Projecting the Second Quarter of the New York Jets' Season

Photo credit: cdanews.com

The Jets head into their Week 5 bye with a surprising 3-1 record, on the back of a once-again outstanding defense and a schedule which has seen them face opponents with a combined 5-11 record. Of course, if they had started 0-4 their opponents would have an 8-8 record, so that should be taken with a slight grain of salt at this point in the season. Their next four opponents have combined for an 8-7 record, so the schedule gets a little tougher, but four of those wins belong to likely non-contenders in the Redskins and Raiders.

New York started their season with a win over Cleveland, which wasn’t much of a surprise, even to somebody who picked them to start 1-2. That preview of the team’s September schedule had them losing to both Indianapolis and Philadelphia, but did include this quote about the Week 2 matchup with the Colts.

“The Jets have a chance if they can win the time-of-possession battle, win the turnover battle by at least two and keep the Colts’ offense under 24 points. The third part of that will likely be the toughest.”

The Jets kept possession for 31:48 compared to 28:12 for the Colts and forced five turnovers, while giving the ball away just once. Those five turnovers were a big part of holding the Indianapolis offense to seven points, although the Colts haven’t been the well-oiled machine many expected this season thanks to a shaky offensive line and the demise of Andre Johnson.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the next four games on the Jets’ schedule and see how they match up. 

Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 18 at 1 p.m. vs. Washington Redskins 

The Redskins have ridden a formula similar to that of the Jets to start their season 2-2. Washington leads the league in rushing yards with 558 and has two running backs with over 200 yards on the ground this season, Alfred Morris and rookie Matt Jones. Their defense has been very good through four games as well, helping them control time of possession and run 69 more plays than their opponents. The Redskins are second in the NFL in run defense as a result, despite averaging a middle-of-the-pack 3.9 yards per carry against. They’ve allowed the seventh-highest QB rating against, however, and their secondary is extremely vulnerable.

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