When the schedule for the 2010 season was released, one of the tougher stretches appeared to be the one the Jets will traverse over the next week.
A home game against a Texans team that seemed poised to make the leap to the playoffs and then a Thanksgiving night contest against last year's AFC North champions from Cincinnati. Thank goodness they had a two week breather against the Lions and Browns going into such a perilous predicament!
Cue Chris Berman braying about that being why they play the games.
Right now nothing could seem quite as difficult as the last two games, which, when you think about it, represents a pretty massive shift in the mindset of the Jets this season. Agonizing games are now ones that the Jets win under less than ideal circumstances rather than the kinds of losses that have long been synonymous with the franchise.
Whoever it is that said you can't have everything in life certainly wasn't off base, were they?
All anyone wanted when the Jets came into this season was to finish with a terrific record and good positioning for a playoff push. They now stand at the precipice of a 9-2 record that would put them in an extremely comfortable spot to attain both of their goals, and all we can do is tie our stomachs into knots trying to figure out why they aren't more dominant.
That fits, because the one thing that we know about the 2010 NFL season is that dominance is as out as Brett Favre. This is a season with a different, often frustrating rhythm that makes it difficult to guess what the next movement will sound like. That's kind of thrilling in the larger sense, but for the Jets it is disquieting because of the way they've always found a way to blow it in the end.
U.S. & World
Disquieting is kinda the motto around these parts, though, so no one's going to be too thrown by whatever should transpire this weekend. Unless, of course, the Jets lose.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
