Which is the Biggest Game of the Third Quarter of the 2013 Season for the New York Jets?

Dec 9, 2012; Jacksonville FL, USA; New York Jets defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson (96) celebrates sacking Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Chad Henne (not pictured) in the third quarter of their game at EverBank Field. The New York Jets beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 17-10. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports

Happy Sunday everybody. The beginning of the week is almost upon us, let’s continue our breakdown. Our breakdown, that is, of the 2013 New York Jets schedule, quarter by quarter, talking about which games are the biggest. Like we have said all through the breakdown, we are just speculating. If some of the experts are right, none of these games will mean much. But, with no games to talk about, and camp not quite here, let’s speculate.

For anyone who has missed the speculation on the first half, take a look here, and here.

Now, let’s move ahead to the third quarter games, here we go……..

WEEK 9: vs. New OrleansWEEK 11: at BuffaloWEEK 12: at BaltimoreWEEK 13: vs. Miami

The league seems to be fascinated with us going up against Baltimore, does it not? I mean, we all know that Rex worked there, but as the years go by, him working there will stop being relevant. It’s similar, to me, to those years when we would play Oakland every year. Remember that? We seemed to have the Raiders on the schedule every season, just weird.

Just an aside.

This is going to be a tough quarter all the way around. New Orleans will never be an easy out, and the divisional opponents will be vasty improved. That doesn’t even account for the fact that the world champs are on the schedule. Say the Jets entered this quarter at 4-4, I don’t exactly see them leaving it 8-4, do you?

So which one is the biggest? I say week 11 against Buffalo.

Here’s why. If the season is still salvageable, they will be at a crossroad as they enter this week 11 game. If they still have a chance, their record will be 5-4, 4-5, 3-6, or by a miracle, 6-3. Coming out of the bye, they will be setting up for the second half of the season, and setting the tone, and tempo, like we have talked about.

If they are winning, Mark will be at the helm, ready to take the season forward. If they can play well coming out of this game, it will set the season up moving forward. They could potentially have 4-5 wins at this point, which should more than have the team in the playoff race. Should they lose, the team could just fall by the wayside for the 2013 season. But coming out of the bye, it’s statement time.

If they are say 2-7, however, we could be seeing the Geno debut. The new era may just begin here in Buffalo, which would make this game as huge as any.

No matter whether the team is well off at this point or not, this game will be a huge game.

What do you guys think?