NFL Playoff Picture: New York Jets' Chances of Reaching Postseason Slim to None

To say that the New York Jets need a miracle to make their third consecutive playoff appearance during the Rex Ryan and Mark Sanchez regime is something of an understatement.

Statistically speaking, Gang Green has about a 10 percent chance of playing after New Year's Day, a fact about which Sexy Rexy is acutely aware:

And while you can hardly fault Ryan for his unfailing optimism, it's tough to imagine this Jets team making it past Week 17.

First and foremost, New York needs to take care of its own business by beating the Miami Dolphins on the road. Now, that may not seem like so much to ask for against a 5-10 team until you consider:

1) The Jets are 2-5 away from MetLife Stadium this season.

2) The Fins of right now are a completely different team from the one that lost in New York in Week 6, 24-6.

A 26-10 stinker against the Philadelphia Eagles aside, the Fins have been on a roll since Chad Henne went down for the season. Matt Moore has been steady under center, but the real story has to be Reggie Bush, who's already cracked the 1,000-yard threshold for the season and has looked like a bona fide NFL running back along the way.

Will the Jets make the playoffs?

Will the Jets make the playoffs?

• Yes

• No

Total votes: 0

Meanwhile, the Jets have dropped their last two games?to the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Giants?by a combined score of 74-33 and Sanchez has been 12 ways to terrible.

Whatever that means.

Even if Gang Green somehow gets the job done in Miami, they will still need a boatload of help from the football gods to sneak in. It's reasonable to assume that the Cincinnati Bengals will lose at home to the Baltimore Ravens, seeing as how the Ravens are really good and will be playing for the AFC North crown.

That is, until you consider just how inconsistent Baltimore has been away from home this season, losing to the likes of the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Seattle Seahawks.

Then, there's the Tennessee Titans, who would need to lose to the Texans in Houston to make way for the Jets. Should be simple, seeing as how the Texans stomped the Titans in Nashville in Week 7?right?

Not so fast, my feathered friend. That was back when the Texans still had a healthy Matt Schaub, before they'd wrapped up the AFC South and dropped back-to-back games to the Carolina Panthers and the Indianapolis Colts.

Houston still can do no better or worse than the three-seed in the AFC, so it stands to reason that they'll probably lay down for most of the game to protect what few healthy starters they have left for their first-ever playoff run.

Even then, the Jets would need either Oakland to lose to San Diego (toss up) or Denver to lose to Kansas City (also a toss up, depending on which way the wind is blowing through Tim Tebow's hair) to crack the postseason door open just enough to slip through.

In other words, the Jets are screwed and, realistically, have only themselves to blame for the predicament in which they find themselves. Sanchez has been awful, the defense has been deplorable and the team, as a whole, looks anything like the Super Bowl contender everyone expected it to be coming into the season.

A true loss for all football fans, unless someone out there is smart enough to tape a microphone to Ryan's sweater and broadcast his quips throughout the long offseason.

Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1003037-nfl-playoff-picture-new-york-jets-chances-of-reaching-postseason-slim-to-none

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