NYPost’s Costello: Breaking down what it could take for Jets to make playoffs

[Ecuadorian Jet]

6 hours ago, JoeNamathsFurCoat said:

If your intention is really to give Wilson back his starting job, why admit all that?  Why let the world know the kid’s confidence is shattered?

Perhaps this Wilson stubbornness / insanity is driven by JD, and Saleh is caught in the middle

I am pretty sure the love affair Saleh-Wilson was shattered when Wilson and his camp made Saleh look dumb after his injury. Saleh said one thing and Wilson made Saleh look dumb by saying something else. 

[BleedinGreenNC]

27 minutes ago, slimjasi said:

Bingo. 

The goal is the division. 

A wild card is the consolation prize. 

Goal is the SB, lets go!!!!

[jetsons]

1 word... WIN... & you don't have to worry about anyone else.

[UnknownJetFan]

6 hours ago, jamesr said:

One of Baltimore and Cincy will win their division. They both hold the tie-breaker over us. Ideally Baltimore win the division (they have the easier schedule) and we end up +1 vs Cincy, who have the harder schedule. If Baltimore beat Cincy on the way, so much the better, though it is Week 18 so may not matter to them by that point - other than the rivalry, of course.

Patsies - we have to end up +1 vs. them. End of story. If we (as fans) focus on the WC only then we want Buffalo and Miami to beat the snot out of them. Winning the division ... that's a harder story.

Chargers - I don't have a lot of faith in them but they do have an easier schedule. Not sure how it works out if we end up tied, I guess that's still TBC.

Division is somewhat where we need to beat Bills and Fins on the road to possibly take it. WC with Chargers is where they have 4-3 AFC record and Jets have 5-4 record, so if they run the table with their AFC games they win the tiebreaker on Jets.

[Joe Willie White Shoes]

You need to start paying attention to the other teams the Jets are competing with for the WC spots. That is why the Chargers win last week was a buzz kill. They had no business winning that game but for Kingsbury's horrible end game coaching and the Chargers last TD and 2 point conversion, neither of which should have been scored.    Cincy losing to the Titans would have helped too.  

NE and Cincy have tough schedules.  Baltimore and the Chargers have easy schedules.  The AFC East is going to cannibalize each other as each of the 4 teams has 3 or 4 games left with division teams. 

Cincy - KC, Clev, @TB, @NE, Buff, Balt

Balt - Den, @Pitt, @Clev, Atl, Pitt, @Cin

LAC - @LV, Mia, Tenn, @Indy, LA Rams, @ Denver

Mia - @SF, @LAC, @Buff, GB, @NE, NYJ

Buff - @NE, NYJ, Mia, @Chi, @ Cin, NE

NE - Buff, @Ari, @LV, Cinc, Mia, @ Buff

 

 

[Bronx]

12 hours ago, Fantasy Island said:

Zach's mouth, 

[Ex-Rex]

8 hours ago, johnnysd said:

Meh. This analysis does not account for the 9 games the teams we are competing with have against each other. It will be really difficult for NE to stay in the race and Cin has a really tough road. Despite not having some tiebreakers the Jets are in a really good spot.

Pats will fall to 6-6 tonight against Buffalo, so they are probably done. Jets will beat Lions, Jaguars and Seahawks as well as Vikings on Sunday. 11-6.

[Bungaman]

7 hours ago, JoeNamathsFurCoat said:

This a frightening possibility

I think you are probably right though:

Saleh felt he had no choice but to do a 180 after ZW lost the locker room with his dumb answer 

What strikes me as odd in this context is how the team apparently chose this past week to also leak the stuff about Wilson’s lack of confidence, poor fundamentals and yips “dating back to training camp”

The Fox crew mentioned this during the (Bears game) broadcast, so it must have been something revealed during their production meetings with the players / coaches 

If your intention is really to give Wilson back his starting job, why admit all that?  Why let the world know the kid’s confidence is shattered?

Perhaps this Wilson stubbornness / insanity is driven by JD, and Saleh is caught in the middle

Maybe Saleh is talking to the team, and we will know nothing about those conversations until long afterwards, or those between Saleh and JD. They run a pretty leakproof ship, so I think it's just speculation amplified by repetition in the search for clicks and attention. IMHO, I think this is a non issue. 

[Bungaman]

47 minutes ago, Joe Willie White Shoes said:

You need to start paying attention to the other teams the Jets are competing with for the WC spots. That is why the Chargers win last week was a buzz kill. They had no business winning that game but for Kingsbury's horrible end game coaching and the Chargers last TD and 2 point conversion, neither of which should have been scored.    Cincy losing to the Titans would have helped too.  

NE and Cincy have tough schedules.  Baltimore and the Chargers have easy schedules.  The AFC East is going to cannibalize each other as each of the 4 teams has 3 or 4 games left with division teams. 

Cincy - KC, Clev, @TB, @NE, Buff, Balt

Balt - Den, @Pitt, @Clev, Atl, Pitt, @Cin

LAC - @LV, Mia, Tenn, @Indy, LA Rams, @ Denver

Mia - @SF, @LAC, @Buff, GB, @NE, NYJ

Buff - @NE, NYJ, Mia, @Chi, @ Cin, NE

NE - Buff, @Ari, @LV, Cinc, Mia, @ Buff

 

 

Baltimore has the easiest schedule on paper, to be affected also by injuries, etc. Miami has four on the road, which is no walk in the park.

[rangerous]

build em up to bust them down.  once the jets went with mike white they had to say something about wilson's yipps and other issues to justify the move.  the move was the right one because whatever issues wilson has, they're all in his head.  he needed to get focused on where he was and what he wants to be.

[Alka]

18 hours ago, 92ShaunEllis92 said:

Breaking down what it could take for Jets to make playoffs

November 30, 2022 8:43pm 

By Brian Costello

Robert Saleh has a good reason why he is not letting himself get wrapped up in hypothetical playoff scenarios and going over the Jets’ remaining schedule trying to count up wins and losses. 

“Too much crap to do, man,” the head coach said with a laugh Wednesday. “It doesn’t mean that when you’re sitting there, you don’t take a peek to see what’s ahead, but you quickly got to, like I said, you acknowledge it, and you know it’s not like it’s an elephant in the room, it’s not like you’re not going to acknowledge it, but none of it matters at the end of the day. You got to quickly refocus back to what’s important, and what’s important is this moment.” 

That has been Saleh’s message to the Jets this week — stay in the moment. 

He does not want his players, who are sitting at 7-4 and heading into a showdown with the Vikings (9-2) on Sunday, looking past that game and dreaming about ending the team’s 11-year playoff drought. 

It’s a good message for the Jets … but not for those of us on the outside looking in. 

As the calendar turns to December, it feels like the perfect time to look ahead and dig in on the Jets’ final six games. What will it take for them to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2010? 

Let’s go. 

Looking at the AFC standings, there are nine teams for seven playoff spots. Let’s say the Chiefs and Titans win their divisions. The AFC North will go to either the Ravens or Bengals. The AFC East will be won by either the Dolphins or Bills. 

The Jets have a shot at the playoff, but their remaining schedule says its not a lock. Photo: Bill Kostroun

That would leave the Jets fighting with the runner-up in the North and the East, along with the Patriots and Chargers, for three playoff berths — five teams for three wild-card spots. 

Looking at the way things set up, it is probably going to take 10 wins to get a wild card. 

That means the Jets need three wins. Do your best “Mike and the Mad Dog” impression and go down the schedule, ‘Uhhh, it’s going to be cold, they might be thinking about Christmas, give ’em a loss.’ ” 

Looking at the schedule, you’d expect the Jets to win home games against the Lions and Jaguars, both currently 4-7. That means they would have to steal at least one of these road games: at the Vikings (9-2), Bills (8-3), Seahawks (6-5) or Dolphins (8-3). 

Those are not easy games. You have to expect the Jets will be underdogs in all of those road games. They have the fifth toughest remaining schedule, according to Tankathon. Only one team with which they are jockeying for position has a tougher schedule — the Bengals, who have the fourth-toughest. The Chargers have the easiest schedule of those in contention, at 26th. All of that could lead to major scoreboard watching for Jets fans. 

So this playoff push could come down to the Jets doing what they are supposed to do against weak Lions and Jaguars teams at home — which they have done this year, including Sunday over the Bears — and then finding a way to come out with a win in a road game. 

While Saleh and his team try to ignore the playoff scenarios, everyone on the outside can play the “what if” game. Saleh acknowledged that people in his life, including his kids, want to talk about the playoffs and what it will take to get there. 

“Everyone’s excited and everyone should be excited, but it’s the hypotheticals and all the scenarios that those are great talking points for the rest of the outside world,” Saleh said. “We just have to stay focused here.” 

That is fine for Saleh and his players. But for Jets fans, who are used to discussing who the top draft picks are by this point in the season, this December will be a rare treat. It will be a chance to dream about the playoffs and what it will take for Mike White to lead them there over the next six weeks. 

This could be a December to remember for the Jets.

The way the Jets are playing right now, they could win every game or lose every game against the 4 teams that will be favored over the Jets.  I do not expect the Jets to lose those 4 games, and right now, I would have to say they will go 2-2 against them.  Jaguars and Detroit are wins, and if not, then they don't deserve to be in the playoffs in the first place.  I see 11-6.  I don't see the Patriots winning 10 games.  I see the losing tonight, and will be 6-6, hoping to go 4-1 the rest of the season, but more probably going 3-2.  Remember, the will have to play the Bills again, and the Dolphins.  4-1 will be tough if they lose tonight, which I expect they will.

[batman10023]

4 hours ago, Joe Willie White Shoes said:

You need to start paying attention to the other teams the Jets are competing with for the WC spots. That is why the Chargers win last week was a buzz kill. They had no business winning that game but for Kingsbury's horrible end game coaching and the Chargers last TD and 2 point conversion, neither of which should have been scored.    Cincy losing to the Titans would have helped too.  

NE and Cincy have tough schedules.  Baltimore and the Chargers have easy schedules.  The AFC East is going to cannibalize each other as each of the 4 teams has 3 or 4 games left with division teams. 

Cincy - KC, Clev, @TB, @NE, Buff, Balt

Balt - Den, @Pitt, @Clev, Atl, Pitt, @Cin

LAC - @LV, Mia, Tenn, @Indy, LA Rams, @ Denver

Mia - @SF, @LAC, @Buff, GB, @NE, NYJ

Buff - @NE, NYJ, Mia, @Chi, @ Cin, NE

NE - Buff, @Ari, @LV, Cinc, Mia, @ Buff

 

 

That 2 point conversion saved their season. 

[Ron Rico]

11 hours ago, TuscanyTile2 said:

The Detroit and Jacksonville games are critical for us.  Those are the 2 more winnable games on the schedule.  We can't stumble in either.

I think all the games are potentially winnable, btw, though at Buffalo seems like the most difficult.  At Miami in the season finale is going to be rough too.  It'll be a terrific test for our secondary, that's for sure.

That's what scares me. 

[Gen X Jet]

6 hours ago, slimjasi said:

classic 

But then there's this December blunder: