After a disappointing 2021 campaign where the Jets went 4-13, there is optimism however that the Green and White could be headed in the right direction. In order for that to happen, Robert Saleh’s defense (ranked 32nd in the league last year) is going to have to vastly improve and second year QB Zach Wilson is going to have to take that sophomore leap when he finally returns to the field after suffering a knee injury during the first preseason game against the Eagles.
The Jets made some notable splashes in free agency landing former Bengals TE CJ Uzomah, Buccaneers S Jordan Whitehead, Vikings TE Tyler Conklin, Saints/49ers LB Kwon Alexander, 49ers G Laken Tomlinson, 49ers DT Solomon Thomas, Seahawks CB DJ Reed, and Cowboys K Greg Zuerlein. These new editions to both the defense, O-Line, passing game, and kicking game should make the Jets a much more formidable opponent in 2022.
Then it was onto the draft, which some say was one of the best in Jets history. Some major highlights in the draft include RB Breece Hall, WR Garrett Wilson, CB Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner, TE Jeremy Ruckert, and DE Jermaine Johnson. Hall will look to compliment Michael Carter as a 1-2 punch in the backfield. The speedy Garrett Wilson will add more depth to the wide receiver position along with Corey Davis, Elijah Moore, and Braxton Berrios. Sadly, Jamison Crowder left the Jets for their division rival Buffalo Bills. In addition, Ruckert, who grew up a Jets fan from nearby Long Island will add more depth to the Jets TE position. Finally, Jermaine Johnson should significantly strengthen an already above-average defensive line for the Jets.
The 2022 season has its fair share of tough and winnable matchups. Is this the year the Jets finally break their 11-year league leading playoff drought?
Week 1 vs. Baltimore Ravens (Sunday September 11 at 1 PM on CBS):
The Jets get a test right out of the gate with an aggressive defense and arguably one of the most mobile quarterbacks in the league with Lamar Jackson. Jackson, when healthy, can be near impossible to stop. It’ll be the former Raven quarterback and Super Bowl XLVII MVP Joe Flacco under center against his old team. Some may see this as a revenge game for Flacco being that he lost his starting job to Lamar Jackson after a lackluster first half to the 2018 season and Jackson got the team to the playoffs as a Wild Card. The fans will be fired up for this game as it is the 21st Anniversary of 9/11. The Jets will make a game out of this one but their offense will not be able to keep up with Lamar Jackson.
Jets lose 33-20, 0-1 on the season
Week 2 @ Cleveland Browns (Sunday September 18 1 PM on CBS):
After a tough Week 1 loss, the Jets will be fired up for their next opportunity at the Dawg Pound. Fortunately for the Jets, the Browns being the Browns, have continued to trend backwards since making it to the AFC Divisional Round at the Chiefs in 2020. The Browns finished 8-9 in 2021 and acquired QB Deshaun Watson in the offseason. Watson is now serving an 11-game suspension due to misconduct off-the-field. Before the suspension went down, the Browns traded their QB Baker Mayfield (who was the best QB they’ve had in over a decade) to the Carolina Panthers. Now, it looks like the Browns will be stuck with Jacoby Brissett under center. As for the Jets, it’ll be another opportunity for Flacco. This time, the Jets do just enough to win this game.
Jets win 17-14, 1-1 on the season
Week 3 vs. Cincinnati Bengals (Sunday September 25 1 PM on CBS):
The Bengals had an unbelievable run to the Super Bowl last season after going 4-11-1 in 2020. Could the Jets make that type of leap in 2022? If so, they will need to beat the powerhouse Bengals. Last season, the Jets stunned the Bengals by beating them 34-31 on Halloween with Mike White at quarterback. The Bengals will remember that this time around and their defense will constantly put pressure on Joe Flacco.
Jets lose 28-17, 1-2 on the season
Week 4 @ Pittsburgh Steelers (Sunday October 2 1 PM on CBS):
Pittsburgh has been a place of horrors for the Jets over the years. The 2004 AFC Divisional Playoff game where Doug Brien missed two field goals and the Jets lost a 20-17 heartbreaker in overtime. Also, the 2010 AFC Championship game where the Jets were down 24-0 at halftime and came back to make it 24-19 come to mind. 2010, notably, was the last time the Jets were in the playoffs. The good news for the Jets is that Ben Roethlisberger has retired and as of right now, it is Mitch Trubisky under center for the Steelers. This in itself should be a winnable game for the Jets plus Zach Wilson should be back by now and have something to prove. The Jets' defense should have no problem capitalizing on Pittsburgh’s mistakes but the Steelers defense will keep them in the ballgame.
Jets win 16-10, 2-2 on the season
Week 5 vs. Miami Dolphins (Sunday October 9 1 PM on CBS):
The good news is that the Jets are done with AFC North competition. The bad news is that this is the first divisional game the Jets have in 2022. Gang green has not won a divisional game since 2019 and this will have to change if the Jets want to be playing meaningful games in December. It looks like it will as Tua appears to be overrated and the Dolphins defense likely won’t be as strong as they fired Brian Flores in the offseason. The only problem the Jets may have to worry about is WR Tyreek Hill but then again, Tua likely won’t be able to hit him as he struggles to throw the deep ball.
Jets win 31-10, 3-2 on the season
Week 6 @ Green Bay Packers (Sunday October 16 1 PM on FOX):
Two words…Aaron Rodgers…that should be more than enough to know that the Jets will lose this football game. Plus the fact that this game is at Lambeau field. The only saving grace for the Jets is that it is only October and it likely will not be snowing or if for some reason, Rodgers got hurt.
Jets lose 38-14, 3-3 on the season
Week 7 @ Denver Broncos (Sunday October 23 4:05 PM on CBS):
The Jets have a history of poor performances out at Mile High Stadium with the worst being in the 1998 AFC Championship Game where they blew a 10-0 halftime lead and lost 23-10. The trend of poor performances will continue this year, especially due to the fact that the Broncos acquired Russell Wilson from the Seahawks. The Jets' secondary will get burned all afternoon as the Broncos will “let Russ cook.” The only thing Jets fans may be able to hold their heads high about is that they likely will not get shut out for a third time in a row.
Jets lose 28-7, 3-4 on the season
Week 8 vs. New England Patriots (Sunday October 30 1 PM on CBS):
The Jets haven’t beaten the Patriots since Eric Decker caught the game-winning touchdown pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick in 2015. That ends here. Patriots QB Mac Jones has only played well against bad football teams but struggled against good teams. Last year, Zach Wilson threw 4 interceptions against the Patriots defense. History will not repeat itself as Wilson outplays Mac Jones in this one.
Jets win 30-23, 4-4 on the season
Week 9 vs. Buffalo Bills (Sunday November 6 1 PM on CBS):
At this point in the season, the Jets are 4-4. They have already equaled their win total from last year. The last time the Jets were .500 or better halfway through the season was in 2015. If the Jets want to take that next step and become contenders, they will need to beat the AFC East’s best, the Buffalo Bills. Unfortunately, the Jets will have a hard time stopping Josh Allen with his arm strength and mobility. Also in Jets history, they have shown time and time again that they are not able to have a successful performance after a big win the previous week. It will be a long day for the Jets at the Meadowlands.
Jets lose 48-19, 4-5 on the season
Week 10 Bye Week:
This may be a good time for the Jets to reflect on what went well during the first 9 games and what they will need to improve upon if they want to make some noise down the stretch.
Week 11 @ New England Patriots (Sunday November 20 1 PM on CBS)
The Jets will have a chance to sweep their bitter division rival and get back to .500 on the season. Think again, as Bill Belichick is able to figure out what went wrong during the teams Week 8 matchup and Jones gets the better of Wilson in this rematch of the second year quarterbacks.
Jets lose 21-14, 4-6 on the season
Week 12 vs. Chicago Bears (Sunday November 27 1 PM on FOX)
This will be the first matchup between Zach Wilson and Justin Fields. Both quarterbacks had rough rookie seasons but Wilson has much more potential than Fields. In this game, the Jets will get off to a fast start but then their defense will commit costly penalties that will allow the Bears to get back into the game. But then, Zach Wilson proves why he was taken 2nd overall a year ago by engineering a long drive that results in a touchdown to put the game away. The Jets now have more wins than they had all of last season.
Jets win 34-20, 5-6 on the season
Week 13 @ Minnesota Vikings (Sunday December 4 1 PM on CBS)
This will be the Jets first trip to US Bank Stadium. Vikings QB Kirk Cousins planned on signing with the Jets prior to the 2018 season but it was later found out that he used the Jets solely to drive his asking price up and Cousins ended up signing with the Vikings. 4 years later, the Vikings have the talent to win on the field but have a hard time putting it together. This should be a game that the Vikings are able to win but the Jets come in hungry and get a big road win to start off the month of December.
Jets win 27-20, 6-6 on the season
Week 14 @ Buffalo Bills (Sunday December 11 1 PM on CBS)
The Jets will play the Bills for the second time this season at Orchard Park in December. Along with the Bills having a better overall team, the weather may also be in their favor. While it gets cold in the northeast in the Winter, the Jets really aren’t used to playing in the snow. This matchup ends just as ugly, if not uglier than when these two teams met in Week 10, especially if snow is involved.
Jets lose 38-3, 6-7 on the season
Week 15 vs. Detroit Lions (Sunday December 18 1 PM on CBS)
The Jets and the Lions were two of the NFL’s bottom tier teams last season. It looks as though the Lions still may be there as they are just trying to play out the rest of the season at this point. The Jets however, still have something to play for and they show it in a big way.
Jets win 34-3, 7-7 on the season
*Week 16 vs. Jacksonville Jaguars (Thursday December 22 8:15 PM on Amazon Prime)
The rematch between Trevor Lawrence and Zach Wilson. Last year when these two teams met, the banged up Jets still managed to beat a healthy Jaguars team 26-21. This year with the Jets hopefully fully healthy and with the overall better team, the result should still be the same. This victory will give Jets fans an early Christmas present.
Jets win 31-24, 8-7 on the season
Week 17 @ Seattle Seahawks (January 1 4:05 PM on FOX)
A lot has changed since these two teams met two years ago. The Jets were still winless in mid-December and the Seahawks still had Russell Wilson and were looking to lock down the NFC West Crown. Now, the Seahawks are near the bottom of the league and the Jets enter the new year with something to play for. This will also be a chance for the Jets to show that they won the Jamal Adams trade in the 2020 offseason. The only uncertainty surrounding this game is who will be Seattle's starting quarterback? Will it be former Jets QB Geno Smith or former Broncos QB Drew Lock? No matter who it is shouldn’t matter, the Jets will get a big win on the west coast. With this win, the Jets will clinch their first winning season since 2015 and could possibly be facing a win and in type of situation next week.
Jets win 24-17, 9-7 on the season
**Week 18 @ Miami Dolphins (Date/Time TBD)
In 2015, the Jets were facing a win and they’re in situation facing a mediocre Bills team and lost 22-17 as Ryan Fitzpatrick threw 3 4th quarter interceptions. This time, the Jets are facing a mediocre Dolphins team. Sadly, history will repeat itself this time around as the Jets lose a heartbreaker and miss the playoffs for the 12th straight season.
Jets lose 33-30, Finish the season 9-8
* Thursday Night Football
**With possible playoff implications, date, time, and network still not set but will be one week in advance
The arrow for the Jets though does appear to be pointing up at this time and the expectations in 2023 should be playoffs or bust.
-Jack Henry Cicio 
From Left to Right:
Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner,
Zach Wilson, and Elijah Moore
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