Hopefully I avoid the smart ass "this is a retarded thread" type comments, as i've been quite successful at making pretty good threads in my tenure here. I'm a little on the fence on this one as i think it might be an obvious answer for many, but i'm sure others will disagree. anyways... going by 4 game stretches, I would say getting off to a good start is the most important thing for this team. Given the 3 divisional games, a tough ravens game, no santonio holmes, no calvin pace for one or more games, and revis getting back into football shape....The first 4 games seem to be the stretch that will be the most trying. In no way shape or form does a 2-2 stretch or worse doom our season, but i think it'll be an important test for this team if we're going to be the real deal this season. great way to send a message and give us even more confidence. Our divisional record was pretty crappy last year, so that's something we need to change early on. IMHO you can also make a case for games 5-8, as the vikings and packers are potential NFC champs and we have to do our annual west coast (kinda) trip to denver. But overall, for the reasons stated i'm gonna be biting more nails a bit more in the beginning of the season. I also PRAY to god the winds aren't as bad as they were in the meadowlands, because we always found a way to suck it up in the 2nd half of the season offensively at home. It's like we don't even have home field advantage after early november. this has been the case for at least a few seasons
Week 1 to the bye. Everything else is cake. If the Jets win week 1, they'll make the playoffs. 10 of 12 playoff teams won their 1st game of the season.
the first 3 games are our most crucial, however every team goes thru stretches of good and bad so if we do go 0-3 or 1-2 people need to relax because we could still end up 10-6 and in the playoffs.
this thread is gayer than Antoine... nah. I would say the first four games for the reason you give, but at the same time, no matter what happens in the first four games, there will be time to make up for it. Without looking at the schedule, then, I say the last four games, because you KNOW our division is going to be tight and we need to go at LEAST 3-1 in December - no matter what else happens the rest of the season - to secure the playoffs and be firing on all cylinders.
Cincinnati @New England Miami @Pittsburgh That stretch can lead us to making the playoffs, missing the playoffs, winning the division or even the conference, so many ramifications IMO, going to New England and going to Pittsburgh (whom we don't have a good record against in the past and could very well be fighting for the conference in that game) will be a tough stretch for us, if we go 3-1, 4-0 in that stretch I'd say were looking DAMN good If we go 2-2 or don't start out hot to the season it'll be ok, remember the Broncos were 6-0 to start the season and how did that end for them? We don't need to come out smoking hot, let's find out stride and win some games late in the season
the first four weeks of the season. Baltimore and our 3 divisional opponents? Thats a tough stretch right there. And after that, we have Holmes come back and strengthen our team. Can you imagine if we are somehow 3-1 out the gate, and then add Holmes to our roster? Damn flipside, we are 1-3, and the reinforcements come in and pick us out of the dirt, and send us on a run.
The first three games. There is a poll on NFL.com at the moment - "How will the Jets begin the season (BAL, NE, @MIA)?" - with the leader being 1-2 at the moment. Although that's probably because BAL, NE and MIA are voting against us!
The middle stretch is definitely the easiest with no division games and two scrubs on the road. I'll say week 1 into the bye, but it might not look that way in week 13.
I would say the first four games. If the Jets are at 1-3 after the first quarter, that would be a pretty big hit. I think they will want to be no worse than 2-2.
We have an extremely tough schedule up to the BYE week. If we can survive with only 2 losses, we should be golden.
If we blow the doors off the Ravens and Pats week 1 and 2 I think we're in for a magical ride. Those first 5 will be a great statement for the league and our division. We play all our division rivals and a top AFC team in the Ravens and a top NFC team in the Vikings.
First 3 out of the gate will be the springboard in either direction for us. Ravens are beaten up so this should be a very winnable game for us just for that reason alone. Pats should be very winnable do to our new and improved secondary Miami is the one that worries me the most. They seem to have our number and we seem to find ways of giving them the game. Losing to Miami would, IMO, be tougher on us then the other 2.
first 4. and my reason is the reason i havent seen mentioned yet..... the media. if the jets come out and stumble. lets say, go 1-3, then the media is going to be all over us. "rex created this by running his mouth" or "sanchez isnt ready he looks terrible" or "that D is so overrated". this stuff, especially if its mark and they start really getting on him, would be absolutely terrible for this team.
No question it's the first 6 games. After that it's a nice lull in the schedule. If we can manage 4-2 out of the gate, look out!
I think that last season proved that the Jets won't let the media affect their game too much. This site will be more depressing than the Killing Fields if the Jets stumble out of gate, but I don't think that Rich Cimini can ruin the team's season.
most of them yes i dont see it affecting them. but sanchez i can since hes so young and gets down on himself pretty easily, as we have noticed on hard knocks. also its just gonna be constant bashing if the jets start slow since they were the center of attention all offseason.
I feel the same as most, the first 6 games are big, but the entire schedule seems hard to predict with so many teams that have the potential to be really good. Like Chicago, Houston and Denver. Cleveland always seems to put a good game together against us the last couple of times we've played them. Buffalo always plays hard against us as well. And Pittsburgh, well we are like 3-16 against them all time or something, god I hope we kick their ass. So to me this year is going to be crazy, but thats why I love the NFL, any given Sunday any team can win.
I don't mind these kind of looking ahead strategic vision kinds of posts in the pre-season, but as of today we are less than a week to the first game. Time to take the season one game at a time, imo. Next week we can talk about the Pats, but today Revis is back, and the Ravens are up next.
