The Jets finish with a record of 8-8, earning Todd Bowles another year

People sleep on the Jets. Yes, they’re kind of a boring team. And yes, they have some surefire weaknesses, but they also have more than enough pieces to put up a fight. Playing the Dolphins and Bills twice helps matters, in that regard.

Todd Bowles led an erroneously talent-deficient 2017 Jets squad to a 5-11 record. Now, the Jets have a first-round quarterback with an undeniable “wow” gene, a deep running back stable, a well-rounded linebacking core, and a secondary that should be in for a big year with Trumaine Johnson, Morris Claiborne, and the Jamal Adams, and Marcus Maye.

This Jets team isn’t quite ready for a playoff run, but they aren’t receiving their due. They play in a fairly weak division, in which the Dolphins are still trying to find their identity, and in which the Bills are in clear rebuild mode, with serious questions at quarterback. The Jets match up well against both teams, and after going 2-2 against those teams in 2017, Bowles is primed to improve on that mark in 2018. They’ll get to .500, and they’ll enter 2019 with plenty of optimism.