The Elusive 0-16 Season: Taking a Look at the Remaining Schedule

[Spoot-Face]

20 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

That 0-16 Browns team wasn't even one of the 3 worst teams in Browns history.  That 0-16 Browns team wasn't in the same universe of suckage as the 2020 Jets.  

This Jets team is right up there with the '76 Buccaneers for one of the 2 worst NFL teams of all-time.  There have been no "balls bouncing differently" because we've only lost blowots, sans the Denver game.  That trend should continue every week.  If we end up in a close game I'll start to worry.  But if we couldn't keep it within 7 against a Denver team with their 3rd string QB under center, chances are good we'll continue to get blown out and we will have little to worry about.

That is all good and true, but you can't underestimate this franchise's ability to win meaningless games that only serve to hurt our draft slot, especially if Adam Gase is fired at some point during the season.

A lot can happen in 11 weeks.

[Warfish]

7 minutes ago, Spoot-Face said:

Cool. You don't like rooting for losses. We already know. Good for you.

But that's not what this is about.

Out of the remaining games, are there any you see that we could win? I'm curious to know.

Of course there is. 

IF Sam gets healthy (and is allowed to play) and IF Mims comes back and Perine stays healthy, there are a few potential wins, amazing tho some seem to think that is.

Not saying we WILL win, saying we CAN win.

 

[Maxman]

1 hour ago, Spoot-Face said:

Only five teams have gone winless in the NFL, with only two of them going 0-16 (the '08 Lions and '17 Browns). This thread won't be about whether you want them to go 0-16 (full disclosure, I do), but rather how likely you think they could go 0-16, by looking ahead at the schedule ahead and trying to pinpoint which games could surprise and end up in the win column.

 

 

Week 7 vs Bills

Should be an easy loss for us. The only deciding factor I could see to us competing is how healthy we can get in a week. With a returning Darnold, Becton, and Mims (plus Perriman), our offense could see a bump in production. Say what you will about whether Darnold is better than Flacco, outside of the Colts game, the offense with Darnold + Becton did outperform the offense without them (17, 13, 28 points scored with and 0 and 10 points scored without.) Not to mention that Darnold has a knack for playing better after coming in after injury/benching.

Still, this Bills team is a legit Super Bowl contender, with a strong defense, strong supporting cast on offense, plus this isn't the Josh Allen of last year. I don't think they're sweating this game. Fairly sure we lose.

Week 8 @ Chiefs

Yeah, what do you think? We could hire Sean Payton, trade for Bell back, trade for JuJu Smith-Schuster, get 100% healthy with even Mosley coming back, and we're still gonna lose this game. Handedly. I'm supremely confident we lose this game.

Week 9 vs Patriots

This game, surprisingly, is the first game where I'm starting to wonder if we could pull out a win, but this is 100% dependent on where the Patriots are at in the standings. You might think I'm crazy, but bear with me here. Now, I know it's kinda early for this, as a lot could happen with 11 weeks to go, but let's assume that the Bills win the division. As we're sitting now, the two wildcard spots would go to Baltimore (5-1) and Indy (4-2). The Patriots are sitting outside that at 2-3. Should they happen to lose their next two games (49ers and Bills), then they'll be at 2-5 heading into our game with their window for a wildcard spot closing. Keep in mind, they just lost to Denver. Belichick, while a devious, lying, cheating, repugnant, characteristically abrasive, and a probably morally bankrupt sack of sh*t, he is also a pretty smart guy. Almost evil genius level. I have no doubt that he sees the big picture, and if he sees the playoff window closing, I wouldn't put it past him to start thinking about draft order. Theirs and ours. No doubt he'd love to **** with our chances at the #1 pick.

It's still kinda early to count them out of it, though, and if Bill is still in playoff mode, he absolutely destroys us, no matter who the QB is.

Week 10 (Bye Week)

Now, going 0-9 into the bye week would have me feeling pretty confident we're going 0-16 and getting the #1 pick, but what happens this week is absolutely crucial. Do the Johnsons finally pull the trigger and fire Adam Gase, thus galvanizing the players and giving them something to play for? This, in my opinion, would be a mistake, especially going into weeks 11 and 12 which are the last two truly winnable games left on our schedule.

Week 11 @ Chargers

Not having watched the Chargers this season, but going off their current 1-4 record, I may be sweating going into this game, especially if Adam Gase has already been fired. If he's still the head coach, I'd feel more confident about this being a loss. I have heard that their young QB Hebert looks pretty good though, and this Jets team has yet to meet a QB who couldn't beat them. And we are traveling, so that's a detriment/bonus. This game will look a lot clearer once we get closer, but I'm putting this one at 60/40 right now, in favor of a loss. Losing this game would, imo, be a strong indicator of how we'll perform not only in the next game, but for the rest of the season.

Week 12 vs Dolphins

A 0-10 record going into this game should all but portend another loss, but it's still the last remaining possibly winning game left. Much like the week 9 game against the Patriots, a strong factor in this game would be where the Dolphins are at. If fighting for a playoff spot, I could easily see Fitz dominating us en route to what I believe would be his first ever playoff game (still? lol) On the flip side, say they are out of it, or bad Fitz has finally reared his ugly beard, and they send Tua out there to play the rest of the season to build some confidence. This Jets team would probably be the perfect opponent for him to do so. And, doing so, in their case were they just drafted who they think is their guy, may be more beneficial than just losing out. Besides, they have Houston's first rounder, too. Again, about a 60/40 split in favor of us loosing.

Week 13, 14, 15, 16

At this point, an 0-11 record would all but guarantee a sweep in the next 4 games (vs Raiders, @ Seahawks, @ Rams, vs Browns). Our team is completely demoralized, and has nothing to play for. If we couldn't win Weeks 11 and 12, with or without Gase, I don't see these 4 games as possibly winnable.

Week 17 @ Patriots

Week 17; the final game against the Patriots. This is a wildcard game, much like the first against them, but by this point we will know if Bill Belichick has anything to play for, whether that be getting into the playoffs, or a higher, more favorable seed. If neither of those outcomes are in play, than I absolutely see Belichick pulling his starters and having his team come out flat against us to **** us out of Trevor Lawrence and the #1 pick. For this reason, I am -- and I never thought I'd say this -- rooting for the Patriots to be in playoff contention. I want Bill to want to win -- nay, I want him to need to win this game, because if he does, then this Jets team can't stop him, and a 0-16 record is in our hands. Rejoice, or vomit, the choice is yours!

 

tl;dr

Possibly winnable games: Wk11 @ Chargers, Wk12 v Dolphins

Wildcard games: Both Wk9 & Wk17 against Patriots, contingent on Belichick's motives

For those who want to tank: rooting for Patriots and Dolphins to push for playoffs to give them a reason for beating us late in the season

Hey did you write this? This is great.

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, Spoot-Face said:

That is all good and true, but you can't underestimate this franchise's ability to win meaningless games that only serve to hurt our draft slot, especially if Adam Gase is fired at some point during the season.

A lot can happen in 11 weeks.

This team has been really good at breaking our hearts, for sure.  Fortunately, we have a tough schedule, which helps to mitigate that risk a bit.

I'll also be very interested to see how what additional trades Douglas makes and what the team does with Darnold.  Do they shut him down?

[Spoot-Face]

2 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

 

I get that he thinks I'm an awful fan for wanting a higher draft slot. We'll just have to disagree on that. It doesn't bother me. Hollow wins just don't do anything for me, as a fan. But I am curious if he thinks there are any winnable games left.

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, Spoot-Face said:

I get that he thinks I'm an awful fan for wanting a higher draft slot. We'll just have to disagree on that. It doesn't bother me. Hollow wins just don't do anything for me, as a fan. But I am curious if he thinks there are any winnable games left.

Probably not.  He just wants a reason to brag about how he's such an awesome fan with such pride and honor and such, and the rest of us are losers contributing to the Jets' losses. 

He's said numerous times that the team is absolutely terrible, and probably thinks they're going 0-16 just like we are.

[Spoot-Face]

2 minutes ago, Warfish said:

Of course there is. 

IF Sam gets healthy (and is allowed to play) and IF Mims comes back and Perine stays healthy, there are a few potential wins, amazing tho some seem to think that is.

Not saying we WILL win, saying we CAN win.

 

Which ones, though?

I do think that a healthy Darnold and Mims could be a positive factor on the team, but I'm not holding my breath. Mims has barely practiced going back to training camp.

[Spoot-Face]

4 minutes ago, Maxman said:

Hey did you write this? This is great.

lol Yeah. Thank you.

It's got nothing on @Sperm Edwards though.

[Mogglez]

2 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

Probably not.  He just wants a reason to brag about how he's such an awesome fan with such pride and honor and such, and the rest of us are losers contributing to the Jets' losses. 

He's said numerous times that the team is absolutely terrible, and probably thinks they're going 0-16 just like we are.

The absolute hypocrisy to call others bad fans a while simultaneously saying that Trevor should pull a whiney, petulant, spoiled baby move like Eli Manning is so ironic that there actually isn’t comedy in it.

[Jetsfan80]

2 minutes ago, Mogglez said:

The absolute hypocrisy to call others bad fans a while simultaneously saying that Trevor should pull a whiney, petulant, spoiled baby move like Eli Manning is so ironic that there actually isn’t comedy in it.

C'mon dude.  Everyone knows that if you root hard for it, the team will win. 

How you choose to be entertained by a group of large men you don't know getting paid millions to throw an oblate spheroid around is super serious business.

[slimjasi]

10 minutes ago, Spoot-Face said:

That is all good and true, but you can't underestimate this franchise's ability to win meaningless games that only serve to hurt our draft slot, especially if Adam Gase is fired at some point during the season.

A lot can happen in 11 weeks.

Agreed. 

Remember folks, we aren't even halfway through this mess.

[Maxman]

1 minute ago, Spoot-Face said:

lol Yeah. Thank you.

It's got nothing on @Sperm Edwards though.

Can I use it on the front page? I will credit you.

[Warfish]

5 minutes ago, Spoot-Face said:

Which ones, though?

5 minutes ago, Spoot-Face said:

I do think that a healthy Darnold and Mims could be a positive factor on the team, but I'm not holding my breath. Mims has barely practiced going back to training camp.

No one should be holding their breath, least of all for the #1 pick and T.L. given the very low likelihood IMO he ever plays here.

But dream on I guess.  What else do we have?  

[Beerfish]

Jets will win two games.

[Spoot-Face]

5 minutes ago, Jetsfan80 said:

This team has been really good at breaking our hearts, for sure.  Fortunately, we have a tough schedule, which helps to mitigate that risk a bit.

I'll also be very interested to see how what additional trades Douglas makes and what the team does with Darnold.  Do they shut him down?

Yes, those are also factors here. I kinda rushed this, so I didn't even think about the impact of any potential trades. There's not many players where we'd really feel the loss, except for guys like Avery, Poole, or Maye. I don't see anyone on offense getting traded, nor would I trade anyone, except for Gore. Maybe Herndon, if we could get, like, a 5th for him. But it might be better off giving him one more year with a new offense and QB to see if he'll improve, since TE's seem to have a knack for disappearing in Gase's offenses.

I do think Darnold playing could see a slight increase in play on offense, as I laid out the point differences with and without him (although that was also included Becton, so hard to tell if it's all Darnold). I don't think Flacco gives us any better chance to win.

[Spoot-Face]

3 minutes ago, Maxman said:

Can I use it on the front page? I will credit you.

Holy crap. Wow. Sure!

I'd be happy to have more people judge me.

[Spoot-Face]

5 minutes ago, Warfish said:

No one should be holding their breath, least of all for the #1 pick and T.L. given the very low likelihood IMO he ever plays here.

But dream on I guess.  What else do we have?  

You made those predictions before the season. You haven't adjusted them at all after seeing us play?

[Peteo]

The defense hasn’t stopped anybody and I don’t see that changing.  The offense has scored the fewest points so far, they might get better but I don’t thunk it will be enough so a winless season quite likely.

[Prodigal Syndicate]

2 hours ago, Skeet Ulrich said:

To go 0-16 requires not only a bad team but unlucky as well. That 0-16 Cleveland team could've won 6 games if they had a couple balls bounce in a different direction.

I think the Jets win 2 games this year. 

 

Normally I might agree but this team isnt even competitive. We are getting blown out every game and have shown 0 signs of life. These games arent even close.

[Sperm Edwards]

1 hour ago, Spoot-Face said:

lol Yeah. Thank you.

It's got nothing on @Sperm Edwards though.

It’s pretty good. I mean, like if brevity is your thing.