Is it safe to start looking at the standings?
As the NFL season shifts from October to November, the Jets are very much alive in the AFC playoff race.
Though it is still early, it’s not too early to start thinking about what this playoff race could look like over the next two months.
With the Jets (4-3) facing the Chargers (3-4) on “Monday Night Football” it is likely this game could have some bearing on the AFC wild-card race when we get to January.
The Jets have put themselves in position to play games that matter, and the Chargers are the first of four consecutive AFC opponents they are about to face.
Coach Roberts Saleh was asked if he starts to think about how this game could affect the playoffs.
“It does because it is in conference, but the reality of it is that they all matter,” Saleh said. “We go back and look at last year when we are sitting there 7-4 and we lose a tight one to Minnesota and a tight one to Detroit, there was Buffalo and obviously there are so many tight games in the second half of the year. … You just have to take it one week at a time.
“Just focus on that opponent that you have, and are there bonuses and all that with regards to the division and conference? Yeah, sure you could look at all that, but we just have to take care of the moment.”
The Jets have been doing that in this three-game winning streak.
But the past two weeks have been remarkable late-game wins in which both the Eagles and Giants had the ball with the lead with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, and the Jets somehow found a way to win by taking advantage of mistakes by their opponents.
“Guys are fighting regardless of who’s in there,” quarterback Zach Wilson said. “We’ve got some injuries, guys moving around, but just fighting all the way until the end. I’d say we’re moving the ball, we’re just not producing on third downs, and that’s obviously where the fix needs to be.
“We’re showing that we can move the ball, we’re doing some good things, so it’s really just trying to be more well balanced and find a way to get it done all the way around.”