The New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars find themselves in a rather dismal situation as they prepare to face off this Sunday. Both teams have had a rough season, with little at stake in Jacksonville. The only real implications involve their coaching staffs and rosters for the future. The Jets, with a 3-10 record and having lost four in a row and nine of ten, were eliminated from playoff contention last week. Meanwhile, the Jaguars, who ended a five-game skid last week at Tennessee but were already out of the AFC race, are now playing out the string yet again.
Longest Postseason Droughts
The Jets have extended their postseason drought to an astonishing 14 consecutive years, the longest active streak in the NFL. They fired coach Robert Saleh in early October and are now 1-7 under interim coach Jeff Ulbrich, who insists on not invoking a youth movement. "When you start playing with the roster a lot, especially at the back end of the season, that can be discouraging to some players," Ulbrich said. "So we got to make sure we put the best group out there to win."The Jaguars, who have made the playoffs just twice in the past 17 years, have dropped 15 of their past 19 games going back to last season. Coach Doug Pederson and general manager Trent Baalke are squarely on the hot seat as the franchise continues to struggle. "It was good to … feel the energy from a win," Pederson said. "It doesn’t matter how it looks or how you get it, the fact that you got one. It’s been a while. Sometimes you don’t know how to react. But it felt good. The guys were jazzed, and it’s something we can build on. … It does give you a bit of juice going into the week."Quarterback Showdown
Even though the Jaguars came off a 10-6 victory at the Titans, their offense showed no rhythm without injured quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Mac Jones is 1-4 in his past five starts, with no touchdowns and eight interceptions. But Jones is 5-0 against the Jets, winning every matchup while he was with New England. "Over my career so far, they’re the best defense I’ve gone against each year," Jones said. "Obviously, they’re familiar with me and I have some former teammates over there and guys I’ve played against five, six times. Definitely looking forward to it. I know their record is the same, but really their defense is one of a kind."Conversion Conundrum
Aaron Rodgers ended a 34-game drought without passing for 300 yards and got the Jets moving up and down the field for a season-high 402 total yards at Miami. "I think we did some good things," the quarterback said. But Rodgers knows things can be even better. The Jets were 4 of 12 on third down and just 2 of 5 in the red zone. "Situational football hasn’t been great for us and that is why we haven’t got to 30 (points)," Rodgers said of the Jets, who haven’t scored more than 27 points in any game this season. "Situational football is a lot about details and that has kind of been our Achilles heel. I think a lot has been little minute details within the details within the plays."Return of the 'Prowlers'
The Jaguars will wear their "Prowler Throwback" uniforms for the second time this season, hoping for similar results. The threads are being worn in honor of the team’s 30th season. They wore them in early October at home against Indianapolis and managed a 37-34 victory, which is Jacksonville’s lone win at EverBank Stadium this season.Sack Situation
The Jets are tied for seventh in the NFL with Philadelphia with 37 sacks. But they were shut out last Sunday against Miami. In fact, they never touched Tua Tagovailoa. In 47 pass attempts by the Dolphins quarterback, New York registered zero pressures. Ulbrich and some of his players attributed that to Tagovailoa getting the ball out of his hands quickly and the Dolphins using 12 screen plays against them - something other teams might take note of. "I don’t think pressure would have worked," said linebacker Jamien Sherwood, who had 18 tackles. "The timing was there. You could see because as soon as he snapped the ball, the ball was gone. And his receivers were able to get in the spot and catch the ball."
