Before anyone jumps in with the "jinx" or "assuming a win" garbage, I'm not doing any of that. I'm asking a hypothetical question to gauge the opinions of other fans. Let's say the Jets beat the Bills to get into the playoffs, what opponent would you most like to see them play in the first round? I listed the Chiefs, Broncos and Texans as options, though there's a mildly obscure scenario in which we go to Cincinnati. I excluded that for simplicity and to list only the most realistic options. I think it's an interesting question. Like a couple other posters I've seen, I'm skeptical of how good the Chiefs are. Yes, they've won 9 in a row to roar back into the playoff picture, but there was a reason they were 1-5 in the first place and they're bound to cool off eventually. What scares you? Revis can match up with Maclin, they have a dynamic running game but that's playing to our forte. Kelce is a big time playmaker but we've been surprisingly good on tight ends this season. They have a good pass rush/secondary combo, headlined by guys like Houston, Peters and Berry, but I don't think it's potent enough to stifle Marshall and Decker for 60 minutes. Houston is probably going to be the overwhelming answer, but they've already beaten us, and pretty badly. We were able to get back into that game to attempt 2 game winning drives, but it was really close in score only. The flow of that game had a feel that the Jets never had a chance of winning; J.J. Watt absolutely wrecked that offensive gameplan. Blowing up run plays for 3 yard losses, batting down passes, pressuring Fitz before he's even at the top of his drop, tracking down counters from the backside. He was unbelievable, I can't recall a single player blowing up an entire offense like that. And I don't think we have an answer for him between Winters and Breno. It doesn't help that Revis obviously can't stay with Hopkins or that their offensive line was for some reason able to completely erase our pass rush (Mo Wilkerson's worst game of the season). Then there's Denver. They're scary on paper because they have the personnel to shut down our offense, and also pose the biggest threat to our secondary with Thomas and Sanders. But they've looked very vulnerable lately and a broken Manning or an inexperienced Osweiler are exactly the type of guys I want to face in a playoff game, I think Bowles and the D can bait them into game changing mistakes with repeated pressure. For now, my vote is the Texans. From 1-53 they have easily the worst roster of the 3 teams we could possibly play, but the catch is that they have a 2 man wrecking crew capable of beating you single-handedly. If we fail to successfully gameplan for Hopkins and Watt again, it could be a repeat. (KC and Denver also have really strong home field advantages, while the Texans don't, so that's another factor).
I'll go against the grain and say Chiefs. They're not that scary at all. They barely beat the Browns this week and barely beat the Chargers 2 weeks ago. Both bad teams.
Patriots I don't see the option anywhere Is there even a possible outcome where we do play them in the Wildcard weekend ?
Either KC or Houston. If it's a playoff game between Houston, can we please double Hopkins, and double/triple Watt this time?
Texans for sure. Pick your poison going to KC or Denver. Most likely gonna be one or the other tho. We owe both those towns a beating in the post-season too. But whatever it is it's all good. They're all winnable
For me it's very close between KC and Houston but going to whatever stadium the Texans play at (want to say Reliant?) , as opposed to Mile High or Arrowhead could be my deciding factor.
KC for me. Very similar team to us, only we've got more talent at WR (Marshall/Decker vs Maclin) and RB (now Charles is on IR)
I'd rather just avoid JJ Watt. He's already screwed up one Sunday, I could do without him doing it again.
I dont look at record or anything like that, I look matchups. So, I would want to play the Chiefs based on that. Their OL is above average but I think we win that matchup, their backfield doesn't scare me without Charles, and their perimeter threats are lesser than the skill we have in our secondary. Smith doesn't make mistakes but he is the type of QB that we can control all game long. Their defense is the only thing I feel they may have good answers for our offense but I still think we outweigh them there too. I think the Texans are a really bad matchup for us. TBH
For me the one out of those 3 I do NOT want to see is KC. I think they are easily the best team of those 3. I voted Denver, even though I am pretty even with them and Houston. I stayed away from Houston because of the earlier game. I really do not see how either of them score more then 17 offensive points on us.
