Jets Keep Wild Card Playoff Hopes Alive with Lackluster Win over Tepid Cowboys

As there usually is with the New York Jets, there is good news and bad news.

The good news is that in downing the Dallas Cowboys 19-16 Saturday night at AT&T Stadium, the Jets kept their wild-card hopes in the AFC very much alive. It's the first time since 2010 that the Jets have won four straight and nine in a season.

These are all good things.

But this silver lining has a dark cloud. In a sloppy win over a Dallas team that was mathematically eliminated in Week 15 but practically eliminated in Week 2, the Jets looked very much like a wild-card team—one set for a quick exit if it does make the postseason.

The good news is that Ryan Fitzpatrick continued his career campaign under center for the Jets. The bearded one threw for 132 yards in the fourth quarter alone as he led the Jets to a come-from-behind win. His 26th touchdown pass of the season is a personal best.

The bad news is the Jets had to come from behind against a Dallas team that started the game with Matt Cassel under center and ended it with Kellen Moore.

Cassel got the hook in large part because he managed to do something I didn't think was possible—throw an interception and get flagged for intentional grounding on the same play.

No, really. That happened:

Moore had never been active in an NFL game, much less played a snap. That he threw three interceptions surprised absolutely no one.

Tailback Chris Ivory, who entered the contest leading the AFC in rushing with 914 yards, was a non-factor, gaining only 37 yards on 13 carries. That forced Fitzpatrick to the air 39 times, which is not generally a recipe for success for the Jets. In games this season where Fitz has thrown it that many times, the Jets are 2-3. When he lofts 38 attempts or fewer, they are 7-2.

Yes, there were key contributions from role players like Quincy Enunwa and Kenbrell Thompkins, who caught a 43-yard rainbow from Fitzpatrick to set up Randy Bullock's game-winning kick.

But had Bullock not missed a field goal and an extra point in the first half, those heroics would not have been necessary. And while Fitzpatrick lauded his team after the game, even he admitted to NFL Network sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson that the Jets didn't play especially well:

"

We didn't play well in the first half. Their defense played a really good game, and we knew they were solid coming in, but we just had all kinds of guys stepping up. Enunwa with a huge third-down catch, and on the last drive Kenbrell steps up to make a huge catch down the sideline. So everybody's contributing and we've got a lot of confidence.

"

Yes, an ugly win counts the same in the standings as a stylish one. But in advance of a Week 16 showdown with the New England Patriots, this performance didn't instill much of that confidence Fitzpatrick spoke of.

It was a similarly mixed bag for the defense. The good news is that a Jets team that entered Week 15 tied for the AFC lead in takeaways forced four interceptions and allowed only a single touchdown:

Of course, those interceptions came with the disclaimer of, um, Cassel's intentionalception and Kellen "Wait, I'm playing?" Moore.

And that same Jets defense allowed more than 300 yards of total offense to a team on its 23rd (and 24th—approximately) quarterback, and that was without Dez Bryant for part of the night. A Gang Green run defense allowing fewer than 80 yards per game entering Saturday on the ground was gashed for 133.

This looked more like the Jets team that lost to the 6-7 Oakland Raiders and the 6-7 Houston Texans than the squad that blew out the 3-10 Tennessee Titans last week. A team whose 9-5 record comes with the caveat that it's played only one opponent all season that currently has a winning record.

The aforementioned Patriots.

Now, the Jets can only play the schedule that's placed before them. There are a lot of bad teams in the NFL this year. And a win next week at home against Darth Hoodie and the Beantown Stormtroopers could be the catalyst for the sort of deep playoff run that Eli Manning and MetLife Stadium's other tenants have made twice in recent years.

The good news is that the Jets are better in Todd Bowles' first season as head coach. Quite a bit better. And in late December the Jets are not only still in the hunt but will control their own destiny if either the Pittsburgh Steelers or Kansas City Chiefs lose this week. With the Patriots and Bills to go, if the Jets win out, they are in under that scenario.

The 8-5 Pittsburgh Steelers have AFC heavy-hitter Denver this week before finishing the season against the AFC North underbelly in Baltimore and Cleveland. The similarly 8-5 Kansas City Chiefs get to duck a tough game (on paper) late. With the Ravens, Browns and Raiders left, the Chiefs are in if they win out.

Nothing is certain, but in Week 15 at least, the Jets held up their end.

The bad news is that if Saturday's uneven performance against a bad Dallas team is any indication, the odds of that catalytic victory and deep playoff run aren't especially good.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter, @IDPSharks.