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The Jets don’t have to wait until January for a playoff game.
Thursday night’s game against the Jaguars essentially is one. Lose this game and the Jets’ playoff hopes will be on life support.
The Jets have lost three games in a row and are in ninth place in the AFC at 7-7, with the top seven teams making the playoffs.
“For us, we’ve just got to go out there and take care of this Thursday,” linebacker C.J. Mosley said. “It’s easy to look ahead and look at what other teams lost and get all caught up in that moment, but it won’t matter if we don’t win this week.”
The Jets have gone from controlling their playoff lives to being on the outside looking in after losing to the Vikings, Bills and Lions in the past three weeks. The Jaguars come to MetLife Stadium with playoff aspirations of their own. At 6-8, the Jaguars still have a chance to win the AFC South. Jacksonville has won its past two games and three of its past four. They beat the Cowboys in overtime on Sunday.
The Jets are coming off a heartbreaking, 20-17 loss to the Lions in which their defense gave up the game-winning touchdown with two minutes remaining in the game, then coach Robert Saleh mishandled his timeouts on the Jets’ final drive.
A short week may benefit the Jets as they can move on quickly from the Lions loss. Mosley said all the team is focused on is the Jaguars.
“I’m pretty locked in on this week and what we have ahead,” Mosley said. “We’re all trying to get in these playoffs because we know once we get that ticket, we can really make something shake. We believe that. None of that matters unless we take care of Thursday. That’s what we’re worried about and that’s what we’re focused on.”
The Jets will go into this game with Zach Wilson at quarterback again, as Mike White remains sidelined by broken ribs.
“This whole season is going to come down to a young team in the fourth quarter, winning football games, and making those plays,” Saleh said. “We’ve got to go back and find a way to recapture what we were doing in the first half of the season over the next stretch of games and hopefully extend it. It starts with Jacksonville.”
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