New York Jets: Predicting the win-loss record, part I

Breaking down the New York Jets schedule in four parts, predicting the win-loss record.

Now that the New York Jets have made their way through the draft process, we begin to look ahead to the 2018 season. I find it easier to do so after we see a bit more of a picture of the roster. No, we aren’t sure yet who is making the team from this bunch but we can take some reasonable guesses in order to come up with a win-loss prediction. It’s still an early prediction, but not as early.

There is always a lot of excitement around the release of the NFL schedule, and that is understandable. Football fans are pretty fanatical and every bit of evidence that the season is coming closer is exciting. However, as far as the construction of the schedule, there isn’t much secret to it. Out of 16 games, six of them go to opponents within your division. Four each go to the two divisions you are assigned to face. In the Jets case, it’s the NFC North and the AFC South. That leaves just two games up for chance.

So the schedule is essentially predetermined. Granted, we don’t know which games will be home and which will be away, but the opponents are chosen. Now that we have more of an idea of the players, we are going to go through a four-part series predicting wins and losses. Four parts works because we can break the season up into four quarters.

Week one gets us started on the next page: