There won’t be many times when the New York Jets will hope the New England Patriots can win a football game.
That changed Sunday afternoon.
With the Jets on their bye week, and the rest of their divisional foes on the Week 7 schedule, New York knew that a Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles win over the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins respectively would put them within striking distance for the AFC East crown. It may have shaken some fans to their core, but the outcomes on Sunday have greatly helped Gang Green’s chances of making the playoffs.
New England pulled off a stunning 29-25 upset over Josh Allen and the Bills while the Dolphins were outmatched against the Eagles in Philadelphia on Sunday night. Both losses meant that the Jets trail Miami by just a game and a half for the division lead – a thought that would have been seen as ludicrous six weeks ago when Aaron Rodgers was lost for the year.
Before we dive into just how helpful their bye week was for the team, let’s look at the most up-to-date AFC East standings
1. Miami Dolphins 5-2 (1-1)
2. Buffalo Bills 4-3 (2-1)
3. New York Jets 3-3 (1-1)
4. New England Patriots 2-5 (2-1)
Pretty good if you’re a fan of the Jets through seven weeks.
There are a couple of key takeaways here as well from this last week’s slate of games that should make fans feel even better going into a Week 8 contest against the New York Giants on Sunday.
The first of which is for the bottom-dwellers of the division in the Patriots. New England outplayed Buffalo thanks to their pass rush and the improved performance from Mac Jones. As poor as he has looked this season, the Patriots have upcoming games against the Commanders, Colts, Giants, and Chargers (following a tough matchup in Miami). Even if they start at 2-6, there’s plenty of room over the next few games to get back in the playoff race. New York should not be counting out their greatest rival just yet.
When it comes to the Buffalo Bills, no one knows what to expect. They have looked like a dominant team at times that an organization like the Jets won’t be able to keep up with. Then, there are times when they look so bad (like Sunday’s loss) that you realize that New York’s opening night win may not have been a fluke after all.
If the Jets are going to compete for a division title, and playoff appearance this year, it looks like the Dolphins will be their toughest test. Even so, the fins look very beatable at this stage of the season. Miami sits at a solid 5-2 but doesn’t have a win against a team over .500 and has been beaten to a pulp against every top team they have played. With the way Gang Green has defended top quarterbacks this season, there should be no surprise that Tua Tagovailoa could be in for a rough outing.
A game-and-a-half division deficit is nothing in the NFL at this stage of the regular season. New York has winnable games upcoming against the Giants, Chargers, and Raiders that could propel them into the division lead if they play up to their talent.
As good as they’ve looked over the last few weeks though, the Jets could also fail to capitalize on the ground they have covered over the last few weeks. That’s what makes their upcoming contest against the cross-town Giants so important. A win not only puts the team into a potential tie for second place but sets them up nicely coming off the week-long break to show that they are more than capable of being a contender in the AFC Playoffs.
