First, the damning numbers for the Jets:
* In three games since their bye week, playing against the NFL’s bottom-feeders (a combined 4-17 record), the Jets are just 2-1 and are minus-8 in turnover ratio.
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* In those three games, Brett Favre has turned the ball over nine times (7 INTs and 2 fumbles) and looked his age (39) at times. Four of his INTs have come inside the opponent’s 10-yard line, which means the Jets are giving away precious points.
Now the good news:
* They’re 4-3, a mere game out of first place in the AFC East – behind the Bills and Patriots – and tied for the AFC’s second wild-card spot (though they would lose the tiebreaker).
* Sure, the Jets’ last four games have come against teams they were favored to beat – the Cardinals, Bengals, Raiders and Chiefs – but at least they won three of those.
The Jets had designs on ideally going to Buffalo on Sunday to play the 5-2 Bills with a 5-2 record.
But, as we all know, the Jets rarely exist in an ideal world, so you take what you have and, as long as they start playing better than they did in their 28-24 survival against the depleted Chiefs on Sunday, they’ll make their fans forget about the unforgivable loss in Oakland and Sunday’s sloppiness.
“We don’t want to go into (the Buffalo) game playing the way we played in this game (against the Chiefs), no,” Jets safety Kerry Rhodes said yesterday. “If we play that way against a lot of teams, it won’t be a good thing. It may not be a good outcome.”
Rhodes actually put an interesting spin on the plight and mindset of his team, indicating it’ll be refreshing this week to prepare for a team they’re not expected to beat for a change.
The Jets, who’ve been decided favorites in their last four games, are underdogs against the Bills.
“Now (everyone) will come out and they can talk about how bad we are and it’ll take pressure off us,” Rhodes said. “It should be fun to be in that role – coming out to prove something and not be expected to win.”
Rhodes conceded that the Jets are “fortunate to be where we are, (because) we’re not playing the way we expect to play.
“We’re in a situation now where we have a chance to tie for the division (lead),” he said. “We’re definitely aware of that. We’re aware of who we’re playing. This can be a good measuring stick for us. There’s going to be a lot on it. It’s a big game, a division opponent.”
While Rhodes said “the mood was great” among the players after the win, the vibe in the locker room after the game Sunday, provided a more sobering picture.
The Jets know they got away with one against the Chiefs, and you can bet their veteran players will be imposing that reality on the rest of the team as they prepare for the Bills this week.
“We have to tighten it up,” Jets nose tackle Kris Jenkins said. “The fans know that, the coaches know that and the players know that.”
Eric Mangini perhaps put the state of his team and its recent uneven performances in the best perspective yesterday when he said, “Well, I can tell you that it’s a lot better feeling this week than it was last week,” referring to the loss to the Raiders.
“I would much rather have this feeling than the previous feeling, and now, we’ve got another week to work, to improve, to get better and any disappointment should be channeled into work to improve,” he said.