It was another trying week for the Jets.
Fielding three-way competitions for the starting quarterback job is something best left to high schools and colleges, not NFL teams preparing for their 13th game of the season. That's where the Jets find themselves, though, and they've got no one but themselves to blame for winding up in this predicament in the first place.
Disgust about that is well-founded, although there have already been far too many volumes written on that topic already this year. The situation is what it is.
One of the strangest parts of that situation is that the Jets are favored in Jacksonville this weekend, and probably not by enough points, given the quality of the team that the Jaguars are putting on the field right now. Their best running back and best wide receiver will miss the game, as will their second-string tailback.
That leaves the offense led by Chad Henne with exactly one weapon and the rookie receiver Justin Blackmon will draw Antonio Cromartie all day long on Sunday. Cromartie's been the Jets' best player this season and his presence on Blackmon could make this game a lower scoring affair than last week's 7-6 affront to offensive football.
Even crazier is that it isn't the last time they'll walk into a game like this. When you look at the remaining schedule (Titans, Chargers, Bills), you'll see it won't be the last time the Jets are favored (they could actually be favored in every game) and that only adds to the surreal quality of this season.
Only the Jets could implode from Monday through Saturday, win on Sunday and then go right back to imploding on Monday. Only the Jets could have stuck with a quarterback performing as poorly as Mark Sanchez and then get rewarded for it at the end of the season with nothing but very winnable games.
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The best end point to this madness would be for the Jets to run the table and wind up with a 9-7 record that's good enough to land them a Wild Card berth. They'd need help, obviously, but it isn't impossible, and we'd pay good money to see them spend a week defending their quarterback choice before a playoff game.
For now, let's just see if Sanchez can make it through a whole game and if the Jets can be the first team to go on a two-game winning streak while simultaneously providing the league punchline after punchline.
Josh Alper is also a writer for Pro Football Talk. You can follow him on Twitter.
