Every analyst and fan of the New York Jets might be expecting a Super Bowl berth over the next few months, but Gang Green’s coaching staff isn’t thinking about the end result just yet.
“We talk about owning the (AFC) East. The easiest path to the playoffs is to win the division,” Saleh explained Wednesday morning.
It’s been a long time since the Jets have even come close to “owning” the division. The last time New York won the AFC East was in 2002 when Chad Pennington and company won seven of their last nine games to claim the division on the final day and ended up winning a playoff game that year as well.
Since then though, while the Jets had some success in the late 2000s, the division, and their nightmares have been dominated by other teams. Whether it was the Belichick-Brady duo in New England, Chad Pennington haunting them in 2008, or the rise of Josh Allen and the Bills in the late 2010s, Gang Green hasn’t had a consistent shot to win their division in a very long time.
Yet that over 20-year division title-less window is not deterring the organization now. In fact, Saleh has made it clear that the team is moving past their struggles over the decade.
“The results will take care of themselves. These guys don’t care what happened 20 years ago. Their story is what is about to be written,” Saleh said.
2023 will be the best chance the Jets have of moving past their decade of futility. With Aaron Rodgers in tow and a strong young core of players looking to break out, the Jets can confidently call themselves one of the best teams in the conference overall.
Of course, so could the rest of the AFC East.
Buffalo still has one of the best quarterbacks in football in Allen. The Dolphins with Tua and their core of quick receivers are a threat on any given Sunday, and it doesn’t matter if Brady is gone, the Jets have yet to solve Bill Belichick. Despite the strengths that each team currently possesses, New York is more than confident in their own abilities as well.
“Yes, we’re in a really tough division, but they all gotta play us, too. The mindset is always about us, what we can bring, and whether they can stack up with us. You can’t think of it any other way,” Saleh stated.
New York can certainly get into the playoffs without having to win the division. They’ve done so plenty of times in the past 20 years. But Saleh and the organization know that there’s a target on the team’s back with “Hard Knocks” following them around and the understanding that a franchise quarterback brings more of a media circus with them.
Through all that though, the Jets have remained steadfast on their goal to win in a week-by-week setting.
And it all starts in under two weeks when the Jets have their first chance to send a message to the rest of their AFC East rivals. Beat the Bills and Gang Green will take a major step in moving past the ghosts that have haunted them for a long time now.
