No we put ourselves in position by being 10-4, we didn't need to win the last 2 weeks and even if we won both we still would have been the 5 seed and still would have been playing at SD to open the playoffs and still would have gone to Pitt in the div rd.
The Jets did not need to win the last few games of the season? You guys did need to win to insure a playoff spot. The Jags and Bills were on your tail. If the Bills win their last game, or the Jags beat the Texans the week before, the Jets don’t make the playoffs. Saying that the Jets did not need to win because they had already put themselves in position for a playoff spot earlier in the season is not true.
'03's better records had more to do w/ there being more bad teams. There weren't as many bad tams to help beef upr ecords. There were 8 teams in the AFC in '03 w/ 6 or fewere wins compared to just 4 in 2004 and again 3 teams above .500 missed the playoffs in '04 compared to just 1 in '03. The AFC was better in 2004.
You can look at it that way, or you can look at it this way. There were more teams that were better in 03 that caused the records of the other teams to be so poor. When teams are going 14-2, 13-3, and 12-4 there are going to be more teams that have 6 wins or less.
It is interesting to me that you chose 6 games as the meter to separate the good teams from the bad teams. To me, if you win 8 games or less, you are a mediocre team. If you use 8 games as the meter, there is not as much of a gap between the 03 teams and the 04 teams. In 03 there were 9 teams with a record of 8-8 or less, while in 04 there were 7 teams with a record of 8-8 or less. That is only a 22% difference instead of 50%.
Put the 2004 Jets in the 2003 season and we win 11-12 games.
Since the Jets only beat 3 teams with a winning record in 04, I doubt that. In 03 you had to play 9 teams with a winning record and went 6-10.
We didn't need help, we won the games we needed to win and by the way we played the OT at SL after we knew we clinched and I doubt we kick a 53 yd FG to win if we think we needed to win or tie that game. We would have punted and pinned SL deep instead of giving them the ball at midfield.
The Jets did not need help? I don’t think you realize how close the Jets were from being eliminated from the playoff race. The Bills almost beat the Steelers in week 17. If Bledsoe does not get blindsided and fumble the ball in the fourth quarter (which was returned for a TD) the Bills probably win that game. The Jags also had a chance in week 16 to beat the Texans, but the Texans bailed you guys out.
The Rams were 7-8 ,and the Jets played them poorly all day. The Jets played all 4 quarters thinking that they needed to win to make the playoffs. The Jets attempted the field goal because they thought it was their best chance to win the game. I don’t believe that just because they clinched a playoff spot they changed their mind and decided to attempt a field goal. You want to win going into the playoffs, and I think the Jets showed that by keeping Chad Pennington and Curtis Martin on the field in OT. Here are a few quotes from Jets players after the game:
"The feeling would have been a lot better had we won," Ellis said. "Obviously, our mood is kind of like in the middle, so we just have to put this game behind us and get ready for next week."
"I think both teams showed they were playing for something," Jets wide receiver Santana Moss said. "Everybody laid everything on the line."
The bottom line is the Jets backed there way into the playoffs in 04 going 5-6 in their last 11 games. I know you will try, but there is no positive way to spin that.