The Jets are 0-8. Bill Belichick thinks they’ve improved since 2019.

Bill Belichick believes the Jets are a much better team than the season before, even if they’re winless through eight weeks.

Bill Belichick gave a surprising assessment of the Jets on Monday.

The Patriots will take on the Jets for the second consecutive season on Monday Night Football. Last season, Sam Darnold saw “ghosts” in a 33-0 manhandling, a game that the Jets were never in.

Now New York is 0-8 after a listless 35-9 loss to the Kanas City Chiefs in Week 8. It’s been a lot of doom and gloom in New York this season, but Belichick offered a more positive take on the 2020 Jets.

“The Jets are a young team, I think they’ve improved from last year and over the course of this year,” Belichick said during his weekly spot on WEEI’s Ordway, Merloni and Fauria Show.

Belichick said there’s more to the Jets than meets the eye, but New York remains the league’s only winless team and hasn’t been competitive all year. Following Sunday’s loss, the Jets became the first team in NFL history to begin a season losing each game by eight or more points.

Gang Green has now been outscored 238-94, holding the worst point differential (-144) in franchise history through eight games.

If Belichick’s comments are any indication, teams aren’t overlooking the Jets. Chris Jones delivered similar sentiments before Week 8, but the Chiefs cruised to a 24-point victory. Regardless of Belichick’s comments, the Jets are a Monday night loss away from matching their nine losses from the season before.

It’s Week 9.

Cap Cut Candidate: Should Jets move on from WR Quincy Enunwa?

Quincy Enunwa hasn’t stayed healthy during his six-year career with the Jets, and he could be out the door for good.

The Jets may already be looking to cut veteran wide receiver Quincy Enunwa 14 months after giving him a four-year, $36 million extension. Enunwa should have been one of Sam Darnold’s top receiving options, but instead missed all but the first game of the 2019 season with his second serious neck injury in three seasons.

Joe Douglas and Adam Gase don’t have any ties to Enunwa, so it’s not inconceivable for the Jets to cut him despite him still having three years left on his contract. If the Jets keep Enunwa, he’ll count $7.8 million against the cap in 2020, which is eighth-highest on the team. If they cut him loose, the Jets save $2.4 million but eat $5.4 million in dead money. The Jets have until the fifth day of the 2020 league year – March 22 – to decide on Enunwa before his entire 2020 salary becomes guaranteed only against injury.

So, what should they do?

Pros for keeping him

Enunwa is a big-bodied receiver who developed a nice report with Sam Darnold early in the 2018 season. He saw 36 targets over the first four weeks of the season and finished with the third-most targets on the team despite only playing in 11 games. When he’s been healthy, the 6-foot-2, 225-pound wideout is a great possession receiver who can do the work of a tight end with the speed of a wideout.

Though there are obvious concerns over his health – he’s missed 24 games since 2015 – Enunwa provides a veteran option for Darnold, especially if the Jets decide not to re-sign Robby Anderson. But considering his ability, size and comfortability with Darnold, it may be easier for the Jets to keep Enunwa and maintain a level of consistency on their offense rather than find his replacement elsewhere.

His $2.4 million cap savings may not be enough to warrant a release, either.

Pros of cutting him

Enunwa’s injury history remains his biggest question mark. He hasn’t proven he can stay healthy and has missed lots of time in his short NFL career. Not only is Enunwa coming off his second major neck injury – the first forced him to miss the entire 2017 season – he’s also only played one full 16-game season in his career – 2016 – which unsurprisingly was also his most productive year.

Regardless of his health, Enunwa also hasn’t shown he can be consistently productive, either. He averaged 6.6 targets per game during his career season in 2016, but only averaged 3.6 receptions per game, 53 yards per game with only four touchdowns. During Darnold’s rookie season in 2018, Enunwa’s torrid start simmered out quickly. He averaged 5.25 receptions for 69.5 yards in the first four years but only 2.4 receptions for 24.4 yards over the final seven.

The Jets really don’t know how Enunwa will fit into Gase’s offense, either. In his only game of 2019, Enunwa finished with just one reception on three targets for -4 yards. Even in the preseason, Enunwa only caught two balls for 14 yards. Douglas might not see any value in keeping Enunwa with his small sample size.

The verdict

This is a tough one. Enunwa can be a solid contributor on offense but hasn’t proven to be reliable, both in his production and durability. His cap hit isn’t extreme and the savings are minimal, meaning the benefits of cutting him don’t outweigh the potential reward of keeping him if he proves to rebound to his old self. Enunwa himself said he wants to continue playing for the Jets despite his health concerns but he has also expressed displeasure with how the Jets organization handled his injury treatments.

Ultimately, Enunwa’s injury risks can’t be ignored and Douglas could easily find a replacement for Enunwa’s production without worrying about his availability. The Jets would be better suited by cutting their losses and finding a different way to spend the savings.

6 right tackles the Jets should target in free agency

With the offensive line in need of an overhaul, here are six free agent right tackles the Jets should consider.

The offensive line will be one of Joe Douglas’ biggest priorities this offseason.

Sam Darnold played under duress for most of the season and rarely seemed to have the time in the pocket to find his receivers. Now that Douglas finally has control of the roster, he’ll look to upgrade the entire offensive line in the hopes of preventing what happened in 2019.

Starting right tackle Brandon Shell is an impending free agent, and all signs point to the Jets letting him walk after a disappointing 2019 season. Shell started 11 games this past season, but only because the Jets were forced to play him with so many injuries along the line. The Jets need a better tackle, and if they aren’t planning on taking one with the 11th pick in Aprils’ draft, they should look to sign at least one this offseason to shore up the right side of the line.

Here are six right tackle options for the Jets in free agency.

Jack Conklin

If the Jets want an immediate infusion of talent at the right tackle position, Jack Conklin is the move. He’s one of the youngest right tackles in free agency at 26 years old and his 78.3 overall Pro Football Focus grade finished 12th among tackles in 2019.

Conklin played a major role in the Titans’ ability to run the ball well this past season. He finished with the fifth-highest run-blocking grade – 81.0 – of all tackles, the sixth-best tackle on zone runs and 14th on gap runs, per PFF, and Derrick Henry ended up leading the league in rushing. A major concern for Conklin is his pass-protection, though. His pass-blocking grade ranks 49th over the past two seasons and the Titans allowed the third-most sacks in the NFL in 2019, which is more than the Jets even allowed.

The Jets need their big free agency splashes to protect Darnold and can’t afford to spend big on a poor pass blocker. However, Conklin could command one of the biggest salaries on the offensive line. Spotrac put his market value at a six-year, $90.1 million contract, which would pay him $15 million a year. That would put him third among right tackles, so it’s conceivable he would ask to top that list above Lane Johnson and Trent Brown.

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After Jets declined his option, Mike Pennel boosted Chiefs’ run defense

After two years with the Jets, Mike Pennel has become one of the best run-stoppers on the Kansas City Chiefs defense

After two seasons with the Jets, Chiefs DT Mike Pennel finds himself on the cusp of a championship in his sixth year in the league.

The Jets claimed Pennel off waivers in 2017 to play alongside Leonard Williams, Muhammad Wilkerson and Steve McLendon. He didn’t play often, recording 35 tackles on 27 percent of snaps in 16 games, but he did enough to earn a three-year contract that offseason. But after a down 2018 season (27 tackles in 7starts/16 games), the Jets declined the option on his contract and sent him to free agency on Feb. 19, 2019.

The Chiefs picked up Pennel midway through the 2019 season after his two years with the Jets and a five-month stint with the Patriots. Though he’s only played in 13.94 percent of the Chiefs’ defensive snaps in 2019, Pennel is a crucial contributor to the Kansas City run defense. Before Pennel joined the team, the Chiefs allowed 148.6 rushing yards per game between Weeks 1-7. But after he signed in October, the Chiefs gave up only 126.1 rushing yards per game. Even better, Kansas City didn’t allow more than 100 team rushing yards during their two playoff games and held Titans running back Derrick Henry to only 69 yards on 19 careers – his lowest total since Week 9.

Pennel’s massive frame – he stands at 6-foot-4, 330 pounds – gave him incredible leverage in the run-stopping game this season and it’s helped him become a great rotational lineman for Steve Spagnuolo’s defense. He hasn’t put up wild numbers in Kansas City with just 24 total tackles, one sack and two quarterback hits, but he’s also never played more than 41 percent of snaps in a game.

Pennel will always be a quality role player, but he likely wouldn’t have seen much action on the Jets this past season after they drafted nose tackle Quinnen Williams third overall. Foley Fatukasi has also been a revelation for the Jets on the defensive line and came at a cheaper price than Pennel.

The Jets didn’t see a use for Pennel after a dip in production, but it appears the Chiefs have found a way to maximize the time he’s on the field. They’ll need all the help they can get against a San Francisco 49er running game that finished second in rushing yards per game in the regular season and tallied 235.5 rushing yards per game and three total rushing touchdowns in their two playoff games.

When the 49ers look to run the football in the Super Bowl, look for ex-Jet Pennel to be on the field.

Sam Darnold, Daniel Jones to face off again… in a cornhole competition

The American Cornhole league announced that Darnold and Jones will go head to head in, you guessed it, cornhole.

Sam Darnold and the Jets already beat their neighbors during the 2019 season, but the quarterback will give his Big Blue counterpart a shot at redemption prior to the Super Bowl.

The American Cornhole League announced that Darnold and Daniel Jones will go head to head in a special ESPN broadcast playing — you guessed it — cornhole. The face-off will take place at the Broward Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Florida from 9-10 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 31. The even is free and open to the public.

The contest anticipates over 2,000 fans on-site. For those seeking a premium experience, VIP seats will be available to purchase for $25.

“While I wish I was going to be on the field this weekend, this is a nice consolation prize – and another opportunity to take home a win for Gang Green against a crosstown rival,” Darnold said. “Daniel’s a great competitor, but I’ve been practicing and feel good about my odds.”

pic.twitter.com/P7fMh01qfZ

— Busted Coverage (@bustedcoverage) January 28, 2020

The matchup is just the tip of the iceberg for a three-day ACL event. The Darnold and Jones competition, however, will air on ESPN2 as a one-hour special on Sunday, Feb. 2. The first broadcast airs prior to Super Bowl kickoff.

“This is an opportunity for us to showcase just how far the game has come, with two of the most exciting young QBs in the nation teaming up with some of the top cornhole pros in the country,” said Stacey Moore, Commissioner and Founder of the American Cornhole League. “It’s really a treat for the fans and the perfect way to whet their appetite ahead of the big game on Sunday.”

Chiefs’ Super Bowl woes were almost as bad as the Jets’

The Chiefs hadn’t reached the Super for Bowl for 50 years before 2019. The Jets haven’t reached the championship game in 51 years.

It took 50 years, but the Chiefs are back in the Super Bowl.

Despite all their recent success, the Chiefs actually had one of the longest Super Bowl droughts in NFL history before beating the Titans Sunday to reach Super Bowl LIV. Kansas City had not reached the Super Bowl since the 1969 season when they beat the Vikings, 23-7.

Only three other teams now have a longer drought than the Chiefs: The Lions, Browns — neither of which have ever reached the Super Bowl — and the Jets.

It’s been a harrowing stretch for both the Jets’ and the Chiefs’ fanbases during their Super Bowl-less seasons. Both teams watched 22 other franchises compete for a championship since either the Jets or Chiefs played in the Super Bowl, with 15 teams hoisting the Vince Lombardi trophy before they even had the opportunity to play for one again.

After winning Super Bowl III, the Jets made the playoffs 12 times but only sniffed the Super Bowl four times when they reached the AFC title game in 1982, 1998, 2009 and 2010. All four championship games ended in devastating losses: Either the Jets blew leads, failed to mount comebacks or just fell flat in the face of better opponents.

The Jets haven’t even made the playoffs since their wild card run to the AFC Championship in 2010, thanks mostly to inconsistent coaching and quarterback play.

Similarly, the Chiefs made the playoffs 17 times during their 50-year Super Bowl drought, but only reached the conference title game twice during that span. They made the AFC championship the year they traded for five-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Montana in 1993 and then most recently in 2018 with a roster not unlike the one that just made the 2019 Super Bowl.

A key difference, though, in the suffering of both fanbases is the consistency to which both sides competed in the postseason.

The Chiefs enjoyed long stretches of playoff appearances as well as long stretches of not making the playoffs at all. They made the postseason every year from 1990 to 1995, and then again from 2015 to 2019. But besides those two streaks, they failed to make the playoffs in back-to-back seasons.

The Jets, meanwhile, have been sporadic with their postseason appearances. While they’ve had a couple of multi-season playoff streaks, the Jets mostly were one-season wonders during a plethora of coaching changes between 1968 and 2019. Besides their back-to-back AFC title game appearances, the Jets only reached the postseason in two consecutive seasons twice since making and winning the Super Bowl.

Coaching plays a huge part in both droughts. The Chiefs had 11 different coaches since their Super Bowl win before Andy Reid took over in 2013, while the Jets have hired 16 since 1968 – including Adam Gase. Consistency on the sideline would inevitably equate to postseason success.

Reid, who has 207 career coaching wins with 28 playoff games, will be looking to break a drought of his own as he attempts to win his first career Super Bowl. Despite his illustrious career, he’s only coached in the Super Bowl one other time – in 2004 when his Eagles barely lost to the Patriots.

The Chiefs have been on the rise ever since Reid was hired, so it only makes sense this team led by 2018 MVP Patrick Mahomes and a bounty of offensive stars would be the team to break the drought. They will have a tough task against the 49ers, though, who boast one of the best all-around teams in the league anchored by a top-flight defense and a formidable rushing attack.

Super Bowl LIV should be an exciting one. It will also be a Super Bowl Jets fans will once again watch from their homes, wondering when their drought will end.

6 stats that speak to Le’Veon Bell’s 2019 struggles

The Jets didn’t use Bell properly in 2019, and he finished with some of his worst numbers since his rookie season in 2013.

Let’s not mince words: Le’Veon Bell had a terrible season in 2019.

He suffered career lows in almost every statistical category in his first season with the Jets after he took a year off of football and rarely looked like the superstar running back he was in his five seasons with the Steelers. Part of his abysmal season can be blamed on the Jets’ horrendous roster – particularly its porous offensive line – as well as Adam Gase’s utilization of the multi-faceted back.

Bell should have been the featured player of the Jets offense after signing a lucrative four-year, $52.5 million contract last offseason with $27 million in guaranteed money. Instead, he saw a decrease in touches, yards and touchdowns. The Jets will have a big decision this offseason on what to do with Bell given his age (he’ll turn 28 in February), contract and obvious dip in production two years after he touched the ball 406 times and scored 11 touchdowns for the Steelers. General manager Joe Douglas didn’t sign Bell, Gase reportedly never wanted him, and the offense performed similarly when he missed one game this season. All signs point to Bell sticking around for at least another season, but his stats are worrisome for a player who was at one point the most dynamic player in the league.

Here are six stats that show how much Bell struggled in first season in New York.

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Should Dolphins mimic what Jets did to get Sam Darnold?

The Jets sent four picks to the Colts in 2018 to move up and eventually draft Sam Darnold. The Dolphins could do the same to secure a QB.

The 2020 Miami Dolphins have a lot in common with the 2018 New York Jets.

Both teams are or were 1) looking for a franchise quarterback, 2) picking in the top-six and 3) have or had enough draft capital to move up and secure the hopeful future of their franchise. The 2018 Jets opted to trade early in the offseason, sending their No. 6 overall pick and three second-rounders to the Colts for the No. 3 pick. That ended up being Sam Darnold. Now, the Dolphins are in position to do the same with six selections in the first three rounds – if they want to.

But should the Dolphins do what the Jets did and move up? Probably not. Unless they sell the farm for the likely No. 1 pick Joe Burrow or believe Tua Tagovailoa is healthy enough to be selected soon after, the Dolphins should and likely will stay firm with their first pick at No. 5 overall.

There are two key differences between the situation the Jets faced in 2018 and the one the Dolphins face now: Burrow is the only true top-five quarterback in the 2020 draft and the Dolphins have so many more picks they can effectively dictate the quarterback market in the draft by waiting or trading.

In 2018, the Jets sat at No. 6 with a loaded quarterback class. By the end of the first round, five quarterbacks were drafted – four of which were taken with a top-10 pick. Because of the saturation of available prospects and amount of QB-needy teams, the Jets were basically forced to move up to No. 3 to secure at worst the third-best quarterback on their board in case of the off-chance the five picks before their own ended up being quarterbacks. The package of the sixth, 37th and 49th selections in 2018, as well as the 34th in 2019, was an expensive price to move up only three spots, but it was necessary for a desperate New York team that didn’t believe Josh McCown or Teddy Bridgewater were the future.

The Dolphins do not have that problem given the way the 2020 draft board played out and the prospects available. Burrow is basically off the table unless the Dolphins want to give the Bengals all of the draft capital they spent the past two seasons acquiring, and the only other quarterbacks who are currently top-10 prospects are the injured Tagovailoa and Oregon’s Justin Herbert. Neither is projected to go earlier than No. 5, meaning the Dolphins should be able to sit at their current draft position and make their decision then.

While Darnold has the potential makings of a franchise quarterback, the consequences of the Jets giving up three second-round picks to move into position to take Darnold have left the team void of much home-grown talent. Granted, there’s no way to know if former GM Mike Maccagnan would even have drafted the right players with those three picks given his track record, but he didn’t even have the option after making the trade. The Jets have instead relied on free agent acquisitions that haven’t worked out and left the team with a couple of bad contracts and a lack of depth at critical positions.

Things could easily change between now and April, though. Tagovailoa may get healthy faster than anticipated and become a tantalizing prospect for a team willing to move ahead of the Dolphins to take him. Other players like Herbert, Washington’s Jacob Eason or Georgia’s Jake Fromm could rise up draft boards as well, much like Duke’s Daniel Jones did in 2019 before the Giants took him sixth overall. If the Dolphins are targeting a quarterback, they may have to pull the trigger at No. 5 or move up if the board begins to shift in the spring.

Another option the Dolphins have is the luxury of waiting until later in the first round for a quarterback or trading up from their other two spots to draft a quarterback after their No. 5 selection. The quarterback class after Burrow is difficult to access, and players like Herbert and Tagovailoa could easily fall into the middle section or even to the end of the first round. Miami also has the 18th and 27th pick thanks to trades with the Steelers and Texans and could use those selections to trade up and grab a quarterback in the middle of the first after using their No. 5 pick on a different position.

Luckily for Miami, the Dolphins are in the same position as the Jets and don’t need to sacrifice their bountiful supply of draft picks in order to secure a quarterback. They can rest on their laurels and watch the draft board fall their way in the hopes of either grabbing a quarterback at No. 5 or waiting for someone else to fall. Another more long-term option is to wait until the 2021 draft for quarterbacks like Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence or Ohio State’s Justin Fields. But given how the Dolphins looked toward the end of the 2019 season, coach Brian Flores and GM Chris Grier probably won’t want to wait another season to develop a quarterback.

The Dolphins have many more options than the Jets did in 2018 to secure a quarterback, and it’s unlikely trading into the top three is one of those options. With so many picks at their disposal and the potential to draft a player like Trevor Lawrence in 2021, the Dolphins would be wise to sit tight and wait for their player rather than frantically move up to draft a player who will likely be there for them at No. 5 anyway.

New York Jets team awards for the 2019 season

Here are the Jets team awards for the 2019 season.

At the end of the regular season, the NFL has a handful of awards that they give out to their players based on performance. Instead of looking at the whole league though, we’re just going to look at the Jets.

There are six awards to give out to players and coaches for their contributions to the 2019 season. That includes Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year and Least Valuable Player of the Year.

Let’s take a look at the team awards for the Jets in 2019.

Offensive Player of the Year: Jamison Crowder

Jamison Crowder was expected to have a big role in the slot this season and he lived up to those expectations.

Crowder was the Jets’ leading receiver with 78 catches for 833 yards and six touchdowns. He also was targeted the most with 122 targets. Not only was Crowder the best offensive player, but he was the most consistent. Crowder had at least two catches in every game this season and was targeted heavily every week.

The 26-year-old fit well in Adam Gase’s offense as he was used in a variety of different ways. He was used as a vertical threat and was great at going from sideline-to-sideline. Overall, in an offense that struggled the entire year, Crowder was the one player that stood out from the rest.

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What Eddie Jackson’s extension means for Jamal Adams

Eddie Jackson just became the highest-paid safety in the league, which sets a new bar for Jamal Adams’ contract negotiations with the Jets.

The market for safeties just went up, and it will directly affect Jamal Adams’ potential contract extension with the Jets.

Chicago Bears free safety Eddie Jackson became the highest-paid player at the position after signing a four-year, $58.4 million extension Friday that includes $33 million in guaranteed money, according to his agency. His contract will pay him $14.6 million annually, which eclipses the previous league-high of $14.1 million annually set by Titans safety Kevin Byard in 2019.

That $14.6 million average yearly salary number becomes the new floor for Adams’ contract negotiations, which could already be in progress following the safety’s second-consecutive Pro Bowl season and his first All-Pro selection. The Jets should be prepared to offer Adams an extension that surpasses Jackson’s average yearly salary as well as the $44 million in guaranteed money that the Redskins and safety Landon Collins agreed to during the 2019 offseason.

It would be a mega-deal for a safety, but it’s worth it for a multi-dimensional defensive back coming off arguably the best season in his three-year career. Though Adams finished with 40 fewer tackles in 2019, he became a pass-rushing fiend under Gregg Williams with 6.5 sacks (second on the team) and 13 quarterback hits (tied for first on the team). Adams was a terror all over the field and earned his second-consecutive team MVP award.

There is a chance, though, that Adams won’t even be around long enough to sign an extension with the Jets. General manager Joe Douglas took calls for Adams at the 2019 trade deadline, which irked the star safety and clouded his future with the team. There’s a chance those talks surface once again this offseason, right in the midst of Adams’ potential negotiations for a new deal.

Though Douglas took calls for Adams in October, he told reporters during his Dec. 31 press conference he’s had great conversations with Adams since then and acknowledged what Adams means to the team both on and off the field.

“As all of you know, Jamal is an amazing player,” Douglas said. “We saw what he did all year, but really when we deployed him, he was such a factor as a pass rusher around the box. He did so many good things. He’s a special guy.”

Douglas wouldn’t go into details about the potential for an Adams extension, though, choosing instead to offer generic answers about how the team will go about evaluating players and contracts this offseason.

“We’re just starting our process,” Douglas said. “We’re going to get in with the coaching staff. That’s really the start of our entire process as far as talking about each player, each contract and what we’re going to do moving forward.”

These quotes came three days before Jackson’s deal, and the way Douglas negotiates will change drastically considering the new bar set by Jackson and the Bears. Now that the bar has been raised by $500,000, Douglas and the Jets will need to decide soon if Adams is worth the money. Adams will make only $3.5 million in 2020, the final year of his rookie deal. If the Jets exercise his fifth-year option by May 20, 2020, he’d make around $11.3 million in 2021.

The smart play is to pay Adams now before the floor continues to rise. There are a couple of other safeties looking for new contracts in the next year or so that could affect Adams’ next contract. Jackson set the new standard, but Adams will surpass it no matter where he plays in 2020.