8 games are done. 8 more to go.
At the halfway point in the season, the Jets are 3-5, coming off two straight wins against the Ravens and Browns. With those two wins, the Jets have essentially eliminated themselves from a top-5 draft pick unless they lose out. However, they are also not completely dead in the water. It would most likely take an 11-5 or 10-6 record to get a Wild Card spot, so the Jets would either have to win out or only lose one more game for the rest of the season.
Considering they face the Patriots twice, this is an unlikely, albeit not impossible proposition. After all, the Chiefs were able to string together 9 straight wins just last season to propel them to the playoffs.
Yet this Jets team isn't that Chiefs team. What this team lacks is a sense of identity. On offense, on defense, on special teams, in coaching. Everywhere.
Coming into this season, I had high hopes for the team. I thought I knew what this team was going to be. Elite defense, strong offense and decent special teams. After the first two games, I was pleasantly surprised at how competitive and polished the Jets looked. It seemed they might had actually turned a corner. Then, after four straight losses to playoff-caliber teams, I began to look at the possibility of tanking. After all, what did the Jets at 1-5 have to play for?
Fast forward two weeks, and I have no clue what the Jets are. The quarterback situation is just as cantankerous as it was a couple weeks ago, with some calling for Petty or Hackenberg to get a shot and others defending Fitzpatrick. All of our defensive studs, aside from Leonardo Williams outstanding play, has tremendously underwhelmed. Eric Decker is out for the year, and Marshall and Enunwa can't carry the offense by themselves. Furthermore, it seems like Matt Forte has been overused, as he hasn't crossed the 100-yard mark since Week 2.
The biggest lack of identity though comes from the decision-making capabilities of the head coach, Todd Bowles. Throughout the season, Bowles has shown to be passive in his play-calling, something that has enraged fans. On top of this, Bowles even-keeled demeanor has been seen as mysterious and even uninspiring. The vocal leader of the Jets' clubhouse is Brandon Marshall, and he doesn't necessarily have a good track record with his personal behavior off the field. It seems that these last 8 games will be a test for Bowles. If he fails to deliver on upper management's expectations, he might be canned at the end of the season. Whether the expectation is to finally put one of the young guys in at QB, or at least try to make a Wild Card, Bowles will have a lot of answering to do.
All in all, midway through the 2016 season, the Jets are a team without definition. There is no flow to their offense, their pricy defense has let them down, and their coach seems to have no clear plan on what he wants to accomplish with this team. If the Jets miraculously make the playoffs this year, then Bowles will deservedly get a lot of credit. However, assuming this unlikely scenario doesn't happen, the Jets will have another year of mediocrity under their belts and still have the same lingering questions that have plagued the team for most of its franchise's history. And with that, it might very well be the end of the brief Todd Bowles era with the Jets.
