[DirtySanchez]

Looking at the Jets schedule so far, there have been three types of teams.
Those who have beaten the Jets, those that have lost to the Jets, and
those who have split with the Jets.

By now, well informed Jet fans are aware that the Jets faced a schedule
front loaded with tough games and we are heading into the soft stretch.

Just how soft is the stretch run? Can the Jets make a playoff run? Lets
take a look at whom the Jets have played already:

Teams that have beaten the Jets, and the Jets have not beaten:

38-16 (Note: 10 losses are from Sea/Pit)

Pittsburgh (5)
San Fran (4)
Houston (2)
New England (10)
Sea (12)

Clearly the Jets have lost to the class of the NFL when it comes to San
Francisco, New England, and Houston. Pittsburgh and Seattle are both
playoff contenders, with Pittsburgh's injury troubles of late dragging
down their record. All in all it's easy to see the Jets have lost to some
damn good teams. Another thing to note is in parenthesis is the teams Run
Defense ranking. All of the teams the Jets have lost to have been above
average in run defense.

Next we have the team the Jets have split with, Miami who is 5-6:

Miami (7)

Miami has a very good run defense, and the Jets barely beat them the first
time.

Next we have teams the Jets have beaten:

Buff (31)
Indy (20)
Stl (14)

Again their run defense is in parenthesis. The Jets have done well
against teams who are average or worse against the run.

Mark Sanchez is having a god-awful season to date. Yet, in the Jets wins,
Sanchez has been serviceable, averaging 208 yards, completing 60% of his
passes, throwing 8 tds to only 3 ints and losing no fumbles.

Buf: 19 27 266 1 3
Mia: 11 21 45 306 2 1
Ind: 11 18 82 0 2
Stl: 15 20 178 0 2

In theory, we can assume that Sanchez needs the threat of a running game
to remain competent.

To take it to another level, take out the Miami game and just look at the
games against poor run defenses:

Buf: 19 27 266 1 3
Ind: 11 18 82 0 2
Stl: 15 20 178 0 2

In these games Sanchez is 45 of 65 for a hyper efficient 69% completion
percentage. He threw for 526 yards (175 yards per game) with 7 touchdowns
to just 1 interception.

The Jets outscored their opponents 110-50 in these three wins.

What did the rushing stats look like for these games?

36 team rushing attempts Greene 94 yards
44 team rush attempts Greene 161 yards
41 team rush attempts Greene/Powell 106 yards

Only the Colts game where Greene went off was a "good" day rushing as far
as yards per carry, in the others Greene was held to 3-4 yards a carry.

The key to the Jets winning, and Sanchez having good games is how good the
opposing teams run defense is and how committed to the run the Jets are.

Now consider the Jets upcoming schedule:

18-37 overall record. Run defense in parenthesis:

Arizona 4-7 (23)
Jacksonville Jaguars 2-9 (29)
Tennessee Titans 4-7 (27)
San Diego Chargers 4-7 (5)
Buffalo Bills 4-7 (31)

The Jets should be able to run on these teams, play good defense on these
teams, and put Mark Sanchez in a position where he can win these games.
Jacksonville is a bit scary since they've figured out how to play offense,
and the Chargers run defense is actually good. All that said, the Jets
still have an excellent chance to run the table, and Mark will have the
opportunity to redeem himself.

[Jake]

I just want to see good football the rest of the way. I'd rather get to work this offseason with an 8-8 roster than a 4-12 roster..... We'd have to win out and get major help I don't see it happening.

[ArmandJ]

I agree with the OP. Our schedule has been unusually hard, but we have a thing for feasting on bad teams, and every one of those teams (minus maybe SD) is a bad team.

[jets4lyfah]

the night is the darkest before the dawn

I definitely saw our players finding a resolve and the heart not to be embarrassed against NE after the 2nd quarter

I think we carry that forward and go 5-0 to finish the season

[ukjetsfan]

I like the analysis and do think the Jets can show a lot of improvement over the remainder of the season, but if the Chargers really have the No.5 rush defense, then that's a loss and an 8-8 finish at best.

I'd love to see them run the table, but I can't help thinking that they'll go 3-2 or even 2-3 over these last five games, simply because Sanchez looks completely shot at this point.

[hoobash]

We will win just enough games to drop us far enough in the draft so we will have to settle for a player we dont need. The rest of the season in meaningless.

[sec314]

We are a bad team, playing bad teams. Not one thing we do good. 2-3 at best, hopefully, 1-4 or 0-5. Let it sink

[BacktoQueens]

i like the optimism. rare to find these days.
The best thing the Jets could do is finish strong, and have the coaches, players and fans going into the offseason hungry and strong.

i don't see any way they win out or make the playoffs. Too many turnovers to have a consistent 5 game run regardless of the schedule. I'm holding out some hope for 8-8 and a strong finish though.

[ArmandJ]

Originally Posted by sec314

We are a bad team, playing bad teams. Not one thing we do good. 2-3 at best, hopefully, 1-4 or 0-5. Let it sink

The guy in your avatar, the one on the right...I remember seeing him in an episode of Law and Order.

[Demosthenes9]

Originally Posted by BacktoQueens

i like the optimism. rare to find these days.
The best thing the Jets could do is finish strong, and have the coaches, players and fans going into the offseason hungry and strong.

i don't see any way they win out or make the playoffs. Too many turnovers to have a consistent 5 game run regardless of the schedule. I'm holding out some hope for 8-8 and a strong finish though.

Not trying to be a darksider here, but there's something to the notion that "finishing strong" is just going to give Woody and the FO the belief that things are fine, they just need to be tweaked a bit.

If the Jets finish 8-8, then little will change in the offseason.

[Diddy]

Originally Posted by Demosthenes9

Not trying to be a darksider here, but there's something to the notion that "finishing strong" is just going to give Woody and the FO the belief that things are fine, they just need to be tweaked a bit.

If the Jets finish 8-8, then little will change in the offseason.

I believe Sanchez is playing for his job next year, if he stinks it up in the next 5 games, he is gone.

[Jetnut]

Anything is possible, wouldn't count on it tho

[Demosthenes9]

Originally Posted by Diddy

I believe Sanchez is playing for his job next year, if he stinks it up in the next 5 games, he is gone.

Wow, playing for his job NEXT year ? Given how last year ended, hasn't he been doing that ALL DAMNED YEAR ? We've played 11 games this year and he's stunk up most of them. He has garbage time stats in a couple of games that we got blown out in. He's largely responsible for a couple of our losses at minimum, and in three of the games that we actually won, he really didn't do shit.

That's the problem. You're now going to give him 5 games against some of the worst teams in the NFL, and if he doesn't stink it up, then keep him ?

WTF ?

[jetzIII]

Guy's
This team sucks. Watching them it looks like the Key Stone cops. Everyone is embarrased to watch them and to be a fan. I don't care how easy the rest of the games are, when it comes to the Jets, there are no easy wins.

[Dierking]

whats a resergence?

[DirtySanchez]

Originally Posted by Dierking

whats a resergence?

A spelling error. I can not edit the subject to fix it.

[truthbtold]

Sanchez is awful, and will continue to be awful.
Luckily the upcoming opponents are so bad, we could actually win those games in spite of our horrendous QB play.

As you laid out ... other than SD, we should be able to run against these teams ... and also other than SD, they all have QB's just as bad as ours. I think we'll probably win the next 2, but unfortunatley get tripped up in one or two of the final three. We have a slim chance, but I won't take it seriously unless we're sitting at 7-7 after the Monday night game against Tennessee.

God, I wish we had a better quarterback.

[Petrozza]

As much as I want the Jets to win games, I don't think winning out is the best outcome for the future of this franchise. Winning out would definitely mean that Rex, Tanny and Marky Mark are staying put. I've lost faith in all 3. This organization needs a major shakeup at this point.

[stinkyB]

Originally Posted by Petrozza

As much as I want the Jets to win games, I don't think winning out is the best outcome for the future of this franchise. Winning out would definitely mean that Rex, Tanny and Marky Mark are staying put. I've lost faith in all 3. This organization needs a major shakeup at this point.

Yes, but winning out would also show they (potentially) know how to address some of their problems...... either way I think I have a better shot at meeting the chick in truthbtold's avatar at the grocery store this evening, then bringing her home with me.....

[Demosthenes9]

Originally Posted by DirtySanchez

A spelling error. I can not edit the subject to fix it.

If you click edit, then click Go Advanced, I think it'll let you edit the subject line and fix the mistake.