Skip to main content

Five games remain in the regular season for the New York Jets, a team that is looking to close out the year with some momentum. It is a chance for the Jets to send a message to the league that they are growing as a team. 

In fact, this winning streak - and being able to continue it - is a selling point for the Jets that the rebuild is for real.

It isn’t uncommon for NFL head coaches to divide the season into quarters of four games, an effort to keep a long season manageable and the players focused on what is immediate. For the Jets, the first two quarters of the season were terrible, a 1-7 record and a fanbase that was split against the head coach. 

Now, however, that whole storyline has changed. 

The third quarter of the season has seen the Jets win three straight games, including this past Sunday’s 34-3 win over the Oakland Raiders. Now with Week 13 bringing the Jets to the 0-11 Cincinnati Bengals, the hope is that they can close out this stretch of games with another win. 

For a team that was supposedly falling apart six weeks ago following a 33-0 home loss to the New England Patriots, the momentum and chance to end the proverbial third quarter on a high note is a point not lost on head coach Adam Gase. 

“For us, we're 4-7. We were 1-7 not long ago. We had our struggles and things turned around a little bit for us. So, we've had great focus the last two weeks [and] especially [going up against] Cincinnati's defense, they've played well,” Gase said.  

“They just haven't won the game but, you see the improvement on tape and that's what our biggest focus is. We talked about it today, we watch the tape, we prepare [and] we go and practice. We have to go execute and we're going on the road in the NFL and those are never easy games to be a part of, weather is probably not going to be great. We have to be wired in; we have to make sure that we bring our A-Game.” 

Gase made his comments on Wednesday while addressing the media during his daily press conference at the team’s facility. 

The Jets have momentum right now, something that might be hurting their draft stock but paying off in the long run. 

Having not made the playoffs since 2010, this franchise and the fanbase need a reason to feel that they’ve turned a corner. The perception of the team around the league a month ago was that Gase was on the hot seat and that the Jets lacked direction. 

Now, it seems that Gase’s vision is starting to take hold. A win on Sunday would help cement this image. 

The Jets haven’t won more than five games in any season since 2015. Being able to improve their record to 5-7 would be a positive, perception wise, during a rebuilding year. Add to that another win or maybe two to close out the year and the Jets have something to sell to free agents this upcoming offseason.