Consider the conference the Jets play in. New England is a virtual lock to make the playoffs. But aside from that, the AFC is filled with mediocrity and question marks:

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Miami- Entering what is probably the final make or break year for Ryan Tannehill, they downgraded at receiver and running back this year.

Buffalo- This may be the worst roster in the NFL. Josh Allen and Nathan Peterman are both a mess, there is no receiving talent and the offensive line has looked like a disaster.

Cleveland- Hue Jackson seems like a nice guy, but a trainwreck of a coach. He has a 3% win percentage as head coach of the Browns, which will not improve by much, despite the talent on the roster.

Cincinnati- Plenty of talent, but there is no reason to believe in a Marvin Lewis-led team until they can demonstrate the ability to win consistently.

Baltimore- The Joe Flacco contract is a cap nightmare, and the rest of the offense has suffered as a result. This team has only made the playoffs once since the Super Bowl victory in 2012

Pittsburgh- Le’veon Bell, the best RB in the game is holding out seemingly indefinitely, and Mike Tomlin’s teams have a long history of playing down to their competition. This could be his last year with the Steelers if things go off the rails

Jacksonville- Jaguars have way too much faith in Blake Bortles for someone with a 34% career win percentage. There is a lot of potential for the egos on this team to self-destruct when the going gets tough. In particular, Jalen Ramsey spent the entire summer calling stars like Andrew Luck and Rob Gronkowski bad. What might he say if Bortles struggles?

Houston- Very talented team, but everyone is ready to crown Deshaun Watson MVP after only 7 games. He looked good, but this is way too small of a sample size to say he is truly elite. He may improve, but teams may also now have a better plan for how to defend him.

Indianapolis- Offensive line and Defense are both still well below average. Andrew Luck is good enough to hide those flaws, assuming he can stay healthy. That is a big assumption for a QB that has missed 26 games in three years with injuries to his throwing shoulder and internal organs.

Tennessee- Playoff potential, but there is no true difference maker on defense. Marcus Mariota must stay healthy, but even then, he is not good enough to hide the other flaws on this team.

Kansas City- They are all-in on Patrick Mahomes, who has only played one game in his career. If he falls flat on his face, this team will struggle.

San Diego- Injuries abound, they have had the most insane string of bad luck over the past few seasons. Philip Rivers is still elite but until they are able to break the curse that’s hung over them it will be difficult to pick them.

Denver- Which Case Keenum will they get? The 2017 MVP candidate version who went 11-3, or the 2012-2016 mediocre backup version, who went 9-15? Until we can say for sure, there is no reason to believe this offense will be better than a year ago.

Oakland- Trading the best player on your roster for draft picks in September is god awful asset management. Trading him simply because you didn’t want to use your cap space is even worse.

Of these teams, 4 will make the playoffs. On talent alone, Kansas City, Houston, Jacksonville, San Diego and Cincinnati are ahead of the Jets. The rest are either on par or well behind them, particularly the teams in the AFC East, Miami and Buffalo. However, San Diego and Cincinnati are not well coached teams who consistently underachieve.

With games against Buffalo, Miami, and New England (twice each) and Jacksonville, Tennessee, Indianapolis, Houston, Denver, Cleveland, the Jets will be on the positive side of .500 in conference play. Remember that they beat Jacksonville and Kansas City, both division winners, a year ago, when their roster was worse than it is now. In 2017, only 1 AFC team with a winning record in the conference finished outside the playoffs, and that was Baltimore who missed on tiebreakers. [/text_output]