They may be 3-4, but the Jets aren’t the team they were three weeks ago coming off an embarrassing loss to the 49ers.
If Sunday’s 29-26 loss to the Jets showed one thing it’s that the Jets have moved on after losing playmakers Santonio Holmes and Darrelle Revis for the rest of the season.
“I know we’re a better team. We had to improve as a football team and we did. I see us getting better. We have a ways to go to get to, but you see it. We’re making strides,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “It’s not by luck or anything else, it’s by design.”
“The chemistry is great. Guys are playing for each other,” Garrett McIntyre said. “Besides those injuries, you sense we’re coming together. It’s been growing throughout the year, not just when those guys got hurt but that there’s been good chemistry this year.”
A win this week and the Jets would be 4-4 heading into the bye — the official halfway point of what has been a tumultuous season so far.
With the juggernaut Patriots out of the way, suddenly the Jets look like they can perhaps turn things around and finish out the year strong.
The Jets don’t play a team with a better record than 4-3 in the next seven games and four of their opponents are currently at .500 or below. All seven opponents combined have a 22-25 combined record through the end of Week 7. World beaters they are not.
“We have to do something this week and that’s something we haven’t done since I got here, and that’s sweep Miami,” Ryan said. “That’s got to be the only thing on our mind.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
