The Jets season is back with a vengeance, but they have little room for error

It’s horror movie season, so it’s only fitting that the Jets came back to life on Thursday night, just like Jason Voorhees or Freddy Krueger.

Just when you thought they were dead…

It was only one win for the Jets, but the 21-13 loss to the Texans on Thursday keeps the pulse of their season alive. It almost felt over after Sunday’s loss at New England. Their record is still a dismal 3-6, but there is now a glimmer of hope that wouldn’t have existed if they had lost on Thursday.

There has been a lot of talk about the Jets are in the darkness. A little light is now visible.

“When you play like that, I think it builds some confidence,” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said, “and it generates some momentum, so both of those things will be integral, and going forward there was some hope as well, prior to that second game. half, so when you put it together, sometimes there’s a ‘we can really get this done,’ so it’s something that I really believe will move us forward here.

The Jets now enter the easier part of their schedule after a tough first two months. They only have one team on their remaining schedule that is above .500: the Bills. But it goes further than just the quality of the opponent. The Jets schedule was challenging early in the season with nine games in 53 days. They have had two Monday night games, two Thursday night games, one Sunday night game, a trip to London, a trip to the West Coast and two road games after the Monday night games.

Football teams are creatures of habit and the Jets haven’t been able to have normal practice weeks by playing twice on Thursdays and twice on Mondays and making the trip to London. Then owner Woody Johnson fired coach Robert Saleh after five gamesthat also disrupted the schedule.

Now things look a little more normal. They only have two games in the next 30 days. They have the mini-bye this week and don’t play the Cardinals until November 10. They then play the Colts on November 17 before their true bye week. The next game after that is December 1 against the Seahawks.

They only have one primetime game left on the schedule, with the Colts game scheduled for “Sunday Night Football,” but there’s a chance the NFL will work a better matchup into that slot. Still, the Jets no longer have Thursdays or Mondays scheduled. They should be able to find a regular practice rhythm and this will also give some of their older players extra rest to heal. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been dealing with knee, ankle and hamstring injuries since Week 4.

“I think when you can get into a rhythm, and a little bit more regimen and schedule, I think it can help,” Ulbrich said. “That’s certainly possible, but at the end of the day, and I know it’s coach talk, Arizona is the only thing I’m focused on. That’s, again, just like the world could end after this Cardinals game, that’s the only thing I’m worried about is this game.

The trip to Arizona is their last long journey. The final three road games are in Miami, Jacksonville and Buffalo.

While it’s premature to think this win has suddenly turned things around for the Jets, the AFC playoff picture still remains wide open. There are currently three teams that don’t lead their division with three losses in the AFC (Broncos, Ravens, Chargers), the Colts are 4-4 and the Bengals and Dolphins each have five losses.

The Jets have used up all their margin for error. But the Jets calmed down the second half Thursday night and relieved some pressure.

“It’s more about turning the pressure into confidence and momentum,” Ulbrich said. “I think there is a big difference between the two. In my opinion, there’s a productive paranoia that you can sometimes have in these moments, and it allows you to work a lot harder and tick a lot more boxes, and be a lot more thorough in everything we do, but sometimes it can be suffocating. So sometimes a small success like this can translate that stress and turn it into more positive energy and confidence, which hopefully we will now create in this team.