Let the streaking continue…
My post last week was a little pre-mature. Every journey begins with a first step, and this past Sunday the Jets took theirs. I watched a lot of football this past weekend, keeping an eye on the Jets future opponents and on the wild-card and division competition. I liked some of the things I saw and downright hated others. What I liked the best was that the Jets win over Houston allows me to write another streaking post.
Apparently Will Farrel’s butt didn’t agree with some. This week, I’ve chosen this lovely woman to represent our beloved streaking Jets. Can the Jets keep the streak going? Which teams represents the most likely derailer?
|
Rank |
Opponent |
Date |
Location |
Change This Week |
|
1 |
Miami Dolphins |
12/25 |
@Miami |
|
| Notes: Miami’s stock continues to rise. Granted, they beat a hapless Detroit Lions team, but they did it on the road, on Thanksgiving, in a league where 4 wins in a row means something no matter who the opponents are. I still think Miami represents our biggest challenge to maintaining a winning streak en route to a potential playoff birth. Furthering this mess, they’ve got Jacksonville, New England, and Buffalo the next three weeks leading up to Christmas, so we almost want them to win most or all of these games. At 5-6, I’d argue I’d like to see them lose to Buffalo, and hope that Buffalo loses to one of their other opponents. | ||||
|
2 |
Buffalo |
12/10 |
Home |
|
| Notes: Buffalo gave us a big boost by beating Jacksonville, but of course that means they are starting to play really good football. Miami’s butt-kicking of Chicago combined with the fact that we get Buffalo at home, to me means that Miami is the bigger threat, but a lot could change this week if Buffalo somehow beats SD or Miami loses to Jacksonville. When did the AFC East become a powerhouse again? | ||||
|
3 |
Minnesota |
12/17 |
@Minn |
 |
| Notes: Falling this week, despite winning. Right now Buffalo is just playing better than Minnesota in my mind. Minnesota snapped a four-game losing streak by beating Arizona 31-26 at home, holding on after ARI recovered an on-side kick. Anything can happen on the road, but I think Minnesota “are who we thought they are” and I don’t think we let them off the hook. | ||||
|
4 |
Green Bay Packers |
12/3 |
@GB |
|
| Notes: Matt Hasselbeck returned from injury and turned the ball over 4 times in the first half against Green Bay on Monday night. Trailing 21-12 at the half, Seattle came back to win 34-24. I like a lot of things about this matchup including the short week for GB, Favre playing hurt, Green Bay’s losses to Buffalo and New England, and the fact that GB can be passed upon. But most of all I really liked the way the Jets altered their offense during half-time of the Houston game. Clearly, this can be done against the Packers. | ||||
|
5 |
Oakland |
12/31 |
Home |
 |
|
Notes: Oakland moves from 6 to 5 in my power rankings, and not only because Houston comes off the list. Despite having now lost 4 in a row, Oakland played pretty well against a very good San Diego team in San Diego. I couldn’t justify moving them ahead of Green Bay but I thought about it. I promise Oakland is ranked no lower than 4th next week. By the way, this game becomes very scary with a playoff birth on the line. |
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Ugh, Will Ferrell please … :P
Just for consistency’s sake with the “one game at a time theory,” shouldn’t you put the next game the Jets play at the top of the list every week? That should be the main game to worry about: the one on Sunday.
(I like the arrows, it’s like Newsweek’s conventional wisdom section)
Hey Dr. K…
I hope the Jets don’t have similar posting in their locker room, if that’s what you mean!
My idea for this post/series came when I was reading all the national correspondents jumping on the Jets bandwagon after the Pats game. All they talked about was how our final six games were all against sub-.500 opponents.
I guess my point is to highlight the good things (and bad) that these teams do between now and each game, so we keep an even keel when evaluating before kickoff.
I also thought that made sense because this is such an unusual year. Despite 11-5 still being a possibility, the Jets don’t really have their fate in their own hands due to the fact that they don’t play any of the other playoff contenders in the AFC (at least not the ones they don’t currently hold an advantage over) down the stretch.
Jets could run the table and not make the playoffs!
Not only that, they may need to after Cincy’s whupping of the “serious super bowl contending” Ravens last night. 5-1 may in all liklihood leave them on the outside looking in.
Every week, the media annoints another team as the main threat to the colts and bears, every week that team loses.
For the record this weeks annointed are the Cowboys and Seahawks in NFC and Patriots(again) in the AFC.
Cinci losing last night would have been huge, but they still have Indy AND Denver letf on the schedule.