Well, now this division has turned into a real mess now, hasn’t it?
Let’s talk about the game quickly and move onto the playoff implications.
Once again, the Jets’ defense got shredded by an aerial attack, this one led by 49er QB Shaun Hill and his 285 yards and two TDs.
Brett Favre, on the other hand, threw for only 137 yards with one pick and three sacks. In addition, for some strange reason, even though the game was close until the fourth quarter, RB Thomas Jones rushed only 10 times, for 56 yards and a TD. Methinks he was underutilized.
And now, a look at the AFC East and how it might play out. All three teams (Jets, Pats and Fins) are tied at 8-5, with New York on top due to tiebreakers (they have a 3-1 record against AFC East opponents).
In Week 15, the division leaders could remain tied, as all three have pretty favorable match-ups. The Pats stay on the West Coast and face a struggling 3-10 Oakland team in the Black Hole. The Jets welcome the fourth-place AFC East team, the 6-7 Bills, to the Meadowlands. The Jets beat the Bills 26-17 in the previous meeting. The Dolphins have the toughest test, hosting the 49ers, who have won their last two games against the AFC East.
If all three win, the Pats look like the most likely to stumble in Week 16. While the Jets visit a 2-11 Seattle team and Miami visits a 2-11 Kansas City team, the Pats will host the AFC-West leading Arizona Cardinals, currently 8-5.
In Week 17, the Pats visit Buffalo, who would probably be trying to avoid an 0-6 record against its divisional opponents. Assuming a New England loss in one of the these last two games (not a guarantee by the way), the division champ will be the winner of the Dolphins-Jets game at 1 p.m. in the Meadowlands. The Jets beat the Fins in Week 1, 20-14.
