NFL Season Preview: New York Jets

The Jets have been spending the past few months trying to fit a three-year rebuilding mode into just one offseason.

Last season, they were one of the laughing-stocks of the NFL, but they made plenty of moves to improve their team.

They bolstered their offensive line in free agency and helped their defense in the draft.

So what is all the help going to bring them for next season?

Key Addition/Subtraction

Alan Faneca—From the Steelers

Jonathan Vilma—To the Saints

Key Games

Sept. 14, vs. Patriots: The Pats are going to be strong again, but this game will show just how far the Jets have come this offseason, seeing how well they battle in this game.

Oct. 19, vs. Raiders: This is going to be a battle between two of the most improved teams from last season. It will be interesting to see which team comes out on top.

Nov. 23, at Titans: These two teams are going to be close in talent and that should create a close, interesting game that might end up coming down to the very end.

Dec. 14, vs. Bills: This could be a game with two teams trying to get a Wild Card spot. Both of these teams have potential, and this is going to be a good, hard-fought game.

Season Outlook

This is a team that added some talent with Alan Faneca, Vernon Gholsten, Tony Richardson, Jesse Chatman, Kris Jenkins, Calvin Pace, Bubba Franks, Damien Woody, and Dustin Keller to help with their talent and depth at many positions.

They still seem like they need stability at quarterback, and I'm not sure that Chad Pennington is going to take them deep because he can't throw the ball over 30 yards.

Jerricho Cotchery and Laveranues Coles are a good receiving combo, and if they can get a QB to throw to them, they could pose big threats to opposing teams.

Thomas Jones is going to be helped by the addition of Jesse Chatman, and could prove that he just needs a good second back like he did in Chicago with Cedric Benson.

Their revamped defense is going to be better, despite the loss of Vilma. They added two linebackers and a defensive lineman to help create a better front seven.

My Prediction

It's hard to completely turn around a team in just one year, but the Jets certainly took a better shot at it than anybody.

I would put them at somewhere between 6-10 and 8-8.

I'm Joe W.

Joe also writes for TheDailyCub.com, a Chicago Cubs blog, and Hoops4Life.com, a basketball fan's site.