Jets bid farewell to playoff hopes as bye week arrives

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Whatever improvements that the New York Jets can make during their bye week will be too little, too late.

Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich said he planned to use the upcoming days to take evaluate the entire operation. He uttered the words "hard look" eight times during his Week 11 postgame press conference after a 28-27 loss dropped the Jets to 3-8 overall.

"I’m going to take a real hard look this bye week," said Ulbrich. "It gives us an opportunity to step back without having to game plan, without having to prepare for a game, and really assess where we’re at and where we’re falling short."

The fact of the matter is that the Jets have already fallen short too many times. Even if they magically "run the table" coming out of the bye, a 9-8 record would far from guarantee them the seventh AFC playoff spot. Additionally, New York has shown no signs that it's capable of ripping off six straight wins, especially with two matchups against the Miami Dolphins and one against the Buffalo Bills still on the slate.

It doesn't take a "hard look" to uncover that the Jets have lost at home to young quarterbacks Anthony Richardson and Bo Nix. As a result, New York sits behind the Colts (5-6) and the Denver Broncos (6-5) in the AFC standings and does not hold the tiebreaker against either team.

The Jets are 11th overall in the current AFC Playoff picture, meaning there are four teams in between them and the final postseason spot. In addition to the Broncos and Colts, New York has the Miami Dolphins (4-6) and the Cincinnati Bengals (4-7) on its way.

According to NFL-generated projections, the Jets' playoff probability has fallen to 2 percent.

"It’s a good time for our bye. Really not necessarily to take a break, but really reassess where we’re at and what we do best going forward, what we’re not doing well and we need to get fixed, and take a hard look at ourselves," said Ulbrich.

No matter how hard they look, the only thing to see is a floundering 3-8 football team with a leaky defense and a quarterback in the twilight of his career. It adds up to failing to make the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season.