The New York Jets are the last remaining winless team in the NFL after a blowout loss to the Cowboys in Week 5. Starting the season 0-3 might not have totally extinguished faith in Justin Fields and head coach Aaron Glenn. Two-point losses to the Steelers and Bucs weren't so bad. More recent losses to the Dolphins and Dallas can't really be spun in a positive direction.
At the beginning of September, NFL.com's Cynthia Frelund analyzed win total projections for every team in the league. The Jets had an over/under of 6.5 wins. Their ceiling was eight wins and their floor was five. The offense was supposed to be the big question mark with Aaron Glenn's defense expected to be a stabilizing force.
Welp, five games into the 2025 season and the Jets defense ranks 31st in points per game allowed. They're no offensive juggernaut, but the offense has at least improved marginally to 22.4 points per game...not enough to make it into the top half of the NFL nor to deliver victories. Scoring just 22 points (mostly in garbage time) against a porous Cowboys defense isn't exactly an consolation.
Now comes the uncomfortable question: If the Jets can't beat the Dolphins (whose only win this season game against NY) or the Cowboys (without a laundry list of inactives, including WR CeeDee Lamb and starting offensive linemen Tyler Guyton and Tyler Booker) then who can they beat?
The upcoming schedule includes some winnable games, but without improvement, this team won't win any of them.
Remaining NY Jets schedule
Date | Opponent |
|---|---|
Week 6: Oct. 12 | vs. Broncos |
Week 7: Oct. 19 | vs. Panthers |
Week 8: Oct. 26 | at Bengals |
Week 9: Nov. 2 | BYE |
Week 10: Nov. 9 | vs. Cleveland |
Week 11: Nov. 13 (Thurs) | at Patriots |
Week 12: Nov. 23 | at Ravens |
Week 13: Nov. 30 | vs. Falcons |
Week 14: Dec. 7 | vs. Dolphins |
Week 15: Dec. 14 | at Jaguars |
Week 16: Dec. 21 | at Saints |
Week 17: Dec. 28 | vs. Patriots |
Week 18: Dec. 4 (FLEX) | at Bills |
When will the Jets win their first game?
Let's get one thing out of the way: Any NFL team can beat any other NFL team on any given Sunday. The Giants stunned the on-fire Chargers. The Ravens are 1-4. The Colts are 4-1. Daniel Jones is Literally anything can happen in this league.
So, for all we know, the Jets could figure it out next week in London when they take on the Broncos. Denver is coming off a thrilling comeback win over the Eagles. Their only losses this year are to good football teams (the Colts and Chargers) but every team falls flat on their face occasionally.
But that's wishful thinking. Realistically, New York is more likely to fall to 0-6 than not.
Fortunately, Week 7 might bring a reprieve. The Carolina Panthers come to town.
Carolina is an enigma. They smashed the Falcons 30-0 and overcame a 17-0 deficit against the Dolphins. But they've also lost to the Jaguars, Cardinals and Patriots. The latter of those was a 42-13 beatdown.
Those three losses have one thing in common: They were on the road. That's a point in the Jets' favor. Perhaps enough to outdo the potential post-London jet lag. I'm guaranteeing a win here, but it's as good a shot as NY will have this year.
The good news is, a loss to the Panthers isn't the end of the world (though it might be the end of Aaron Glenn's job). The Bengals, Browns and Patriots are far from impervious. Cincinnati won't have Joe Burrow at the helm. The Browns' quarterback situation is a mess. The Patriots are still figuring themselves out.
If the Jets can't snag one in that run of games, circle a trip to New Orleans to face the Saints in Week 16.
In short, I don't see an 0-17 season in the Jets' future. The bigger question is how many more losses Glenn can survive.