NY Jets: Are NFL Playoffs on the horizon in 2016?

The NY Jets ended their 2015 season with a heart breaker to the Buffalo Bills while not making the NFL Playoffs. There are many questions to be answered, but the real question is will this team be strong enough to make a playoff run?

Looking at the 2016 opponents of the Jets, it’s not a pretty sight for fans. In 2015, this team played the worst two divisions in the NFL record wise (AFC South, NFC East) and now they have to face arguably the best two divisions in football which is the AFC North along with the NFC West. Both divisions featuring much higher quality of opponents.

The fact that the Jets get to face the Pittsburgh Steelers is either a good thing or a bad thing, simply because this game could very well determine who’s getting one of the two wild card spots next season, assuming the New England Patriots win the division like usual.

Last year, the Jets and Steelers both finished 10-6 but only Pittsburgh was granted the final wildcard spot because of their conference record. Beating Pittsburgh next year will be crucial for the Jets just in case a similar situation occurs where they need to hold a tiebreaker. I certainly expect this matchup to be featured on primetime television.

It’s hard to ask a team with so many veterans to simply keep getting better, with that being said, this team just needs to continue building their chemistry. They have the players, they have the heart, now it’s just a matter of finishing. In 2016, I expect the Jets’ coaching staff to make a huge leap as far as play calling and in game decisions are concerned.

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As far as the players go, the starting lineup isn’t going to have a lot of changes to it.

Maybe some switches at the wide receiver position, as well as the offensive line, but overall all this team has to focus on is building off of their 2015 success, and continuing to trust in one another.

We have to remember Todd Bowles is going into only his second season as head coach of the Jets. With the way he his coaching these guys and getting them to truly believe and understand the message he is trying to send, there is no excuse to not have a better result than last season.

When you look at the six losses by the Jets, you can pick out a handful of plays that easily decided the difference between losing and wining on that given game day. From questionable calls to busted coverage on plays, simply correcting mental mistakes could be the difference between 10 and 12 or more wins.

There will certainly be times next season where fans will think the season is over, that there is no hope. Maybe even in the Jets’ locker room players might think to themselves there is nothing left to fight for just after a crucial loss or two, but all this team needs to do is hold up strong.

Do not stop fighting, do not give up, and do not let anything get in between you and that Super Bowl ring. Remember when the Jets were 5-5 coming off of a heartbreaking loss against Houston and everyone thought the season was over? Well guess what, that team decided that it wasn’t, and they fought to the very last minute of Week 17 ignoring everyone that was doubting them. Now this upcoming season, it’s time to finish. It’s time to put Brandon Marshall and Ryan Fitzpatrick in the postseason once and for all.

The NFL is arguably more of a mental than physical game. It can certainly get to you sometimes whether it’s after a crushing loss, or you couldn’t come up big for your team when they needed you most. It’s all about moving forward, not giving in, believing in yourself and everyone else in the locker room with you.

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The Jets showed a lot of this last season as they had a disappointing middle of the year, so we know they can do it. We know they have the heart to overcome adversity and keep moving forward. Leaders like Darrelle Revis, Marshall and others are going to need to be extremely vocal this season keeping this team positive and on top of their game week in and week out as we head to the 2016 season.

Simple leadership and faith in the locker room could take this team a very long way.

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