The New York Jets are one-quarter of the way through the season. Here’s the quarterly breakdown and outlook for the rest of the season.
The New York Jets are 1-3 so far this season, not exactly ideal. But so is the life of a team led by a 21-year-old rookie quarterback. There are highs and lows and that has been the epitome of what has happened thus far for the green and white.
Quarterly breakdown
The New York Jets have won 25 percent of their games. They’re in the midst of a three-game losing streak. Not many teams make the playoffs after a 1-3 start.
But let’s break down exactly what happened in those first four games:
- Week 1 NYJ at DET
- The Jets shocked the football world with a crazy roller coaster game that saw Sam Darnold’s first pass transform into a pick-six. Then the Jets demolished the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football. The headline read, the Jets have arrived, or have they?
- Week 2 MIA at NYJ
- Perhaps an overconfident Jets bunch overlooked the Miami Dolphins. Regardless of the reason, the Jets got carved up underneath and dug themselves in too deep of a hole to fight back from.
- Week 3 NYJ at CLE
- The third game in a span of 11 days, hardly a recipe for success. Despite the circumstances, the Jets had Tyrod Taylor’s number throughout the first half and seemed like the team was on cruise control for their second win of the season. Then Baker Mayfield happened. The Jets weren’t prepared for the rookie to make his debut and the Jets fell flat at the end.
- Week 4 NYJ at JAX
- Finally, the latest contest had the Jets sputtering from takeoff. The offense was non-existent, despite the defense creating three turnovers. The team folded like a used lawn chair. Heck, even Blake Bortles had a whale of a day and the Jags beat the Jets with the shallow cross all day long. It felt like a 25-year-old beating a kid in Madden and couldn’t stop the same play from happening over and over again.
The next quarter of the season begins when the Jets travel back north for a three-game home-stand starting against the Denver Broncos. For more information on this game Boy Green of The Jets Zone sat down with Denver Broncos multimedia journalist Phil Milani:
#DENvsNYJ full breakdown: @BoyGreen25 sat down w/ multimedia sports journalist for the @Broncos @philmilani: talking @casekeenum + @VonMiller and this vaunted defense & answered your fan mail! #Jets #BroncosCountry #JetUp #Broncos https://t.co/8MRKa2RlMS
— The Jets Zone (@TheJets_Zone) October 3, 2018
First quarter 2018 award show
Team MVP
How can you not say Quincy Enunwa? He looks like a man reborn after missing 2017. His most impressive quality has been his ability after the catch to shake and make things happen. It’s all relatively close to the line of scrimmage, but he has the ability to hit it deep.
Offensive Player of the Year
Perhaps a bit early for this but give me Sam Darnold. Has he performed like a superstar? No. But the future is bright and against the Jacksonville Jaguars, he didn’t have a turnover against a defense that was licking its chops. The Jets may just have their franchise quarterback of the future.
Defensive Player of the Year
Henry Anderson is on pace for a 10-sack season, who saw that coming? The Jets stole him from the Indianapolis Colts for a seventh-round draft choice and he’s been arguably the Jets best edge defender and best defensive lineman.
Outlook for the rest of the 2018 season
This kind of start suggests that the Jets and the playoffs will not end up in the same sentence. Unless of course also in that sentence is not making, not happening, or nonexistent.
Here’s the thing, in our massive annual prediction piece here at Elite Sports New York, I predicted 9-7 as a ceiling for the Jets if everything broke right. Well, everything isn’t breaking right. The Jets likely could be 3-1 with Josh McCown or hell even Teddy Bridgewater at quarterback, but it’s not about that.
This 2018 season is about Sam Darnold and only Sam Darnold. His development is paramount to this team hoisting a Lombardi trophy before I die. For context, I’m 25 years old and hope I have a lot of time left on this planet.
The Jets should be able to make up some ground during this three-game homestand, but the season end is brutal with games against the Houston Texans, Green Bay Packers, and the New England Patriots.
My advice is simple, enjoy the ride. I can’t tell you exactly where this ship is headed, but it seems to be in the right direction. I believe this is where the millennial kids use the phrase, “trust the process.”
