Everything went right for the Jets on their bye week.
No, seriously. Everything.
Every other team in the AFC East lost. The Dolphins lost on a last-second field goal in London. In New England, the Cowboys celebrated a walk-off touchdown in overtime over the Patriots. And the Bills fell short—literally—on Monday night. Josh Allen's quarterback sneak was snuffed on fourth down close to the goal line with seconds remaining in the fourth quarter.
With those three games in mind, the Jets (1-4) are now only two games out of first place in their division in the loss column. Buffalo is now 4-2 entering their bye week.
Now, the Jets will have an opportunity to take the Patriots' heartbreaking loss to Dallas on Sunday and turn it into a losing streak. If New York comes out on top this Sunday, they'll jump into second place in the division.
Gang Green's spectacular bye week extended beyond the confines of the AFC East as well.
The Seahawks lost to the Steelers on Sunday night, falling two games below .500. Since New York has Seattle's first-round pick from next year's draft, courtesy of the Jamal Adams trade, every loss for the Seahawks is beneficial.
READ: How Russell Wilson's Injury Impacts the Jets' Future
Entering play in Week 7, the Jets hold the No. 6 and No. 10 overall picks in the 2022 NFL draft. If Seattle continues to stumble, waiting for Russell Wilson to return from his injury, the Jets could legitimately end up with two top 10 draft picks, a unique chance to accelerate their rebuild.
Has to feel weird for Jets fans as they root for more mistakes from Geno Smith, right?
As if all of that was enough, Sam Darnold and the Panthers also lost on Sunday, defeated in overtime by the Vikings. New York has both a second- and fourth-round pick from Carolina after the Darnold trade.
If the season ended after the completion of Week 6, New York would have four picks in the first 46 selections of the NFL draft next spring. That's quite the haul for general manager Joe Douglas to work with.
There's plenty of season left to play (12 weeks to be exact), but the Jets have to be feeling pretty good about how this campaign is playing out so far. Turn the season around, and contention is within reach, albeit unlikely. Falter down the stretch, and profit from a surplus of draft picks, boosted by the performance of two other NFC clubs.
After all, the postseason wasn't necessarily part of the plan for this season in New York. All these external factors are icing on the cake as a first-year coach and first-year quarterback build a young team into a contender.
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