The New York Jets lost Thursday night to the Jacksonville Jaguars and all hope seemed to be lost.
Then Saturday came and the New England Patriots fumbled the game away to the Cincinnati Bengals and the Las Vegas Raiders lost in the final minute to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Things started getting a little brighter for the Jets.
On Sunday, Santa Claus left a gift under the tree as the Packers went into Miami and picked off Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa three times en route to a 26-20 win on Christmas Day.
With all that, the Jets find themselves just one game behind the Dolphins for the final wild card spot in the AFC and tied with three other non-division leaders at 7-8 (Jaguars lead the AFC South at 7-8).
AFC Wild Card Standings through games of Dec. 25
5. x – Baltimore Ravens 10-5
6. Los Angeles Chargers 8-6
7. Miami Dolphins 8-7
8. New England Patriots 7-8
9. New York Jets 7-8
10. Tennessee Titans 7-8
11. Pittsburgh Steelers 7-8
12. Las Vegas Raiders 6-9
One wild card is already secured by whoever doesn’t win the AFC North between the Bengals and Ravens. One more can be secured Monday night if the Chargers defeat the 4-9-1 Indianapolis Colts.
That would leave just one wild card left available. Entering Monday night, the Jets have a 20% chance to make the playoffs, per FiveThirtyEight.
The easiest path to the playoffs for the Jets is by first having Miami beat New England in the early window Sunday. If that happens, then the Jets know they are in if they win out. New York and Miami would be tied at 9-8 with New England 8-9 at best and the Jets would have the season sweep of the Dolphins. Since Jacksonville and Tennessee play Week 18, only one is assured of reaching nine wins and the winner of that game wins the division.
Even if we put both Los Angeles and Pittsburgh with nine wins, the Jets still get the last spot because of their Week 4 win over the Steelers (after eliminating Miami first via divisional tiebreakers).
New York can even finish ahead of the Chargers if they both finish 9-8 with L.A.’s win being over the Rams in Week 17. That would put both teams at 6-6 in conference games. New York would win the tie via common games (5-1 vs. Browns, Dolphins, Broncos, Jaguars, Seahawks compared to 3-3 for the Chargers).
So the rooting guide is very simple this week. If Miami wins Sunday, then the Jets are in if they win out, plain and simple.