Getty Images

After the Jets beat the Steelers last week and I saw that their record is 6-9, I did a double take.

The Jets? 6-9? How could this be?

They stink. They’re embattled. They’re the subject of constant criticism and derision from certain aspects of the never-satisfied New York media.

They don’t stink, not any more. They’re not embattled any longer. And while the criticism and derision continue from certain aspects of the New York media, the criticism and derision is beginning to ring hollow.

Since starting 1-7, the Jets have gone 5-2. They have a chance, with a win against the nothing-to-play-for Bills on Sunday, to finish the second half of the season 6-2.

The Jets have played so well that they’re actually in position to look at specific games on the 2018 schedule and wonder what may have been, if a few games had gone the other way. And the best news is that they, and their fans, can now wonder what may be next year, when the standings re-set to 0-0, the Jets perhaps get a schedule that doesn’t include the Patriots twice in the first six games along with other not-so-easy matchups, and the young potential franchise quarterback doesn’t come down with mono.

They’ll also need to make some moves via G.M. Joe Douglas aimed at improving the team, along with some tough decisions about players to keep or not to keep. Win or lose on Sunday, the Jets have something of which they had little after the first eight games of the Adam Gase era: Hope.

That may not keep certain aspects of the New York media from constantly criticizing and deriding every move they make. A year from now, however, it may not matter.