The New York Jets, the NFL’s laughingstock of this past offseason, the team that traded away it’s best player (Darrelle Revis) in hopes of somehow getting better, the team that traded for the popular Tim Tebow and stood him on the sidelines for a year, is going to do an about-face and make the playoffs this season.
Naturally a declaration that a 5–4 team is headed to the postseason should not be a big deal. But this is a team that was at the bottom of nearly every preseason preview in existence. But now they’re in line for the postseason for the first time in three years.
Can they keep it up? Of course. Here’s four reasons why:
1. Kellen Winslow Jr. Is Back
The former Pro Bowler Winslow was a great low-risk offseason acquisition of new general manager John Idzik. Sure, he’s just coming off his four-game suspension, but when he was eligible, he was a favorite target of Geno Smith.
Winslow had 7 catches for 79 yards against Tampa Bay and 6 for 73 yards against Tennessee and also hauled in a pair of TD catches.
At tight end, he’s not the focal point of the opposing defense, but he stretches the field at a time the Jets are without the injured Jeremy Kerley.
2. The Emergence of Dee Milliner
The Jets made several big offseason moves, but the biggest was trading Darrelle Revis and then taking Milliner in the first round of the draft as his replacement.
It was certainly a gamble, but then again, paying big money to a cornerback fresh off an ACL tear was a big gamble as well.
Milliner has had a tough start. He’s been injured and inconsistent as he learns to play the game in the pros. But last week against New Orleans he showed signs of what made him the top corner in college football.
Milliner was credited with his first pass deflection of the season against Drew Brees’s Saints as the Jets kept the New Orleans potent passing offense in check.
Was Milliner the MVP of the game? No, but he looked a lot more like the player the Jets thought they were getting last April. Should he continue his learning curve, the already-imposing defense will be that much tougher.
3. Geno Smith’s Learning Curve
It’s no secret that Smith has been an upgrade at the quarterback position for the Jets thus far. He throws a good deep ball and, unlike Sanchez, is a threat to run. Through nine games for the Jets, Smith has a quarterback rating of 71.0 as compared to Mark Sanchez’s 66.9 last season. [this stat is not that convincing—maybe you should focus on how many fewer picks he threw than Sanchez.]
Although he has been pretty inconsistent, Smith should generally improve as the season progresses. As each week goes by, the rookie out of West Virginia should know the playbook better, be able to audible more, and probably most importantly, know better when to run. He can be quite a threat with his speed once he gets more comfortable in the pocket.
4. A Very Forgiving Remaining Schedule
Here’s the Jets remaining schedule: at 3–7 Buffalo, at 4–5 Baltimore, home versus 4–5 Miami, home versus 3–6 Oakland, at 6–3 Carolina, home versus 4–5 Cleveland, and finally at 4–5 Miami. Not quite the murderer’s row.
That’s six games against teams, which currently have a losing record and the only winning team, the Panthers, haven’t finished with a winning record since 2008.
Should Rex Ryan’s club beat just five of the six teams with losing records, and lose to the favored Panthers, they still would end up with a 10–6 record, which is generally a good enough record to make the postseason—even if you were the laughingstock of the offseason.
