State of the Jets

Since the Jets are on their bye, it’s time for an update on the State of the 2015 New York Jets season.

In short, so far, so good.  Jets are sitting pretty at 3-1 and face a remaining schedule with a lot of winnable games.

The defense has been lights-out, being 3rd in total defense allowing an average of only 280.2 yards per game, and even more importantly have the best scoring defense allowing an average 13.8 points per game.   Granted, this has been against the Browns, Colts, Eagles and Dolphins, who have a combined 5-11 record as of now, but as I mentioned in my last Broadcast Map post, about 2/3rds of the league is either .500 or below right now.  Even though they have faced mediocre to poor competition so far, they have won those games by at least two possessions.  They also have a +6 turnover differential and have 13 turnovers total.  Also, Sheldon Richardson should be off suspension, so I expect the great defense to keep humming along (barring major injuries).

Except for the Eagles game, the offense has been surprisingly competent.  Brandon Marshall has been an invaluable addition.   Decker has 3 TDs receptions.  Chris Ivory and the run game have been doing what they need to do and then some.  Fitzmagic has a 7:6 TD:INT ratio (though half those INTs were in one game).

So right now the formula is working, the defense is limiting both yards and scoring.  The offense is scoring enough points and has a pretty solid red-zone efficiency.

However, the Eagles game did show that this team does have some weaknesses.  The defense (and just about every defense in today’s game) cannot be expected to hold the line if the offense goes 3-and-out on too many drives.  Moreover, this team plays leagues better with Chris Ivory and Decker in the game.  The offense was pretty anemic without those guys.  Fitzmagic has been a journeyman quarterback for a reason, and he’s not a QB who can unilaterally win you games.

One other cause for concern is that the offense tends to play too conservative when a decent lead is established.  While they still won the Colts and Dolphins games pretty handily, there were times late in the game where the offense was giving the ball back to the opponent too easily with the other team having an opportunity to mount a comeback.  This type of coaching and play-calling could lead to losses against higher-caliber opponents.

Despite these concerns, the Jets have a good shot at going to the postseason.  They have three games remaining against the moribund AFC South.  Two against the Jekyll and Hyde Bills, two against the fucking Patriots, one against the complete clusterfuck that is the Dolphins, one against the Raiders (who look like they may be sniffing one of their outlier 8-8 seasons they have once every 4-5 season), and three against the increasingly deteriorating NFC East.  Again, there ought to be at least 6-7 wins here.

/Watches Fitzmagic go down midseason, and Geno comes in and does his 3:1 Turnover to TD ratio

//That’s what you get for having optimism as a Jets fan.