Jets players and coaches were able to be spectators on Sunday and watch the NFL as they enjoyed their bye week.
Like many football fans, they watched the thrilling Vikings-Bills game that ended with Josh Allen throwing an interception in overtime to give Minnesota a 33-30 victory. Unlike many football fans, this result had a direct impact on them.
The AFC East is wide open.
The Bills, who were seen as runaway favorites in the division, look human after losses to the Jets and Vikings, and are 6-3, the same record as the Jets. The Dolphins moved to 7-3 with their win over the Browns on Sunday and they now have a bye. The Patriots are right in the mix at 5-4.
If the season ended today, all of the teams in the AFC East would be in the playoffs. For the Jets, they now have a shot at the division that no one could have predicted before the season. If the Jets win Sunday against the Patriots, they will be in first place thanks to owning the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Dolphins.
“We’ve got a good opportunity, obviously, over the next eight games to do something,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “I don’t think [Sunday’s] games mattered much because we’re still in position where we still have to take care of our own business. There’s a lot of football to be played before we even think about [playoff] scenarios. We also all have to play one another. We also have to play a lot of really good football teams. Obviously, this game coming up is the most important game. There’s so much football to play before we even think about what’s at stake.”
The final eight weeks of the season set up as a fascinating showdown for the AFC East. The Jets and Dolphins each have three division games left. The Bills and Patriots have four because they have yet to play each other this season.
The Patriots have the toughest remaining schedule and also the most ground to make up. Their opponents have a combined .594 winning percentage. The Jets have the next toughest opposing schedule at a .539 winning percentage. The Dolphins and Bills both have an opposing winning percentage of .500.
The Jets return from their bye with a rematch against the Patriots, who beat them 22-17 two weeks ago. It is the first game of the second half of the season. The road to the AFC East title has traditionally gone through Foxborough. Saleh was asked if they have to get through the Patriots to win their division.
“I think you can say that about all the teams in our division,” Saleh said. “They’re all very talented like you guys just mentioned. Every game, I feel like we’re going to stand up here and every game is going to hold a lot of weight and it’s going to be the biggest game of the year. Well, this is the biggest game of the year because it’s the current game of the year. I’m not sure if it’s necessarily going through people as much as it is handling our business, doing our job, and playing to the best of our ability and trusting that if we do that, we will like the result.”
Jets wide receiver Braxton Berrios said the Jets are now in position to do something in the second half, something they always believed they could do.
“I got crazy looks when I said at the beginning of the year that we play this game for the playoffs, period,” Berrios said. “That sentiment hasn’t changed. It was from Day 1 with this new staff coming in. We have a long way to go. We obviously set ourselves up in a great spot through these first nine games. We have this back half. We all know December football, January football, that’s really what matters.”
The margin is so close in the AFC East that the Jets could wake up in first place or last place on Monday morning. If they lose to the Patriots and the Bills beat the Browns, the Jets will be looking up at everyone in the division.
“I feel like we have to take it,” cornerback Michael Carter II said of the division. “We haven’t accomplished what we’re trying to accomplish. We have to remain humble in that sense that we’re not where we want to be. We’ve still got work to do. These eight games will decide a lot. We’ve just to keep playing like we’ve got something to prove.”
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