Chiefs-Jets: Five questions with the enemy

Editor’s note: We welcome MacGregor Wells of Gang Green Nation — our sister site covering the New York Jets — for Five Questions with the Enemy as we head into the Week 8 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets this Sunday.

1) Are the Jets as bad as everyone says?

In a word, yes. The Jets aren’t just bad; they are historically bad. They are the worst team in the NFL, and it isn’t particularly close. While they are probably not the worst team in NFL history, there is a good argument to be made that outside of the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers of 1976, the Jets are the worst team since the merger of the NFL with the AFL. The Jets literally have maybe six starters (Quinnen Williams, Marcus Maye, Avery Williamson, Brian Poole, Mekhi Becton, Jamison Crowder) that would have any chance of starting on an average NFL team. This is literally an expansion team-level football team, and in fact, most of the post-merger expansion teams were better than these Jets. It’s that bad.

2) Which Jets players have been a shining light this year?

Rookie left tackle Mekhi Becton has been really, really good so far. He is a mauler in the run game, and in pass protection, he has amazing feet for a 365-pound monster. He looks like he has the potential to develop into a perennial Pro Bowler, with All-Pro not out of the question. That begins and ends the list of Jets that have been shining lights this year.

3) Has Sam Darnold shown enough to stop the Jets looking at Trevor Lawrence?

Sam Darnold has not shown enough to be a lock to ever start at quarterback in the NFL after this year, let alone stop the Jets from looking at quarterbacks in the 2021 NFL Draft. That’s not to say Darnold has no chance of ever developing; he is still very young and he does at times flash big-time potential. But those flashes have been too few and too far between, and his poor judgment and lack of development in seeing the field, reading defenses and making the right decisions mean the Jets should definitely be in the market for a new quarterback in 2021. In the end, it’s a game of probability. It’s hard to say there is zero probability that a quarterback with Darnold’s gifts will ever develop into a good quarterback, but after three seasons of almost no signs of development, the probability Darnold does so develop is low enough that it justifies looking for a new quarterback.

4) Which Chiefs players will the Jets try to limit on Sunday?

Heh. Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Mecole Hardman, Tyreek Hill. And that’s just one side of the ball. Good luck with that, Jets.

5) Are there any reasons for optimism for Jets fans going into this game? Score prediction?

1. You never know when the pandemic might sideline Mahomes, Kelce, Edwards-Helaire, Hardman and Hill all in one week.

2. The Chiefs could forfeit.

3. The Chiefs could inexplicably decide to trade away all their good players prior to the game to beat the trade deadline.

4. Kansas City could be hit with a tornado that cancels the game.

5. Losing huge to the Chiefs gets the Jets one game closer to Adam Gase being fired.

6. Losing huge to the Chiefs gets the Jets one game closer to the first pick in the 2021 NFL draft.

I mean, let’s be real here. This is the best team in the NFL facing the worst team in the NFL — and one of the worst teams of all time. This game won’t be close, and if it doesn’t get completely out of hand, it will likely only be because Andy Reid is not a guy who runs up the score. Maybe the Chiefs starters take the rest of the day off at halftime.

Score prediction: Chiefs 48, Jets 6