Week 17 NYJ Preview: Can Ryan Fitzpatrick Lead Jets Into Playoffs?

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) – With a playoff berth on the line, New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick says he and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey don’t have any time to spend reminiscing about their days in Buffalo. The Jets are preparing for Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills and their former coach, Rex Ryan, who now coaches the Bills.

If they end up losing in Buffalo, New York can still clinch a spot in the playoff tournament with a Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the Cleveland Browns, but let’s not hold our breath Jets fans.

“Oh, no”, Marshall said Wednesday, shaking his head. Nah but you know, I think it’s…I mean that’s probably the truth.

“I can’t really put like a specific date or week on it, but every route is drawn up a certain way, and what’s on paper doesn’t really happen in a game, ” Decker said Thursday.

It was a stunning result given the Bills (8-8) had nothing to play for after having already been eliminated from playoff contention for a 16th straight season – the NFL’s longest active drought.

“We’ve kind of been in that (playoff) mode for the last month or so”, Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said before commenting on the importance of sticking to the practice schedule.

Williams stressed he wasn’t criticizing Ryan, but just simply stating a fact. We’ve got to continue to do the things we’ve been doing. 10 wins later, the Jets are one game away from succeeding.

A lot of Buffalo Bills fans were hoping to see the back of Rex Ryan, on the back of an extremely disappointing season. Now in his tenth season, Marshall stated on Showtime’s “Inside The NFL” that making the post season would be a “dream come true”.

“Sometimes you don’t think about the consequences”, he said. “I want to enjoy this moment”. You do not give players a third scheme in as many years to dive into. “It’s about the experiences and things that you’ve accomplished with your teammates”. Marshall has been over 100 yards and caught a touchdown in all but one game.

“We won’t sit down by a cozy fire and roast marshmallows and talk about it”, Fitzpatrick said. After their week 10 win over the Jets, they have fallen to 7-8 on the season, missing the playoffs.

So, after spending six years doing everything he could to get the Jets into the postseason, Ryan will be out to keep them from getting in. “Everybody was making this big deal about just everything, from the Jets to here, Rex … just a lot going on”.

Back in March, general manage Mike Maccagnan shipped a conditional seventh-round pick- which has since been upgraded to a sixth rounder due to Fitzpatrick’s playing time- to the Houston Texans for the rights to the quarterback. Not after some up-and-down performances. The man can motivate in the darkest of times. “There’s so much on the mental side of the game that you have to be able to think through, and you can’t be going a million miles an hour”. In addition to Fitzpatrick’s big numbers – he’s tied with Vinny Testaverde for the team record with 29 TD tosses – Marshall has set the franchise mark with 101 receptions this season, and Decker has 75 catches.

“You say it weird”, a smiling Fitzpatrick said, pointing out that it’s more like “awnest”. That doesn’t mean he has any desire to see them celebrate clinching a playoff berth at Buffalo. However, they did not do a great job of stopping the run.

Beyond letting down the fans, what upsets him is that his players, and the organization, took so much of the criticism, when it should have all been directed at him.