Jets' get 1pm slot for week 18 with plenty on the line
In the most unsurprising news to come out of week 17 of the NFL, the New York Jets have been assigned their slot for the final week of the regular season. The New York Jets will travel to the New England Patriots week 18 and play at 1 p.m. Eastern on FOX. Meanwhile, their divisional […]
In the most unsurprising news to come out of week 17 of the NFL, the New York Jets have been assigned their slot for the final week of the regular season.
The New York Jets will travel to the New England Patriots week 18 and play at 1 p.m. Eastern on FOX. Meanwhile, their divisional counterparts, the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins will face off in the coveted Sunday Night slot as the 272nd and final game of the year where the winner will win the AFC East and host a playoff game.
The league will also have a double-header on Saturday featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers at the AFC number one seeded Baltimore Ravens and the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts trying to keep their playoff hopes alive.
For the Jets, there is certainly a lot to play for when they travel to New England, it just doesn’t happen to have to anything to do with the playoffs.
For the draft aficionados out there, we know there is plenty riding on this game. Currently the Jets hold the eighth pick in the draft and are the only team in the NFL with a 6-10 record heading into the final week.
The Jets currently hold roughly a 23% chance of holding on to the 8th spot and about a 29% chance of improving their draft position according to playoffstatus.com. With the Jets being the sole 6-10 team, they would need a team sitting at 5-11 to win and the Jets to lose in order to improve their draft position.
In situations where teams finished with identical records, the determination of draft position is decided by strength of schedule — the aggregate winning percentage of a team’s opponents. The team that played the schedule with the lowest winning percentage will be awarded the higher pick.
If the teams have the same strength of schedule, division or conference tiebreakers are applied.
Currently, the New York Giants, Los Angeles Chargers, and Tennessee Titans all sit one game back of the Jets at 5-11. As it stands now, the Jet have a worse strength of schedule than those three teams. Which means if one of them were to win and the Jets lose, the Jets would get a better draft pick.
For long suffering Jets fans who don’t care about which top-10 pick the Jets have in April, there is plenty to play for that has nothing to do with the draft. First, it would end the season on a positive note.
The Jets have already decided that GM Joe Douglas and head coach Robert Saleh are coming back next season. Why not give the team something to hold on to heading into the offseason.
The other thing that should have Jets fans rooting for a win is simple. The New England Patriots. The Jets have not beaten the Patriots in the last 15 matchups between the two teams. They have only won 2 of the 25 matchups and needed overtime in both of those games to win.
With rumors swirling that Bill Belichick might be on his way out in New England, wouldn’t you want to end that embarrassing streak and send him out with a loss to the team he has picked on for decades? I would much rather have that than picking 8th instead of 10th.
Jets embarrassed by Cleveland Browns on National stage
Injuries along the offensive line? No problem. Over-the-hill 4th string quarterback? No worries. Topflight defense? Got that. Historically dysfunctional franchise? Check. For one of the two franchises that played on Thursday Night Football this week, this was the recipe for utter domination and for the other it was another chapter in a very forgettable season. […]
Featured image via Scott Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
