Sunday wasn’t a complete must-win for the New York Jets against the Buffalo Bills, but they should would have liked to have gotten the win. The loss now means the last four games are incredibly important for their playoff hopes.
Still, that’s not fazing head coach Robert Saleh. Despite the 20-12 loss to the Bills in Week 14, Saleh believes his crew is still good enough to reach the postseason for the first time since the 2010 season.
I think our team is good enough. We’ve got, obviously it’s week-to-week, but we’ve got a good football team.
He even put out a notion that there could be a Jets-Bills round three, saying “we’re going to see these guys again.”
As it stands heading into Monday night, the Jets are currently the first team out of the playoffs at 7-6. They fell back after the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Miami Dolphins on Sunday night to also move to 7-6. L.A. currently has the edge on conference record (LAC 5-4, NYJ 5-5).
The Jets would drop even further back if the Patriots win in Arizona on Monday. New England would take over the 7th spot from the Chargers, dropping the Jets to 8th.
The analytics certainly don’t favor the Jets’ chances after Sunday’s loss.
#Jets playoff chances:
ESPN (FPI metric): 26.9%
FiveThirtyEight: 37%— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) December 12, 2022
Still, the Jets can win their way in. The Jets almost have to sweep their final two home games against the Lions and Jaguars and hope they can steal a win in Seattle in Week 17.
Ultimately, it feels like Week 18 at Miami is going to be do or die for the Jets and could end up being a de facto playoff game for both teams.