4 things the NY Jets must continue to do to make the playoffs

The NY Jets are off to a 3-3 start, something many wrote off as impossible following the Aaron Rodgers injury. 

The first portion of the season featured a gauntlet of contending teams and tough defenses, but the Jets managed to finish .500 anyway, with a much easier schedule after the bye week. 

Although many factors on a game-to-game basis got the NY Jets to 3-3, some similarities are seen throughout the way that point to general positive takeaways.

Below are three things the Jets have done well so far and must continue to do to be successful the rest of the season.

1. Protect the football

Aaron Rodgers has historically been one of, if not the best, quarterback in NFL history in limiting turnovers and bad plays. Once he got hurt, the worry amongst fans and coaches was that Zach Wilson would continue to give the ball away and force bad plays. 

However, that has simply not been the case. 

Wilson does not rank in the top half of quarterbacks this year in “turnover-worthy plays,” according to Pro Football Focus. That list includes some really good players, including Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Jalen Hurts, among many others. 

Outside of the three-interception game against Dallas, where Wilson was chucking the ball up in hopes of a comeback late, he has done a great job just taking what the defense gives him and limiting his mistakes. 

He has only thrown five interceptions in his first six games, and four of those were in weeks one and two. Since the Dallas game, Wilson has only thrown one interception in his last four games. 

Additionally, the team has only lost two fumbles this season so far. One of those was the Dalvin Cook fumble against Dallas, and the other was a Zach Wilson lost fumble on a snap that led to the loss against Kansas City. 

Continuing to take care of the ball and limiting bad plays allows the Jets' defense to play with good field position and also creates more scoring chances for the offense, opportunities they need to cash in on more.