NY Jets: Don’t get your hopes up

The NY Jets are playing some incredible football as of late but don’t get your hopes up.

The Jets hype is real right now. Many people are comparing this team to the 2011 Giants team that used a season-changing win against the Jets to propel them to a Super Bowl victory. If the Jets were to make the playoffs, all bets would be off as they would be one of the hottest teams going in, with the likelihood of facing a Bengals team with a history of playoff incompetency in the first round.

The problem with this is that the Jets still aren’t likely to make the playoffs. You could make the argument that the three hottest teams in the AFC right now are the Chiefs, Steelers and Jets. Unless the Patriots or Bengals completely tank, then one of those three teams will be left on the outside looking in. If the Jets, Steelers and Chiefs all win out then the Jets are left without an invite. I just want you all to be prepared for that pain.

The Browns and Ravens dictate the New York Jets playoffs hopes pic.twitter.com/weLnHQQpwW

— Matt Kinghorn (@Matt_Kinghorn4) December 14, 2015

It is important to stay grounded in this situation. If the Jets lose one more game, the Steelers or Chiefs would have to lose two. The Steelers play a potentially Peyton Manning-less Broncos, a Joe Flacco-less Ravens, and a hapless Browns team. The Chiefs – winners of 7 straight – play the Ravens, Browns and Raiders. These teams may be favorites in all of their remaining games, while the Jets have to go to Jerryworld to play the Cowboys, host the Patriots and face their ultimate demon – Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills – against a team that will probably be incredibly angry that they didn’t make the playoffs.

The Jets are hot – don’t get me wrong. I think it’s safe to say that not too many teams would sign up to play the Jets right now. With Ryan Fitzpatrick playing the best football of his life, the defense reinvigorated thanks to the return of Calvin Pryor and momentum on their side, the Jets are playing like the force every fan wants them to be.

This season has been one of the most fun from a fan perspective. If Fitzpatrick keeps playing at this level he has in the last three games – 930 yards, 9 TDs, 0 INTs – then he may play his way into another contract and a spot as a viable option for the first string QB for the Jets for the next 2-3 years. With questions about the new regime after the 1-4 stretch brought the Jets back to earth, many of the fans’ hopes have rocketed out of the atmosphere once Gang Green reinserted itself into the playoff race.

Next: Could this finally be the year of the Jets?

In these past three games, the Jets have played a terrible Dolphins team, were gifted a win by Tom Coughlin and faced a rookie QB with an interim head coach. This isn’t to say that the team’s hopes are misguided, but the odds are stacked against them. In short, the Jets have the hardest schedule of the three remaining wild card contenders, would lose in a tiebreaker situation and would realistically need to win their remaining three games to make the playoffs.

The Jets could be 11-5 and miss the playoffs. If that happens, fans should not be discouraged and should look forward to another run next season.