At the beginning of the season, if you said the Jets would have been 3-5 after eight weeks, you would have seen par for the course.
In fact, the betting odds for Jets games told you that.
But after starting off 3-2 and having late leads in the last three losses – including yesterday’s 25-20 loss to the Falcons, everyone wants more from this Jets team.
And the players know it.
“I feel Thursday night coming very quickly,” said tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins. “Focusing on Thursday night is the most important thing we can do right now. We will obviously watch the film, figure it out and get ready for Thursday night. We could sit here and wallow about this and that, but the reality is there’s a game Thursday night and we have to win that game. We have to play to the best of our ability in that game. We have to put it all together. We need to finish. We need to start fast. We need to get turnovers on specials teams and defense. The offense needs to play the entire game. This Thursday is when we need to put it all together.”
Thursday is the game against the Buffalo Bills and that means the Jets have a very short week to worry about losing three in a row. This can be good and bad, because it allows them to wash away the stains of Sunday, but they have less time to prepare.
Coach Todd Bowles knows that and he will have his team ready, but hard work only gets you just so much.
“We played hard, for the most part,” Bowles said. “It’s disappointing not to win. It’s disappointing we didn’t close it out. Too many mistakes in the fourth quarter. Can’t happen. Can’t put the ball on the ground. Can’t have timely mistakes. Everybody has to play their brand of ball. Hard enough, not good enough.”
So the Jets know what they have to do here. However, playing the Bills, whom they lost to in Week 1, puts them in a very precarious situation if they drop this game.
Besides being 3-6, they will also be 1-4 inside the division, meaning they will have very little chance to make the playoffs. At least with a win, they will have a chance to keep their faint hopes alive.
“The utmost,” said quarterback Josh McCown. “I say it every week, the next one is the most important one, and it’s (of) the utmost importance. It’s a division game and it’s the next game. We got to put this one behind us, reload, get ready on a short week to play Buffalo. Good team, playing well. We’ve already played them once, obviously, and it’ll be a fun matchup. I’m excited about the opportunity to play them.”
So is everyone else. It’s now do or die time for the Jets.
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