New York Jets: Team still searching for identity

The New York Jets have no true identity despite their three wins in the first five weeks, and that’s a good thing.

Batman is really Bruce Wayne. Superman is really Clark Kent, and Spider-Man is really Peter Parker. The New York Jets haven’t found their true identity yet, but that’s good, because that makes them tougher to beat.

When most NFL teams go into a game, they’ll make a game plan “if we do this, we’ll have a good chance to beat our opponents.” The New England Patriots don’t have that luxury this week, because the Jets have found different ways to win on offense.

The Jets haven’t figured out a specific winning formula yet. Against the Miami Dolphins they weren’t efficient on third down and were merely okay in the running game, but they won the time of possession and turnover battles.

Against Jacksonville, they dominated on the ground and won the turnover battle, but lost the time of possession battle. And against Cleveland, they couldn’t run the ball and lost the time of possession battle, but won on turnovers. All three games were wins.

In the loss to Oakland, they won the turnover battle and ran the ball well, but they lost the time of possession battle. In Buffalo, their ground game was inefficient and they lost the time of possession game, but they were +2 on turnovers.

So, there’s no precise formula to beat them, nor do they have a precise formula to win. So, when Tom Brady says they’re a “tough opponent”, it may not be just smoke and mirrors.

Next: 2018 NFL Draft: 5 Players who upped their stock, Week 7

Since the second half in Oakland, there’s been a different demeanor about this team. There’s isn’t one gameplan you can use to attack this Jets team, because they seem to have something about them that you can knock them down, and they’ll get right back up and fight. It makes them a scary opponent, even for New England.