Rest of the Jets Season

Barring injury, the Jets have a pretty tough schedule to close out the season. It's a good thing they've started out well, even if some would say they were lucky.

Texans at home
Benglas at home (Thanksgiving)
Patriots on the road
Dolphins at home
Steelers on the road
Bears on the road
Bills at home

Looking ahead, their biggest trouble is going to be the lack of pass rush. The Texans and Bengals home games are games they are supposed to win. The Patriots will be tough. Wasn't it just a few weeks ago people said that the Patriots were throwing in the towel by getting rid of Moss? Let it be known that I wasn't one of those people. It would be hard to think that just one WR could offset an entire offense. The Dolphins are always a tough game, even if they are down to their 3rd string QB. Steelers and Bears on the road could both easily be losses. Bills at home should be a win.

If they win the "should" games - Texans, Bengals, Dolphins and Bills, and lose the others, it would mean an 11-5 finish. Looking at the Patriots, they have a pretty tricky schedule as well - Colts, at Lions (Thanksgiving), Jets, at Bears, Packers, at Bills and Dolphins. They have 3 games they "should" win, and if we use the formula above and they beat the Jets but lose the others, they would also finish 11-5. I do have a feeling they'll beat the Bears on the road. I think the Lions game is tricky for them, but if Stafford is out, then it's less so.

My prediction - the Patriots win the division and the Jets come in as wild card. The remaining games they don't have in common - Jets face Texans, Bengals, Steelers, and the Pats have the Packers, Lions and Colts. Slight edge to the Jets there, but I think the Pats will win the head-to-head match up which will make the biggest difference.