Every NFL playoff team has its calling cards—the handful of strengths that they rely on to win most of their games.

If the New York Jets want to snap their 15-year playoff streak in 2026, they must figure out what their calling cards are. In 2025, the only one they had was their special teams. That alone won’t cut it if the goal is the playoffs (hence, the 3-14 record).

After overhauling their roster this offseason, the Jets are equipped to thrive in a few different areas of the game this season. Here are three statistical categories where New York has the potential to finish as a top-end team in 2026.

1. Run defense

The Jets’ defense was horrendous in 2025. Quietly, though, their run defense wasn’t a huge part of those struggles.

While the Jets allowed the fourth-most total rushing yards, that was mostly because their opponents logged a league-high 539 rushing attempts, a byproduct of the Jets spending most of the season trailing. After accounting for that, the run defense wasn’t awful, even if it certainly wasn’t great.

According to FTN Fantasy, the Jets were 16th in rush defense DVOA (defense-adjusted value over average), an all-encompassing efficiency metric that accounts for down, distance, score, time, opponent quality, and other factors.

It hardly made a difference, as the Jets were last in pass defense DVOA by an enormous margin, sinking the entire defense. In fact, it was one of the worst pass defenses the NFL has ever seen. The historical ineptitude through the air overshadowed the fact that the run defense was fine.

Now, the Jets have added the reinforcements to be much better than fine against the run.

With the additions of nose tackle T’Vondre Sweat, defensive tackle David Onyemata, linebacker Demario Davis, and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, New York’s defense is loaded with proven veteran run-stuffers. Second-round rookie cornerback D’Angelo Ponds is a highly physical tackler against the run, too.

The Jets also addressed their primary run-stopping issue, the edge-setting. The free agent additions of Joseph Ossai and Kingsley Enagbare give New York a pair of reliable edge-setters who will handle their business and funnel runners inside for their teammates to clean up. They will be a huge upgrade over the likes of Micheal Clemons.

New York’s pass defense remains a major question mark. They’re coming off one of the worst pass-defending seasons in NFL history and are counting on a bevy of young players to anchor their pass rush and coverage. It could be another year before they’re ready to be above average in that phase. Progress is expected this season, but they’re coming from such a low point that even a significant leap may only leave them in the low 20s against the pass.

Against the run, though, the Jets have the potential to be one of the NFL’s best defenses as soon as 2026.

2. Forced fumbles

All eyes are on the Jets’ interception column after they laid an egg in 2025.

New York made a plethora of moves intended to change that number. But their best shot at reversing their fortunes in the takeaway department may be the other form of turnovers: fumbles.

Through the free agent and trade markets, the Jets acquired plenty of hard-hitting defenders with a knack for jarring the ball loose. The quintet of Demario Davis, Minkah Fitzpatrick, cornerback Nahshon Wright, safety Dane Belton, and edge rusher Joseph Ossai combined for 10 forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries last season; the Jets’ entire defense combined for nine forced fumbles and four recoveries.

This effort continued through the draft.

Second-overall pick David Bailey is an explosive edge rusher who can win around the corner quickly and cleanly enough to swat balls loose from the quarterback’s grasp. Bailey forced eight fumbles over the last two seasons.

Second-round corner D’Angelo Ponds relies on his bone-crushing hits to help overcome his 5-foot-8 frame. Ponds forced just one fumble last season, but it was a massive one. In the second quarter of the Rose Bowl, Ponds jarred the ball loose from Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson, ending a progressing Alabama drive and bringing the ball back to Indiana. It set up a Hoosiers touchdown drive for a 17-0 lead.

Under the coaching of Aaron Glenn, Ponds could become a more productive punch-out artist in the NFL. Glenn, a fellow 5-foot-8 corner, forced five fumbles in his first three seasons after being drafted by the Jets.

Even the Jets’ seventh-round pick, safety VJ Payne, forced four fumbles over the last two seasons at Kansas State.

Look for New York to field a hard-hitting defense that knocks plenty of footballs on the ground. The hard part for the Jets, of course, is actually recovering those footballs.

3. Pass-blocking

There are numerous ways to quantify the pass-blocking quality of an NFL offensive line. Whichever way you choose to do it, whether it’s through the eye test or any given metric, the Jets have the pieces to emerge as a top-10 pass-blocking unit in 2026.

Based on Pro Football Focus’ pass-blocking grade, the Jets ranked 15th-best in 2025 with a 68.3 mark. There are plenty of reasons to be hopeful that they can leap a few more spots and push into the top 10.

First and foremost, the Jets have two young tackles with first-round talent who are poised for major leaps in 2026. Left tackle Olu Fashanu and right tackle Armand Membou have both hit the ground running as average-or-better starters before either has reached 25 career starts or 24 years old. That lays the groundwork for them to grow into great-to-elite starters in the near future.

Right guard Joe Tippmann also continues to ascend, as he recently turned 25 years old. Barring an injury to another starter, the former second-round pick is on track to start a second consecutive NFL season in the same position for the first time in his career.

Tippmann has been forced to rotate between center and guard throughout his three years, but after a full season at right guard in 2025, he is expected to stay there in 2026. It means that Tippmann is finally poised to enter a season with a chance to build on his experience from the prior year.

At left guard, the Jets replaced John Simpson with free agent pickup Dylan Parham, who has generally been a league-average starter at the position. If the Jets surround him with three stalwarts in Fashanu, Tippmann, and Membou, they can still field a top-10 pass-blocking unit with one middle-of-the-pack starter.

The only major concern is center Josh Myers, who was one of the league’s lowest-ranked pass-blocking centers in 2025.

But even with Myers, the Jets have enough talent between their Big 3 to lift this offensive line into one of the league’s better pass-blocking groups. After all, if there’s a preferred position to have a weak link in pass protection, it’s center. A hole at center won’t crush your passing game as much as a hole at any of the other positions.

Pass protection should be the Jets’ calling card on offense in 2026. Offensive coordinator Frank Reich should look to maximize it in every way possible.

With a quarterback in Geno Smith who can get hot on deep passes, Reich should show faith in his offensive line by calling a bevy of long-developing seven-step dropbacks for Smith to uncork deep passes. A high volume of deep shots could raise the Jets’ offensive ceiling to a level that few people are expecting.

And with speedy weapons like Garrett Wilson, Adonai Mitchell, Kenyon Sadiq, and even Breece Hall (who has shown he can win on vertical routes), there is some fascinating potential in the Jets’ downfield passing attack. With a promising offensive line in place, the Jets have the anchor they need to explore their deep-game potential.

Everything the Jets do on offense this season should be built around their pass protection. It’s their greatest asset, so the more value they extract from it, the higher their offensive ceiling will go.