to be a wildcard team.
If the Jets don’t get a wildcard spot, they don’t want it to be because of inconsistent play. They need to put themselves in the best position to be able to be a wildcard team.
Even if they don’t make the playoffs, if this team finds consistency for the remainder of this season that’ll be enough for Jets nation to be all in with this team moving forward.
The Jets have another tough test tomorrow – they’ll face the New Orleans Saints, and although it looks like a Saints win on paper, Rex Ryan’s team has already shown they can beat good teams.
If they can get the win tomorrow, that should be a catalyst for more consistent play moving forward. The future is bright for this team, they’ve just started moving towards it a little sooner than expected.
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