The New York Jets have not experienced playoff football since 2010 and have not hosted a playoff game since 2002. The Jets have found themselves one step away from the playoffs before, most recently in 2015 when they lost to the Buffalo Bills in week 17.
This season was one that most people expected the Jets to go 0-16 or 1-15. They played good football at some points in the season and beat some quality opponents at home. However, if the Jets want to be a playoff team they also need to be able to win on the road.
Now that Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan have signed two-year contract extensions, this is the opportunity for them to take a significant leap and bring playoff football back to the AFC side of New York.
What Has to Change for the New York Jets to Make the Playoffs?
Christopher Johnson Needs to Expect Playoff Football
Jets current overseeing owner Christopher Johnson said in an end of the season press conference that there is no mandate for Bowles to bring the team to the playoffs next season. Understandably there cannot be expectations of going from a 5-11 season to a 12-4 season and winning the division, but there needs to be some pressure on Bowles to be playing meaningful games in the month of December.
This season was obviously one that was part of a rebuild and seeing young players develop. In that sense, this season could be considered a success with the emergence and growth of safeties Marcus Maye and Jamal Adams and wide receiver Robby Anderson. However if there is no pressure coming from the top down to make the playoffs then 8-8 seasons will be acceptable in the eyes of the organization.
Obviously a team needs to learn how to win and adopt a winning culture before playoff football can be expected regularly but this team has pieces that can be leaned upon for many seasons to come.
Find Your Quarterback
If there were ever a heading to make bold, all caps and add 10 exclamations points to, this would definitely be the one. It is no secret that you need a quarterback to be successful in the NFL, and the Jets have been in search of a franchise quarterback for decades. There have been some decent ones, but the likes of Mark Sanchez and Chad Pennington were only short-term fixes.
Maccagnan selected Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg thinking that these two players could be the quarterbacks of the future for the Jets. Petty has looked below average in a few starts and Hackenberg, a second round selection, has never seen game time in a regular season game. This is the year that the Jets need to find a quarterback. With potentially over $100 million in cap space and the sixth overall pick in the draft the Jets need to find a quarterback through one of these options.
After two straight AFC Championship game appearances ended in defeat, the Jets and their fans could only dream about playing in a playoff game. The time for mediocrity needs to be past this team and there should be expectations going into next season to be a part of playoff football.
