The 2015 New York Jets are a Success, With or Without Playoffs

The Steelers are the No. 6 seed in the AFC, but they might have the best chance of any team to secure a wild-card berth.

The Jets probably need to win out to make the playoffs, leaving themselves with a big test this Sunday when the Patriots come to New Jersey for the second meeting of the year between the two AFC East clubs. If the Chiefs, Steelers and Jets all win this week the Broncos would then lose out on a tie breaker situation IF the Broncos couldn’t get it done against the Bengals.

For now, at least, Bowles will leave the fretting over playoff machinations to Jets fans.

Yes, but they need some help. Marshall, in his first season with NY, was chosen for the sixth time, but called it “the most special one”. You just have to focus on what we can control.

Still in the hunt: New York Jets (9-5, wild card), Indianapolis (6-8, AFC South), Jacksonville (5-9, AFC South).

Two more wins – and the New York Jets still might not be in. “Same team they’ve always been”. That leaves NY, an uncommon opponent with nine wins and five losses.

Sure, Buffalo is reeling from not ending their long playoff drought as the Bills are predicted to do, and they have dropped two in a row. The Patriots are tied for sixth in fewest points allowed per game (19.2), and are sixth in fewest total yards (326.1) and eighth in fewest passing yards (230.3) allowed. The question to ask this week is: Will the Broncos be looking to peak in time for the playoffs or will they literally “limp” into postseason play? With the Jet’s playing the already play-off bound Patriots and both Kansas City and Pittsburgh taking on the lowly placed Browns and Ravens this dawns as a potential make it or break it game for the streaking New Yorkers. Either option gives them a puncher’s chance against the Pats.

At 11-5, the Jets would stand a pretty good chance of making it. Kansas City, Pittsburgh, and Denver all have two games to go. If the Chiefs end up as the top wild card, they’d be the No. 5 seed. Instead it would go to the best record in AFC games.

Outlook: The Broncos own the best overall record in the division, but most tiebreaker scenarios favor the Chiefs. After scoring in the first two quarters to take a 21-14 lead into halftime, the offense was blanked in the third quarter, but put up 17 points in the fourth to win 38-35. Six weeks before that game was played, however, nobody would have predicted that Denver would eventually hoist the Lombardi Trophy.

Slideshow: Two QB’s playing in the biggest game of their careers, who has the edge? Fitzpatrick finished the game completing 26-of-39 passes for 299 yards and one touchdown to go along with one interception, but he could have ended up with a couple more picks. The team has lost four of its last seven games, falling behind in the race for a first-round bye. However, his missed extra point attempt was his first with NY as he spent the first three weeks of the season with Houston. The 11-5 Broncos would be eliminated on the conference record tiebreaker. Their defense had arguably outperformed all others in the league, and their offense held the potential to regain its former glory with Peyton Manning at the helm. “So hopefully, we’ll continue to improve in that area as a team”.