NFL Overreactions Week 7
USA TODAY’s Prince Grimes breaks down the best games from NFL Week 7.
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Anything and everything has gone wrong for the winless Jets through the first seven weeks of the regular season as they’re now 0-7 and are in the drivers seat for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft.
The Jets have lost seven straight to open their 2025 campaign and have had plenty of drama come with it. This includes: last-minute loss to Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers in Week 1, dominated by the Buffalo Bills in Week 2, a miraculous fourth quarter comeback in Week 3 just to lose on a walk-off field goal to the Buccaneers, highly questionable clock management and coaching decisions by first-time head coach Aaron Glenn and players such as Breece Hall airing their frustrations publicly.
That doesn’t even include the QB change that took place this past weekend, when Glenn decided to bench starter Justin Fields at halftime and roll with veteran Tyrod Taylor for the remainder of the game while remaining noncommittal on who will be the starter in Week 8 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
The real question is when, or if, the suffering will ever end for the Jets and can they get in the win column this year?
Does it come next week against red-hot Joe Flacco and the Bengals, home against the Cleveland Browns the following week, or are we on 2020 watch where the Jets lost 14 straight games to open the season five years ago?
Here’s where I see the best chance for the Jets to pick up their first win and what their remaining schedule looks like:
When will New York Jets get their first win this season?
You would think that the Jets best opportunity should be next Sunday when they play the Bengals in Week 8, considering Cincinnati has one of the worst defenses in the NFL and could still be without four-time Pro Bowl and All-Pro defensive end Trey Hendrickson, who missed Week 7 with a hip injury and is still considered day-to-day according to head coach Zac Taylor.
However, given the Jets quarterback play and how well 40-year-old former Jets’ QB Joe Flacco is playing plus the unknown current status of Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner, the Jets would need a lot of things to fall their way in order to win this upcoming weekend.
After that, the next three games don’t seem within reach. In Week 10 the Jets host the Browns, who do have a rookie QB in Dillon Gabriel starting but have one of the top defensive units in the league. If they can’t get the job done there, it seems highly unlikely they’ll go into New England and beat the Patriots on the road on a short week in Week 11 followed by another road game against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens in Week 12.
Their best opportunity will come with a pair of home games in either Week 13 home versus the Falcons or Week 14 versus the Dolphins.
Atlanta on the surface seems like the answer given it’s a dome team traveling to East Rutherford the last weekend of November could spell trouble for a high flying Falcons offense, especially if the weather is bad.
Ultimately, my answer will come with the AFC East matchup in Week 14 versus the Dolphins. Miami may have gotten the best of them in South Beach back in Week 4, but with Tyrod Taylor likely having a few games under his belt and Wilson and Gardner back after their injuries, the Jets could be in a much better place than the Dolphins, who notoriously don’t fare well in cold weather games.
We all know about the 0-14 mark to start the 2020 season. Five years later, the Jets will nearly match that mark with an 0-13 record, but finally end the losing streak the first week of December to finally give Glenn, this organization and its fans their long awaited first win of the season.
Below is the New York Jets regular season schedule and results.
Week 1: Steelers 34, Jets 32Week 2: Bills 30, Jets 10Week 3: Buccaneers 29, Jets 27Week 4: Dolphins 27, Jets 21Week 5: Cowboys 37, Jets 22Week 6: Broncos 13, Jets 11 (London)Week 7: Panthers 13, Jets 6Week 8: Jets at Cincinnati Bengals, 1 p.m., Oct. 26, CBSWeek 9: Bye weekWeek 10: Jets vs. Cleveland Browns, 1 p.m., Nov. 9, CBSWeek 11: Jets at New England Patriots, 8:15 p.m., Nov. 13, Amazon PrimeWeek 12: Jets at Baltimore Ravens, 1 p.m., Nov. 23, CBSWeek 13: Jets vs. Atlanta Falcons, 1 p.m., Nov. 30, FOXWeek 14: Jets vs. Miami Dolphins, 1 p.m., Dec. 7, CBSWeek 15: Jets at Jacksonville Jaguars, 1 p.m., Dec. 14, CBSWeek 16: Jets at New Orleans Saints, 1 p.m., Dec. 21, CBSWeek 17: Jets vs. New England Patriots, 1 p.m., Dec. 28, CBSWeek 18: Jets at Buffalo Bills, TBD