Full New York Jets Midseason Awards

If the regular season ended now, the New York Jets would be one of the two wild-card teams. 

If the Jets keep playing the way they've played over the past two weeks, though, they will watch their surprising playoff season go up in smoke before they ever reach Week 17.

The Jets stormed out of the gate with two big wins in a row before suffering their first loss, which they then sandwiched with two more wins. Two straight losses have planted the seed of doubt that this team might not be all it's cracked up to be.

That being said, the second half of the Jets schedule gets off to a soft start with a two-game homestand against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday and Buffalo Bills on Thursday, followed by a mini-bye week before traveling to take on the Houston Texans 10 days later. Those three teams have a combined record of 8-14, so if there's any hope at all for the Jets to turn it around, these next three weeks are it.

We could be looking at a 7-3 Jets team through 10 games, but if they want to reach that goal, they'll need to get better output from some players who have underperformed and continued production from some of their key players. Here's a look at some midseason awards for the Jets. 

First-Half MVP: Darrelle Revis

Winslow Townson/Associated Press

As I found out on Twitter Tuesday, quite a few players could make a case for the Jets' midseason MVP: Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, Chris Ivory and Calvin Pryor, among others.

My vote was a tie for Darrelle Revis and Muhammad Wilkerson, on the premise that Wilkerson is having the better year but Revis is the better overall player. That being said, we've seen that a talented 5-technique defensive end like Wilkerson doesn't necessarily make a defense great (see Houston Texans and defensive end J.J. Watt), but a shutdown cornerback like Revis can make a defense elite.

Revis has played 298 coverage snaps and is targeted once per 8.3 cover snaps he plays, which is the fourth-best average in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus. He also ranks fourth in the NFL in coverage snaps per reception, with 16.6 snaps for each completion he allows. His 0.68 yards per coverage snap is the third-best average in the NFL. Revis also has three interceptions already on the season, which is more than he's had in a season since 2011.

In short, he is a big reason that the Jets still have a top-10 pass defense despite giving up more than 330 pass yards in each of their past two games. 

Most Improved Player: Calvin Pryor

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

Calvin Pryor is just another example of why it's important to allow a player to play to his strengths. The 2014 first-round pick was forced to play free safety as a rookie and struggled as a result. In moving back to strong safety in 2015, Pryor has thrived at his natural position and has proved that the Jets knew what they were doing in drafting him so high.

In 2014, Pryor was targeted 19 times and gave up 15 receptions for 88 yards and two touchdowns, according to Pro Football Focus. Fast-forward to Week 8 of the 2015 season, and Pryor has been targeted 25 times to the tune of 14 receptions for 135 yards and an interception. 

Pryor still has some work to do in taking the right angles to the ball-carrier and wrapping up for the tackle; he has missed seven tackles already in 2015. 

That being said, the Jets have found out the hard way just how important Pryor is to their defense. He has been banged up this season; he suffered a knee injury in early October and an ankle injury against the New England Patriots in Week 7, causing him to miss Week 8 against the Oakland Raiders. Without Pryor, the Jets defense has struggled. 

Biggest Disappointment: Devin Smith

Adam Hunger/Associated Press

Much like the first-half MVP, this award was tied between rookie wide receiver Devin Smith and rookie outside linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin. The deciding factor was this: The Jets knew early on that they did not want Mauldin to be a starting linebacker for their defense; they wanted him to learn the ins and outs of the position behind veteran Calvin Pace.

Smith, on the other hand, has missed an opportunity to be the Jets' No. 3 wide receiver. Smith was injured during training camp and missed all those practice reps as well as the first two games of the season. Now that he has made his debut, he has shown he still has a lot of work to do in order to catch up to the rest of the team.

Through four games, Smith has pulled in just six passes for 60 yards. According to Pro Football Focus, two of the passes thrown his way were intercepted. 

The Jets have been able to call on other pass-catchers such as Quincy Enunwa, Chris Owusu and Jeremy Kerley, but the Jets clearly had very high hopes for the second-rounder Smith to produce as a rookie. 

Rookie of the Year: Leonard Williams

Winslow Townson/Associated Press

File this one under "D" for "duh."

The Jets were praised as geniuses in the immediate aftermath of the selection of defensive lineman Leonard Williams with the sixth overall pick in the 2015 draft. In reality, they just made the common-sense decision to draft the best player on their board regardless of his position.

They were then called lucky for having drafted Williams after the league suspended veteran defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson for the first four games of the season. In reality, their common-sense decision just paid off more quickly than anyone could have anticipated—even those who thought the Jets drafted Williams in response to the ongoing contract dispute with veteran lineman Muhammad Wilkerson.

Call the series of circumstances whatever you want to call it: smart, lucky or simply a perfect storm. But the Jets wouldn't look as good as they look if Williams wasn't playing as well as he's been playing. Through four games, he has 27 total pressures (15 hurries, 11 hits, one sack) which is the fourth-most for any 3-4 defensive end in the league through Week 8, according to Pro Football Focus. 

Williams is obviously the Jets' best rookie, but he might even be a contender for Defensive Rookie of the Year when this season is in the books. 

Most Important Win of the Season: vs. Miami Dolphins, Week 4

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The Philadelphia Eagles handed the Jets a 24-17 loss at MetLife Stadium—a loss much worse than the final score indicates, as the Jets were behind 24-0 in the first half.

Week 4 against the Miami Dolphins at Wembley Stadium gave Jets head coach Todd Bowles his first chance to prove his team had some resiliency—that the Jets could respond to adversity and keep themselves afloat in the race for a playoff spot. 

But winning the game wasn't enough for the Jets. They wanted to lay the smackdown on the Dolphins, and that's exactly what they did on their way to a 27-14 win across the pond. 

In a lot of ways, it was a signature Jets win. The running game mauled the Dolphins defense to the tune of 207 yards and two touchdowns on 43 carries, and the Jets defense stuffed the Dolphins offense both in the running game (11 carries, 59 yards) and passing game (three sacks, two interceptions, 43.2 percent completions).

This win was everything the Jets needed, at just the right time.

Worst Injury: Ryan Fitzpatrick

Ben Margot/Associated Press

No injury is a good injury, but some injuries are worse than others. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick tore ligaments in his left (non-throwing) thumb, according to head coach Todd Bowles, but there's still some question as to whether he'll miss time—and how much.

"Yeah, he's got ligament damage in his left thumb and eventually he'll need to (have surgery)," Bowles said. "It's a matter of a pain level, so he'll be day to day."

The Jets have enough pieces on both offense and defense that they just need their quarterback to not be a turnover machine—to keep the offense on course and out of bad situations. Through seven games, Fitzpatrick had mostly done that. 

Unless he can play through the pain, or Geno Smith can suddenly transform from turnover machine to game manager, the Jets offense might be in trouble without Fitzpatrick. 

Most Underrated Player: Marcus Gilchrist

Seth Wenig/Associated Press

With names such as Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Calvin Pryor running through the Jets secondary, it's no surprise as to how a player such as Marcus Gilchrist can fly under the radar. That shouldn't mean that he gets overlooked for his role as an important piece to the Jets defense.

Gilchrist had a tough day against Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski, giving up completions on nine of the 10 passes thrown into his coverage for 94 yards and a touchdown, but outside of that game, he's been superlative. He's allowed just five completions on 14 throws into his coverage for 43 yards.

Gilchrist was seen as a square peg in a round hole at free safety, but so far, he has proved the Jets coaching staff made the right call in moving him and allowing Pryor to get back to strong safety.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained via team news release. All advanced stats obtained via ProFootballFocus.com unless otherwise noted.