The Tennessee Titans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-9 last night. With that win by the Titans it is now mathematically impossible for the 2018 New York Jets to make the NFL playoffs.
In truth most neutral observers knew the Jets weren’t going to make the playoffs long ago. The Jets’ loss to the Titans last Sunday all but sealed the deal. It would have taken a wildly improbable set of circumstances, including the Jets winning the remainder of their games, together with the Baltimore Ravens and the Tennessee Titans losing all of their remaining games, the Cincinnati Bengals winning their two remaining games against AFC opponents while losing their two remaining games against NFC opponents to finish tied for 2nd in the AFC North with the Ravens at 7-9, AND at least one other team finishing 7-9 in what would have been at least a 4 way tie with the Jets, Bengals and Ravens for the 6th and final AFC playoff spot, AND that fourth team would have had to had the tie breakers edge against the Bengals but not against the Jets, AND the Miami Dolphins would have had to lose every remaining game, AND the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos would have had to win no more than one remaining game. You get the picture; this was never going to happen.
In any event, it is now official. The Jets streak of seasons without a playoff berth has reached eight. With the playoffs no longer possible the Jets coaches are free to treat the remainder of the season as little more than extended tryouts for future employment with the team. We should expect to see some of the younger players get additional playing time going forward. Possible candidates for increased playing time include Parry Nickerson, Trenton Cannon, Elijah McGuire, Jeremy Clark and Folorunso Fatukasi. In addition we should expect possible roster moves involving cutting older players who do not currently play a significant role on the team and do not figure to be in the team’s future plans, such as Rishard Matthews.
