Will Jets' stunning upset of Rams cost them chance at drafting Trevor Lawrence?
The New York Jets shocked the Los Angeles Rams with a 23-20 win on Sunday. And they may have irreparably altered the future of their franchise in the process.
With the win, the Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars are now both 1-13 for the season. And since Jacksonville has the worse strength of schedule, they own the tiebreaker for the No. 1 pick.
There's a chance the strength of schedule could change in the final two games, but it seems unlikely.
The Jets can still finish with the top overall pick, so it's not a lock that Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence will end up in Jacksonville. But the Jets no longer have control: If they lose their final two games, Jacksonville would have to win one for the Jets to get the top pick. If the Jets win one of the final two games, the Jags would have to win both.
The chances of that happening? It's not impossible, but it's not likely: According to ESPN the Jaguars have a 71 percent chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick, and the Jets have a 29 percent chance. Before the game, the Jets were the team with a better than 70 percent chance, so this win was extremely costly.
But understandably, the players and coaches weren't apologizing for it after the game.
"Our job is to try and go out and win every week," Jets coach Adam Gase said when asked about fans being upset.
"Yeah, it doesn't affect us," quarterback Sam Darnold said, with a smile. "We're focused on one job every single week, and that's winning a game. Anything other than that, we're not focused on."
There's still a chance the Jets could be in position to draft Lawrence as Darnold's replacement. But it's not extremely likely.
For it to happen, the Jets need to lose their final two games; they host the Browns next week and finish the season at New England, which was eliminated from the playoffs on Sunday with a loss to the Dolphins.
Jets fans should also be pulling for the Jaguars' next two opponents to struggle.
Jacksonville hosts the Bears next week and play the Colts in Week 17. Both Chicago and Indianapolis are in playoff contention, and the Jaguars have lost 13 consecutive games. But the Jags' only win of the season came Week 1 against the Colts.
The Jets can't finish with worse than the No. 3 pick no matter what happens, and they're almost a lock to finish in the top two. But if they were to win their final two games of the season, they could finish with a better record than the Bengals (2-10-1), who play the Steelers on Monday Night Football to close out Week 15.
Andy Vasquez is the Jets beat writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to all Jets analysis, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.
Email: vasqueza@northjersey.com
Twitter: @andy_vasquez