Getting Read for the Bucs

Edition #928: Is there such a thing as a must-win game in week three of the season? If there is, the Jets have it this weekend against Tampa.

Good morning ☕

If the Jets lose on Sunday a lot of fans will be calling time on the season. Since the 1970 NFL merger, only 43 of 422 teams who started 0-2 went on to make the NFL playoffs. So right now, we are looking at around a 10% chance that the Jets are playing football into the middle of January.

But there are some recent case studies to give us some confidence. Baltimore, Denver and the LA Rams all started the 2024 season at 0-2 and went on to play the playoffs. Only three teams have ever started 0-2 and won the Super Bowl with the most recent example being the Giants, who started 2007 with an 0-2 record before famously beating the Patriots to win Super Bowl XLII.

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NEWS & NOTES

• Aaron Glenn confirmed that Justin Fields is out for this weeks game against Tampa Bay, which means Tyrod Taylor will start for the first time in over 600 days. Taylor was asked about his position as the backup "I embrace it, God has a plan for everyone. Obviously, you want to be out there playing, but there's other ways that you can affect the team in a positive way. And as I stay and wait for my time, my opportunity to present itself, I can't be a bad teammate. I can't sulk in or what-if, or what should happen. The reality of is that you have to be in the moment, and I've learned to be more vocal over the years. I think as a quarterback, eyes are always on you, so how you are when you're up, when you're down, when things aren't going your way, is a reflection of your character. So I've never been one to, I guess, question why my time isn't right then or right now, it's more so just prepare myself for whenever it does happen and that I make the most of it."

• The injury list for the Jets is pretty extensive:

  • DNP: Justin Fields, Tony Adams, Michael Carter II, Jermaine Johnson, Kene Nwangwu, Josh Reynolds, Jay Tufele.

  • LP: Marcelino McCrary-Ball

  • FP: Andre Cisco, Sauce Gardner, Kiko Mauigoa

• Aaron Glenn was asked specifically about Michael Clemons: "Sometimes when you don't see a stat you feel like a player has done well but there's things we ask players to do that people don't understand. Everybody has ups and downs when they're playing but the things we're asking Mike to do, he's doing a good job at that."

• Quincy Williams knows the Jets defense needs to drastically improve: "Finding the answers, finding the DNA "AG" is looking for, what he's preaching," Williams said of how the team can move forward. "We believe in it, but it's like, man, I've got to see it on tape, and I've got to see it every single Sunday. … We've got to show up on Sunday and be able to showcase the DNA that he's talking about." [Official Site]

• "I want to see all three levels of the defense put it together man, that's the main thing," Williams said of his hopes for Sunday's road date in Tampa. "Just putting it together for real. Everything that we practice, everything that we talked about in meetings, the keys, the anticipation of the plays, everything showing up on Sunday, really, from the D-line to the linebackers to the DBs, just putting it all together." [Official Site]

• Jamien Sherwood believes nobody will give them a chance on the road "Obviously, when we go on the road, it's going to be even harder," Sherwood said, speaking about the Week 3 game at Tampa Bay after two games at MetLife Stadium to start the season. "Nobody's going to give us a chance when we go on the road. But again, like I tell them all the time, it's all about the men in this room. Nobody else matters. You got to believe the man to your left and to your right, and then you just got to fight for him." [Official Site]

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Temperature Rising in Tampa

In the header I shared the stats around 0-2 teams making the playoffs. Well after some more digging I found that 0-3 teams have only made the playoffs 2.5% of the time since 1990 and only one team who started 0-3 has made the playoffs since the year 2000. The Jets actually started the 1981 season 0-3 and made the playoffs with a 10-5-1 record (they lost to the Bills in the wildcard, the only playoff matchup between the two franchises).