The NY Jets received a little AFC help on their bye week

The NY Jets may not have played football this past weekend, but that doesn't mean fans didn't have a rooting interest. Far from it, in fact.

The Jets were off, but a number of teams in the playoff picture alongside Gang Green did play, and the outcomes of their games had a direct impact on New York's chances at making the postseason.

It's been over half a decade since the Jets have been focusing on the playoff race in mid-November, so for some, scoreboard-watching is probably an unfamiliar pastime. But in Week 10, that's exactly what many Jets fans were doing.

Fortunately, the Jets actually received some help in the form of losses by both the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers. As a result, the Jets' odds of making the playoffs actually increased to 72.2 percent over the bye week, per ESPN analytics.

Two key losses helped the NY Jets during their bye week

Perhaps the most important of the two losses, at least as it pertains to the AFC East division race, was the Bills' shocking overtime defeat at the hands of the Minnesota Vikings.

It took an otherworldly Justin Jefferson catch and a miracle botched snap at the one-yard line for the Vikings to escape with the 33-30 victory, but they did. All of a sudden, the Bills have fallen to third place in the AFC East. They can't regain their division lead until Week 12 at the earliest.

As for the Jets, they now sit alone in second place just a half-game behind the Miami Dolphins. If the Jets beat the New England Patriots this Sunday, they will surge to first place in the AFC East as we approach the end of November.

There's even a chance the Jets could be the No. 1 seed in the entire AFC after this week if a few results go their way. That's how significant that Bills loss was to the Jets.

The other result pertained more to the wild-card race as the Chargers fell to the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football. The Chargers now sit at 5-4, in eighth place in the AFC, and a game back of the Jets.

If the season were to end today, the entire AFC East would make the playoffs as a result of that Chargers loss. That's never happened before in NFL history.

The Jets essentially control their own destiny at this point thanks due two significant losses from contending teams. They didn't play on Sunday, but they still came away as winners.