New York Jets Standings: AFC East Records, Playoff Picture

The New York Jets standings will be interesting to follow all NFL season long, now that Aaron Rodgers is on the shelf.

Jets offense embarrasses vs. Patriots

Zach Wilson and the New York Jets offense embarrassed themselves against Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots.

Despite a close final score, 15-10, the Jets’ rushing attack couldn’t do anything, while Wilson missed open weapons all afternoon.

Jets dominated by Cowboys in Dallas

Although it sounds like the end of the world on the local sports radio stations, the New York Jets 30-10 loss in Dallas in Week 2 isn’t the crusher everybody would have you believe.

It’s a loss to an NFC opponent on the road, which means the Jets AFC East and AFC standings don’t take much of a hit.

Meanwhile, the Miami Dolphins held on against the New England Patriots up in Foxborough, MA, so Mike McDaniel’s squad is the sole owner of first place in the AFC East at 2-0.

Jets defeat Bills in exhilarating OT fashion

The New York Jets begin the 2023 NFL season in the win column—in spite of the Aaron Rodgers injury heartbreak.

Zach Wilson helped rally his team from a 13-3 halftime deficit en route to a 22-16 victory.

Garrett Wilson’s remarkable touchdown catch on a fade tied it up, whereas Xavier Gipson’s 65-yard punt return score in overtime ended things at MetLife Stadium Monday night.

The New York Jets standings within the AFC East have featured one team’s dominance for virtually two decades. Yet, the AFC East kings are no more—at least not anymore, since the 2020 NFL season played out.

Tom Brady‘s New England Patriots won the divisional crown 17 of 19 years, beginning with his insertion as starting quarterback in 2021.

Only an improbable New York Jets’ championship in 2002, as they “played to win the game,” and a Chad Pennington-led Miami Dolphins title in 2008, squashed Bill Belichick’s perfect mark within the AFC East for the better part of the last two decades.

The very same year (2020) Brady bolted for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers saw Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills win their first AFC East championship since 1995. But as quickly as it seemed the Pats were trending downward was as fast as they rebounded, coming back strong in 2021 while the Bills try to navigate as one of the NFL’s favorites.

The Jets, still stuck in building mode, will have to wait their turn until Joe Douglas and company are confident that his roster can compete in one of the toughest divisions in football.

Place	Logo	Team	Wins	Losses	Ties	Pct.	Division	PF	PA	Home	Away	Srk
1		Buffalo Bills	13	3	0	.813	4-2	455	286	7-1	6-2	W7
2		Miami Dolphins	9	8	0	.529	3-3	397	399	6-2	3-6	W1
3		New England Patriots	8	9	0	.471	3-3	364	347	4-4	4-5	L1
4		New York Jets	7	10	0	.412	2-4	296	316	3-5	4-5	L6

In spite of such a surprisingly solid season, the New York Jets standings are not where the organization would like to see them. And, hopefully, things turn around in 2023 with Aaron Rodgers.

Jets Finish 2022 with a 7-10 Record

Finishing at 7-10, courtesy of six-straight losses, including a brutal home loss to the Detroit Lions and another to the Jacksonville Jaguars, a disappointing loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and a tough defeat in Buffalo to the Bills, the New York Jets end the season in the AFC East basement.

Obviously, it didn’t always feel this bleak. At one point, the team was 5-2 in the AFC East records department, 6-3, and then 7-4, prior to losing out.

After their 31-10 dismantling of the Chicago Bears at MetLife Stadium, then-Mike White’s Jets found themselves just two games out of first place in the AFC East. Now, at 7-7, they’re four games out of first place in the AFC East with no mathematic chance to win the divisional crown.

Things got tricky after the Jets’ dishearting 10-3 loss to the New England Patriots up north, but their stunning 20-17 victory over the rival Buffalo Bills. a week before the bye currently gives them the head-to-head tiebreaker over the defending AFC East champs.

As a whole, how good is the AFC East right now? Two teams made the playoffs, in the Bills and Dolphins, while the Patriots nearly snuck into the tournament.

Earlier in the season, New York’s ugly 16-9 victory over the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium put them within a half-game of the idle Buffalo Bills at the time. But then Bill Belichick came to town and Zach Wilson threw three interceptions. A Buffalo Bills triumph over the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football stretched the AFC East lead to 1.5 games.

Unfortunately, Denver is where the season took a U-turn. Once Alijah Vera-Tucker and Breece Hall went on the season-ending shelf, the team’s fantastic momentum never lasted.

Encouragingly, the Jets’ miraculous 31-30 come-from-behind victory over the Browns in Cleveland gave the organization its first September win in quite some time and allowed them to feel as though they are still within striking distance.

After a brutal home loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Zach Wilson’s first game of the season resulted in another come-from-behind road victory, a 24-20 beauty over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Jets’ 40-17 thrashing of the divisional rival Miami Dolphins made it two-straight victories and possession of second place in the AFC East—courtesy of a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Fins.

And then there was the Packers game in Green Bay, which saw Robert Saleh’s squad dominate defensively and come away with the 27-10 victory.

Unfortunately, however, the early-season good times ended. And now that the team finished the season losing six straight—after starting 5-2 and then sporting a sparkling 7-4 record—the New York Jets have missed the playoffs for the 12th consecutive season.

AFC Playoff Seed	Logo	Team	Record	Status
1 (Division Champ: BYE)		Kansas City Chiefs	14-3	1st AFC West Clinched playoff spot Clinched division Clinched bye
2 (Division Champ)		Buffalo Bills	13-3	1st AFC East Clinched playoff spot Clinched division
3 (Division Champ)		Cincinnati Bengals	12-4	1st AFC North Clinched playoff spot Clinched division
4 (Division Champ)		Jacksonville Jaguars	9-8	1st AFC South Clinched playoff spot Clinched division
5 (Wild Card 1)		Los Angeles Chargers	10-7	2nd AFC West Clinched playoff spot
6 (Wild Card 2)		Baltimore Ravens	10-7	2nd AFC North Clinched playoff spot
7 (Wild Card 3)		Miami Dolphins	9-8	2nd AFC East Clinched playoff spot
N/A		Pittsburgh Steelers	9-8	3rd AFC North
N/A		New England Patriots	8-9	3rd AFC East
N/A		New York Jets	7-10	4th AFC East
N/A		Tennessee Titans	7-10	2nd AFC South
N/A		Cleveland Browns	7-10	4th AFC North
N/A		Las Vegas Raiders	6-11	3rd AFC West

Once all the dust settled, the 2022 New York Jets could not end the drought. Losing their final six games, the Jets missed the playoffs yet again.

Meanwhile, two AFC East teams made the playoffs: the Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins.

Robert Saleh is hoping that the NFL playoff picture is much kinder to the 2023 New York Jets with Aaron Rodgers in tow.

2022 Round	Playoff Logo	Date	Home Team	Home Logo	Away Logo	Away Team	Result
Super Bowl 57		Sun, Feb. 12, 2023	1. Philadelphia Eagles			1. Kansas City Chiefs	✅ KC 38 ❌ PHI 35
AFC Championship		Sun, Jan. 29, 2023	1. Kansas City Chiefs			3. Cincinnati Bengals	✅ KC 23 ❌ CIN 20
AFC Divisional		Sat, Jan. 21, 2023	1. Kansas City Chiefs			4. Jacksonville Jaguars	✅ KC 27 ❌ JAX 20
AFC Divisional		Sun, Jan. 22, 2023	2. Buffalo Bills			3. Cincinnati Bengals	✅ CIN 27 ❌ BUF 10
AFC Wild Card		Sun, Jan. 15, 2023	2. Buffalo Bills			7. Miami Dolphins	✅ BUF 34 ❌ MIA 31
AFC Wild Card		Sun, Jan. 15, 2023	3. Cincinnati Bengals			6. Baltimore Ravens	✅ CIN 24 ❌ BAL 17
AFC Wild Card		Sat, Jan. 14, 2023	4. Jacksonville Jaguars			5. Los Angeles Chargers	✅ JAX 31 ❌ LAC 30

The 2022 New York Jets wound up missing the NFL postseason, but that didn’t mean they had no impact on seeding and the eventual results.

The Jets’ uninspiring 11-6 loss to the Miami Dolphins in Week 18 allowed their bitter rivals to sneak into the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. In spite of putting up a respectable fight, the Dolphins ultimately fell to Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills in the wild-card round, 34-31.

The Damar Hamlin story provided a backdrop for the 2022 AFC playoff picture and eventual results—which is why the Bills and Cincinnati Bengals finished with records resembling that of the old 16-game schedule. Moreover, the Bills yet again could not break through on the AFC side of the tournament.

Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals steamrolled the Bills in Orchard Park, NY, in the divisional round. This set up an AFC championship game rematch against Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs—one that ultimately went Andy Reid’s way.

AFC East Championship Count (1970-2020):

Rank	Logo	Team	Championships
1		Boston / New England Patriots	21
2		Miami Dolphins	14
3		Buffalo Bills	10
4		Baltimore / Indianapolis Colts	6
5		New York Jets	2

The history of the AFC East division stretches as far back as 1970 when the NFL-AFL merger shook things up quite a bit.

After Joe Namath‘s Super Bowl 3 shocker and the Kansas City Chiefs triumph in Super Bowl 4, the merger sent the then-Baltimore Colts to the AFC, along with the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers (while the rest of the old NFL played in the newly-formed NFC).

While it may have been a bad break for the Jets, Patriots, Bills and Dolphins, Don Shula’s Colts took it and ran away. Their 11-2-1 record and eventual Super Bowl 5 victory over the Dallas Cowboys kicked off the very first AFC East season in the National Football League—the very season after the Jets had just won their second-straight AFL East title.

AFL East Championship Count (1960-1969):

Rank	Logo	Team	Championships
1		Houston Oilers	4
2		Buffalo Bills	3
3		New York Jets / Titans	2
4		Boston Patriots	1
5		Miami Dolphins	0