Are the Seahawks better than the Jets?
Seahawks must prove that 6-5 doesn't equal 3-8
It may surprise fans to learn that despite a better record, real playoff hopes, and less contextual chaos, the Seahawks couldn’t be much closer to the Jets by the numbers. If that sounds unfair because Seattle’s defense has been lights out recently, while New York has won just a single game in the last nine weeks, remember that the power to create a pro-Seahawks narrative rests solely in their hands:
If the Seahawks want to prove that they’re way better than the Jets, as most would assume they are, then the Seahawks have every right to go BE way better than the Jets and win soundly.
Anything less and people will say that the Seahawks are still massaging out the kinks of a franchise still unsure of its identity and strength.
The Jets are BAD
One of the upsides to firing a head coach in the middle of the season is that people stop telling you to fire the head coach in the middle of the season. That’s the only explanation for the Jets finishing out their season with Jeff Ulbrich, despite being the worst team with the worst defense since firing Robert Saleh two months ago.
In just the last month, the Jets have:
Lost to the Patriots (blew a 4th quarter lead to Jacoby Brissett)
Lost to the Cardinals (Jets had 6th-worst defensive EPA by ANY defense this season)
Lost to the Colts and allowed Anthony Richardson to have the best game of his career (20 of 30 is unheard of for him)
The Jets have lost 7 of their last 8 and two of their three wins this season came on a Thursday, which is the wonkiest day of the week to play football. All games on 3 days rest come with an asterisk*.
If it seems “no-duh”sian to say that the Jets are bad, and that players are counting the days until they can hop on their jet skis (whether it’s on a real lake or during a drug-induced hallucination), that’s a fair reaction to pointing out the obvious.
How much do the Jets suck?
-0.09 EPA per play (21st)
-0.06 EPA per pass (20th)
-0.14 EPA per run (28th)
-0.05 EPA per play allowed (14th)
-0.09 EPA per pass allowed (11th)
-0.01 EPA per run allowed (23rd)
Well, there you have it: Conclusive evidence that the 3-8 Jets are absolutely, undeniably, 100% playing worse football this season than the 6-5 Seahawks.
(Now would probably be a better time than later to ask you to consider upgrading to Super Joes for $10)
Here are the Seahawks:
-0.08 EPA/play (20th)
-0.05 EPA/pass (18th)
-0.15 EPA/run (29th)
-0.04 EPA/play allowed (18th)
-0.07 EPA/pass allowed (15th)
-0.00 EPA/run allowed (26th)
Seahawks 3rd down/red zone rates
Jets 3rd down/red zone rates
Hmmm…by these numbers the Seahawks appear to be the same as the Jets, if not a little worse.
(Not a controversial gif, just a very funny line from a very underrated show called “Man Seeking Woman”)
If the last few seconds have felt like, “Joe, why do this to me? I thought we were friends?”, know that I’m just as shocked as you are.
But despite the Seahawks having some clear advantages over the Jets, New York isn’t without its bragging rights:
The Seahawks are 28th in turnovers, the Jets are 9th
Aaron Rodgers (maybe padding his stats) has 7 TD/0 INT in the last 4 games; Geno Smith could stand to pad his stats: 4 TD/6 INT in the last 4 games
The Seahawks allow 4.7 yards per carry (23rd) compared to 4.1 for the Jets (7th), and 6.1 net yards per pass (13th) compared to 5.6 for the Jets (5th)
Why are the Jets in a freefall meltdown as the Seahawks sit in first place with such similar statistics?
Why are the Seahawks better?
The two teams might have similar stats across the board, with some numbers heavily favoring New York, but these are just 4 reasons why the Seahawks are the better team: