5 bold predictions for the remainder of the NY Jets 2022 season

The NY Jets have shocked and impressed the entire NFL world this year, and it is the first time in a long time that Jets fans can experience meaningful December football.

With the regular season entering the home stretch, here are five bold predictions for the rest of the campaign.

1. The NY Jets sweep the season series with the Bills

The Jets shockingly beat the Bills a month ago, and they will have a chance to sweep the series this Sunday. The Jets' defense held the Bills and quarterback Josh Allen to one of their worst games of the season and will look to do that again this week.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Bills will see a very different team. Mike White will give the Bills' defense a whole new look. The offense has been completely transformed with White under center, which is very different from what they saw in Zach Wilson in their last matchup.

Another change could be Zonovan Knight possibly carrying the load at running back. He has seen much more success than James Robinson, who had the most carries in the last game against the Bills.

Nobody would have predicted this before the season, but there is a decent enough chance that the Jets can sweep the season series with Buffalo.

2. The NY Jets make the playoffs and end their 11-year playoff drought

The Jets are very close to carrying one of the more embarrassing mantles in sports. The Sacramento Kings of the NBA have the longest playoff drought in sports at 16 seasons. The Jets are second on that list, with their last appearance being 11 seasons ago.

Even though it’s early, the Kings have a 14-10 record and are in fifth place in the Western Conference, which would qualify them for the playoffs.

Well, if the Jets can take care of business to close out the season, that will not be an issue. At 7-5, the Jets are a game ahead of the Patriots and the Chargers for the last Wild Card spot in the AFC.

The Jets finish the season against the Bills, Lions, Jaguars, Seahawks, and Dolphins. The Jets can compete with any of these teams and have already beaten the Bills and the Dolphins this season. If they can win three of these five games, that puts them in an excellent spot to end their playoff drought.

3. NY Jets rookies win Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year

A couple of weeks into the season this did not even seem like a bold prediction. It was becoming more clear by the week that Sauce Gardner was running away with the Defensive Rookie of the Year award and Breece Hall was running away with the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

Well, after Hall tore his ACL, it seemed like that ship had sailed. That was until Garrett Wilson put together a string of big games and vaulted himself into contention with Seattle's Kenneth Walker III for the award.

Wilson has shown flashes of brilliance with three different quarterbacks, but he has really impressed with the current starter, Mike White. In the two games White has played, Wilson has 13 catches on 23 targets for 257 yards and two touchdowns.

Wilson is now up to 790 yards and four touchdowns on the season, and there is no reason to think this production increase will stop with White still at quarterback.

Sauce Gardner is still the heavy favorite to win DROY, and Wilson is well on his way to possibly overtaking Walker as the favorite for OROY.

4. Quinnen Williams receives an extension

Quinnen Williams has been the Jets' best player this season and is having an All-Pro caliber year. Per Pro Football Focus, he has a team-best 90.2 grade and is tied for first among interior defensive linemen with 10 sacks.

Williams also has 42 pressures, and he is putting up these numbers while playing 67 percent of defensive snaps as part of the Jets' rotation-heavy defensive line.

Williams is simply having a monster season and was named the Defensive Player of the Week for Week 6 and the Defensive Player of the Month for October.

Things got off to a rocky start with Williams this year with Jeff Ulbrich’s early season comments, but both sides did a great job of putting that behind them fast, ignoring the outside noise, and having an excellent season for both the Jets' defense and Williams.

Priority number one for Joe Douglas has to be getting an extension done for Williams, as he is becoming one of the best defensive tackles in football right before our eyes.

5. Mike White becomes the QB of the future

Yes, I think it could happen. Mike White has transformed the Jets' offense since stepping in at quarterback. White has played within the offense for two weeks now and has succeeded.

In his first start against the Chicago Bears, White completed 22-of-28 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns. White followed that up last week completing 31-of-57 passes for 369 yards.

White gets the ball out of his hands quickly and makes quick, smart throws, which is exactly what Zach Wilson was not doing and caused trouble for the entire offense. However, White has still made some impressive throws downfield, especially in the second half of the game against the Vikings.

One of the more eye-opening throws was the pass to Corey Davis on fourth-and-10 late in the game. Even though White got hit hard on the play before, he got up and threw a bullet to Davis to pick up the clutch first down.

Another positive that Mike White provides is that it seems like everyone loves him. We have seen so many examples at this point of how much this Jets team is behind him and wants to play for him.

Even though it’s a very small sample size, what we have seen so far from Mike White on and off the field has been promising enough that the question of whether he should be the guy moving forward has to be brought up.