The New York Jets will be hosting the Carolina Panthers after coming off a bye week. They are currently sitting at 4-6 and still in the hunt for a wildcard spot in the playoffs, but they will need to win out the rest of the season if they want any hope of getting in, but they have a tough schedule ahead of them, starting with the Carolina Panther (7-3) who seem to find their rhythm after a shaking start and trading away their best receiver. So if the Jets want to walk away sunday with a victory, here is what they have to do:
Offensively they can’t turn the ball over, the Panthers defense has looked dominant the past couple weeks, ranked in the top 5 in almost every category. Granted they only played teams who are having a down year the past couple of weeks but they are not to be taken lightly. The Panthers have blitzed more times than the Jets with 43% of their plays and have recorded 16 sacks as a result, but it favors the Jets because Josh McCown has a 94.3 passer rating when being blitzed. This will allow the Jets to give the ball to their playmakers and Robby Anderson has most certainly became one this year, he has at least a TD in four straight games with 16.2 yards per catch. They need to also establish the run game as well, which would open up the play action.
Turnovers have been a major point to the Panthers wins and their loses, They are 0-3 when they turn the ball over more than three times and 7-0 when they turn it over less. The Jets defense will have to create turnovers and put pressure on Cam Newton. The Panthers will be getting their best weapon in tight end Greg Olsen after being out since week 2 so the linebackers will be put to the test, because they will have to also cover rookie Christian McCaffrey who is in the running for rookie of the year.
This will be a tough game no doubt for the Jets, but if they can create turnovers and play efficient, they should walk away with a victory on Sunday.