AFC Playoff Picture: Jets in Ninth Place

The Jets' hopes of making the Playoffs are still bleak, but they are a little less bleak after their win over the Oakland Raiders yesterday at the Meadowlands. Gang Green currently sits in ninth place in the AFC standings. They need to get to sixth place to make the Playoffs.

The Ravens are the Dolphins are sixth and seventh respectively. They are both 7-6, a game in front of the Jets with head to head wins over New York. San Diego is in eighth place with a 6-7 record that matches the Jets. San Diego currently has the tiebreaker with a half game lead over New York in conference record. The Chargers are 3-6. The Jets are 3-7.

It is still a tall hill to climb. The Jets have a head to head meeting with the Dolphins to end the season, but Miami would win a tiebreaker. The two teams would have split head to head meetings and have an identical divisional record, but the Dolphins have 6 wins in the AFC, which the Jets cannot match. That means even if the Jets win their last three games, including the one against the Dolphins, Miami still needs to lose once more for Gang Green to pass them. New York also loses the head to head tiebreaker to Baltimore.

Edit: I goofed. The Jets actually would beat Miami for the tiebreaker if they won out. The second tiebreaker would be common games, not conference record. The Jets would be 7-5. Miami couldn't beat that. Things still look pretty bleak, but slightly less bleak than the original picture.