Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
NFL: Chicago Bears at New York Jets
Mike White has solidified himself as the New York Jets starting quarterback…for now.
White, at least from a statistical standpoint, has performed at a much higher level over the past two games alone than Zach Wilson has for most of this entire season.
In the two games that White has started, he has thrown three touchdown passes, has a 62.3 completion percentage, and two interceptions. Wilson has thrown four touchdowns, has a 55.6 completion percentage, and five interceptions in the seven games that he has played in. It also seems like White has earned the respect of the locker room after getting some high praise from Garrett Wilson in the postgame press conference this past Sunday.
Wilson on the other hand failed to initially take accountability for the loss to the Patriots in Week 11 and essentially got benched for it. The true test to whether or not White will maintain the starting job will most likely be decided this Sunday in the Week 14 matchup against the Bills in Buffalo. Whether or not the Jets can trust in White moving forward is not the only thing that is at stake though.
The 7-5 Jets currently sit at third place in the AFC East and are the seventh seed in the AFC playoff picture. New England is hot on their tail in fourth place and are in the hunt with a 6-6 record. The Los Angeles Chargers are also 6-6 and trailing the Jets for the final spot in the playoff picture. The Miami Dolphins are a game ahead of the Jets in the standings as well at 8-4. If the Jets, led by quarterback Mike White can pull out a win against Buffalo this Sunday, to me they will be a lock for a playoff berth. Now that is obviously much easier said than done but they did pull it off back in Week 9.
The remaining schedule for Gang Green after this Sunday is as follows: Home against the Detroit Lions and the Jacksonville Jaguars and away against the Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins. Lets just say they pull of a 3-1 record over the last four with the lone potential loss being against their division rival, the Dolphins. That would give the Jets an 11-6 record on the season and more than likely give them at least the seventh seed.
Mike White seems to have the entire team/locker room behind him and the fan base who was chanting his name following the disastrous season opener against the Ravens. The players were even rockin Mike White t-shirts on the plane last Saturday. Aside from his poor execution in the red zone (due in part to play calling) this past Sunday, White has played with confidence and has looked poised under center.
A Trip Down Memory Lane:
The Jets were in almost this exact same scenario going into Week 14 of the 2006 season. They had a record of 7-6 heading into the week and were set to go up against, ironically, the Buffalo Bills. Quarterback Chad Pennington was under center for the Jets in what wound up being his Comeback Player of the Year season.
Pennington had surgery on his right shoulder after tearing his rotator cuff and suffering a bone spur as well in the season prior. The Bills went on to stomp the Jets 31-13 in that game but the Jets wound up winning out in their last three games (one of those games was against Miami). They finished the regular season with a 10-6 record and were the fifth seed in the AFC. They then lost to the Patriots in the Wild Card round in a blow out 37-16 loss but nonetheless they made the playoffs that year. Perhaps Mike White could be the guy to lead the Jets in the home stretch of this season and bring them back to the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
