The Jets probably need to win out to make the playoffs, leaving themselves with a big test this Sunday when the Patriots come to New Jersey for the second meeting of the year between the two AFC East clubs.
As has been his habit all season, Bowles didn’t follow his predecessor on the Jets sideline in building up the matchup to epic levels. He said the Jets’ positioning in the AFC means it would be a big game no matter the opponent and shrugged at the idea of calling this the biggest game of his head coaching career by saying it’s only “the biggest game this week.”
He also answered a question about differences in his team since they lost to the Patriots 30-23 in Week Seven after watching a 20-16 fourth quarter lead disappear thanks to two late New England touchdowns.
“I hope we are [different]. We’ve grown some,” Bowles said during his press conference. “You have to play the game on Sunday to find that out. We’ve matured a little bit, so hopefully we’ve got some wins behind us and we’re just going to keep trying to get better. ... We’ve executed. We’ve played with a little more poise than we played with, even though we made some mistakes last game. We’re learning how to finish and I think we’ve learned in two games how to finish from the ones we failed with [in] the middle of the season and we’re on our way just getting better each week.”
Winning the last two games -- the Jets close with a trip to Buffalo -- wouldn’t guarantee the Jets a playoff spot, which isn’t ideal but should make it easier to concentrate only on the things that they can control because scoreboard watching is a waste of time without a victory.