Jets Country

Jets Jump Ahead in NFL Power Rankings After Nearly Upsetting Buccaneers

The New York Jets are now the 28th-ranked team in the NFL after their solid performance against the Buccaneers on Sunday.

Max Goodman

In this story:

The Jets fell to 4-12 on the season with a loss on Sunday, but their promising performance against the defending champs resulted in a boost in their spot on Sports Illustrated's Power Rankings. 

New York was listed 31st last week, ahead of only the lowly Jaguars. 

Now, they've jumped in front of three other teams heading into Week 18.

Here's SI's Conor Orr with an explanation as to why the Jets are now the NFL's 28th-ranked team entering the final week of the regular season:

28. New York Jets (4–12)

Last week: Loss vs. Tampa Bay, 28–24

Next week: at Buffalo

This team performed at expectation this year, which, when you consider the totality of their experiences in 2021, is pretty remarkable. Robert Saleh’s club beat the Titans, the Bengals and nearly held on to nip the Buccaneers. We said that their 2021 should be measured in an ability to hang tough. Minus some forgettable Patriots games, that seems to be the case.

This year has been far from perfect for the Jets and there are still countless flaws up and down this rebuilding roster. But to hang with the Buccaneers this late in the season, while missing a plethora of players to injuries and COVID-19, you have to feel optimistic about the future if you are head coach Robert Saleh or general manager Joe Douglas. 

The job is far from finished, though. The pressure is on for New York to hit on their draft picks this April—New York has four selections in the top-38 picks of the 2022 NFL draft—before spending smartly in free agency.

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Max Goodman
MAX GOODMAN

Max Goodman covers the New York Jets for Sports Illustrated and FanNation. He also covers the New York Yankees, publisher  of Sports Illustrated and FanNation's Yankees site, Inside The Pinstripes. Before starting out with SI, Goodman attended Northwestern University and the Medill School of Journalism. He earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Broadcast Journalism and Master’s Degree in Sports Media, graduating in 2019. While at school, Goodman gathered valuable experience as an anchor and reporter on NNN SportsNight and played on the club baseball team. Goodman previously interned at MLB.com as an associate reporter covering the Miami Marlins. He also interned with ESPN, working as an associate reporter on Mike Greenberg's Get Up. Goodman is from New York City. He grew up in Hell's Kitchen. Follow Goodman on Twitter @MaxTGoodman and connect with him via email by reaching out at maxgoodmansports@gmail.com.

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