The NFL media hates the New York Jets. It’s obvious. They prop up the Jets at times just to rip them in the end. This year many outlets did the opposite. They decided to say the Jets would have the first winless season since the 2008 Detroit Lions. Well they didn’t. Now what?
Here’s the week to week roadmap, courtesy of the New York Daily News on how the Jets would stink.
The Jets have won three in a row. This is the first time that veteran QB, Josh McCown has pulled this off. Is it luck or have the Jets figured out how to win games in an ugly fashion?
Here’s how they stack up in the power rankings:
CBS has them 18th.
MMQB has them 26th.
ESPN has them 26th. Up one spot from the week before. The 2-3 Bengals, Titans and Cardinals are all ahead of them.
Power rankings don’t really have a mathematical formula attached to them. So what really matters is what happens on the field. The Jets won ugly last week against the Browns but a win is a win. Now the Jets will face the New England Patriots for the AFC lead.
The last time the Jets beat the New England Patriots at home was 12/27/2016. Could it happen again? Of course, it can. Will anybody give the Jets even a modicum of a chance? Probably not.
So far, the Patriots are 9.5 point favorites on the road!
If the Jets were tanking they failed at that task. That’s now in the rearview mirror. Now the best thing they can do is keep winning. Keep proving the naysayers wrong and build up their confidence.
Last week the Jets won without Bilal Powell late in the game. He’s their #1 running back and he has a strained calf. Matt Forte still has turf toe. Who knows if he’ll get in there. This game may ride on rookie running back Elijah McGuire. So far, this season in limited use he’s averaging 5.2 yards per carry. The sixth-round pick has also snagged five balls for an 11.0 average. His play and McCown not making any mistakes and trying to stretch out the field with Robby Anderson could help. I think Jermaine Kearse and Austin Seferian-Jenkins are keys on offense with Jamal Adams, Mo Wilkerson (battling a shoulder injiury) and Darron Lee being big keys on defense. Lee will get stuck covering Gronk more than a few times. He has to be up to that task. Tom Brady will throw for a lot of yards but this must be a bend not break kind of defensive effort to grind out a win.
Key stats courtesy of NFLPR:
Rookie RB ELIJAH MC GUIRE has 161 scrimmage yards (80.5 per game) with rush TD in past 2.
WR ROBBY ANDERSON has 80+ rec. yards & TD catch in 2 of past 3 at home vs. division.
QB TOM BRADY has passed for 1,435 yards (358.8 per game) with 11 TDs vs. 1 INT for 121.4 rating in past 4. Aims for 5th in row with 300+ pass yards. In past 13 meetings, has 3,500 pass yards (269.2 per game) with 26 TDs vs. 4 INTs for 97.7 rating. Passed for 3 TDs vs. 0 INTs with 124.6 rating in last meeting. Leads NFL with 1,702 pass yards & ranks 2nd with 8.8 yards per att. avg.
TE ROB GRONKOWSKI has 598 rec. yards (74.8 per game) with 6 TD catches in past 8 meetings.
Nobody will pick the Jets to win this game. Let’s see what happens.
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Remember to enjoy responsibly.