New York Jets: A win over New England turns the season expectations upside down

If the New York Jets found a way to win against New England next week, 2017 starts to look very different.

New York Jets fans, the season kicks up another notch next week. It’s the twice annual week that we all know and love called Patriots Week. The first edition will take place at MetLife as Tom Brady and company head to town. Who would have thought that they would enter this game with the same record as the Jets? Well, that is exactly what the Patriots are doing, heading into week six with the same 3-2 record as Gang Green.

Not only that, they are both tied with the Buffalo Bills for the division lead. The Patriots have been mortal so far this year. They lost on opening night. They lost to the Panthers. It took a late drive to beat the Texans and they almost lost to the Buccaneers. If Nick Folk could make a kick they would have lost to the Bucs. The normally super-human Patriots have been a team that is beatable.

The three wins for the Jets have been against the Dolphins, the Jaguars and the Browns. These aren’t exactly perennial Super Bowl contenders. It hits another level next week against the Patriots. Now, I am not predicting a victory at this point. Not by a long shot. However, if the Jets were able to pull out a win, it would turn all of the expectations over on their ear. Everything would be different.

More from Empire Writes Back

A great majority of the world placed the Jets at the 1-5 win range. There were some with zero and a few in the six win range. Nobody on the planet had the Jets winning four out of their first six games. If someone did, I missed it and I do a lot of reading during my preparation for the season.

If the Jets win this week, the numbers will have to skew in the upward direction because they are ahead of the pace. With ten games left, it would be reasonable to think that they would win at least two more games, putting them in the six to eight win range.

Obviously, the quality of opponent goes up with the victory as well. Even in an “off year” the Patriots are far better than any of those three opponents the Jets have beaten. If they beat New England? The rest of the league will have to take notice of the Jets. People will think that, maybe, Mike Maccagnan was on to something with this roster.

Next: Immediate observations from Jets vs Browns

Again, I am not saying I expect this outcome. The odds of the Jets being able to pull this one out are slim. It will take an effort of herculean proportions. If it ever happened, however, it would change everything from an expectation standpoint.

Home/New York Jets