There's a lot of improbability in the air around the Jets right now.
You've got the fact that the team, nationwide laughingstocks on Thanksgiving, is just a game out of the playoffs with three to play. But it is hard to tell if that's actually less probable than Mark Sanchez still being the starting quarterback. The topic is exhausted, but every now and then you remember just how the Jets have handled their quarterbacks this year and marvel that they've managed to win a game at all.
Improbability is also the theme of the news that Braylon Edwards is heading back to the Jets for a second stint after getting waived by the Seahawks following a knee injury. Given that he said Jets fans should blame the "idiots calling the shots" and not Sanchez just last week, the fact that he's coming back is nothing short of astounding.
When you define things as improbable and astounding, it usually goes hand in hand with exciting. That's not the case with the Jets right now, though.
It's hard to get excited about an offense that is terrified of letting their quarterback throw the ball unless it is absolutely necessary. It's hard to get excited about beating the Cardinals 7-6 in Week 13 when the Seahawks beat them 58-0 on Sunday.
It's hard to get excited by Shonn Greene and Bilal Powell shredding the Jaguars in the second half because the Jaguars have a good shot at picking first in next year's draft and it is hard to get excited about the defensive performance after taking one look at the quarterbacks. Even the prospect of remaining on the right side of the scoreboard the next three weeks and making the playoffs isn't particularly exciting given the fact that these two wins have been almost entirely about the good fortune of the schedule.
The nice thing about this lack of excitement is that the Jets are feeling it as well. There's nothing coming from Rex Ryan about how great things are looking or about how the team's finally gelling.
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They seem to realize it isn't about them being good nearly as much as it has been about them being better than the opposition, something that is drummed home by the many times they've been on the wrong end of a blowout. The great fear of a Jets winning streak is that it would cause the team to ignore flaws when the offseason came, but, for now, the Jets have kept their heads about them.
Claiming Edwards off waivers is about need, Stephen Hill hurt his knee last weekend, and not some notion that the team is looking for a final touch. Maybe he helps, but he hasn't been the deep threat you remember from his previous stint over the last two years and the Jets aren't about to morph into a good passing team since Edwards is back in green.
And that's why there's really no excitement about the prospect of an unexpected visit to the playoffs. The trajectory was supposed to be beyond this in the fourth year of the Ryan/Sanchez partnership and what was cute in 2009 is now a sign of how off track things have gotten.
The Jets might keep winning, but it's the rare moment when the results are a secondary part of the story.
Josh Alper is also a writer for Pro Football Talk. You can follow him on Twitter.
