If the season eneded today, the Jets would be the seventh seed in the AFC playoffs and that would mark their first postseason berth since 2010.
It’s November 30, though, and that means there is still a lot of football to play before the final playoff schedule is set in stone. That leaves a lot of time for the 7-4 Jets to move up or down the standings, which is why part of head coach Robert Saleh’s message to his team is that they “haven’t accomplished anything” at this point.
Another part of the message from Saleh is to spend less time thinking about how the standings stack up and more time focused on themselves because their performance and preparation are the things that they can control over the final weeks of the season.
“You got to focus on the process,” Saleh said, via Brian Costello of the New York Post. “If you’re busy counting wins and looking at things you have zero control over, you’re missing on the opportunity to focus on the things you have control over. So, while we acknowledge our opportunity, hopefully we recognize that that opportunity won’t exist if we’re not taking care of our jobs.”
The Jets’ next opportunity comes in Minnesota this weekend and it will be the first meaningful December game they’ve played since the 2015 season. That team was 10-5 before losing their finale and missing the playoffs, which is a good example of why its important to finish the job in front of you before starting to think about what comes next.