Burning AFC East question: Are the New York Jets good at football?
BOSTON -- We're five weeks deep into the NFL season, and in the AFC East, one thing has gone according to everyone's expectations.
The Buffalo Bills are, for the most part, as dominant and explosive and dangerous as they were supposed to be. Though injuries have hurt them a bit, they're still 4-1, and they're still clearly better than the rest of the division.
Behind Buffalo, things figured to be a bit more difficult to forecast. And that's held true.
It's the Jets -- not the Dolphins, not the Patriots -- currently sitting in second place, after Sunday's head-to-head win in Miami to improve to 3-2 on the season. It's the latest in a season the Jets have had a winning record since 2017, when they also started 3-2. (They'd finish that year 5-11, though.)
The Dolphins are also 3-2, but obviously have some concussion issues plaguing their quarterback spot, with both Tua Tagovailoa and Teddy Bridgewater suffering head injuries in consecutive weeks. The Patriots are in last place, though they're coming off a 29-0 shutout of the Lions, who had boasted the No. 1 offense in the NFL prior to visiting Foxboro.
And in Miami and New England, the question is quite simple: Are the New York Jets ... good?
It's a question that would have gotten you slapped in August, or even a couple of weeks ago. But things change quickly in the NFL, and the Jets have put together two straight wins after getting Zach Wilson back at quarterback.
Some will be quick to dismiss Sunday's win in Miami, on account of the Dolphins having to play seventh-round rookie Skylar Thompson at quarterback for the bulk of the game. That's certainly a factor, but the Jets still put up 40 points against a Dolphins team that held the Bills to 19 points a couple of weeks earlier. The Dolphins did give up 38 to Lamar Jackson and Baltimore, but overall, they averaged 23 points allowed per game prior to the Jets posting 40.
New York scored on defense, with the safety that knocked Bridgewater out of the game being forced by rookie Sauce Gardner. They capitalized on an interception at midfield, driving 53 yards for a touchdown. They also cashed in on a Miami fumble at the 5-yard line for another touchdown, while putting together three other touchdown drives -- one that went 80 yards, one that went 56 yards, and one that went 30 yards after a turnover on downs.
Wilson didn't have too much to do with it, at least not with his arm, as he was 14-for-21 for 210 yards with no touchdowns but, more importantly, no picks. Wilson also ran for a touchdown. Breece Hall ran for 97 yards and a touchdown, Michael Carter ran for 21 yards and two touchdowns, and do-it-all wideout Braxton Berrios scored a 15-yard rushing touchdown.
Hall, a second-round pick out of Iowa State, also had 100 receiving yards in what his first real breakout game.
From a New England perspective, the Jets and Patriots have shared three common opponents thus far: Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Miami. Both the Patriots and Jets won close contests in Pittsburgh (24-20 for the Jets, 17-14 for the Patriots), while the Jets scored 40 points in Miami, compared to the Patriots scoring just seven points in their season opener. Both teams also lost to the Ravens, though the Jets held them to 24 points, while the Patriots surrendered 37 points.
Both the Patriots and Jets will be adding a common opponent next week, when the Jets head to Green Bay and the Patriots visit Cleveland. The Jets beat the Browns, 31-30, while the Patriots lost in overtime to the Packers. The comparables will grow.
Comparing common opponents, though, is only good for so much. The real comparison will come when the Patriots visit MetLife Stadium in Week 8, and again when the Jets visit Gillette in Week 11. The Patriots haven't lost to the Jets since 2015, and they haven't lost in regulation to the Jets since the 2010 postseason. The Patriots are 20-2 -- twenty-and-two -- against the Jets since losing that postseason game to Rex Ryan's team on a miserable January night in Foxboro. The Patriots won last year's meetings by a combined score of 79-19. It's been horrifically one-sided for a while.
Has that changed?
For now, with a 3-2 record and a lot of confidence, it's fair to say the Jets might be better than a lot of people anticipated. Whether they're better than the Patriots will have to be determined in those head-to-head meetings. Yet for the first time in a very long time, the two meetings with the Jets won't be gimmes for the Patriots.
