With two games left on the 2025 NFL regular-season calendar, a large chunk of New York Jets fans have shifted into full tank mode.
If you’re asking me, losing out probably does more for the franchise than squeezing out a late, feel-good win. The Jets face a pair of uphill battles to close the season, with matchups against the 12-4 New England Patriots and the 11-4 Buffalo Bills.
No matter what any fan’s particular rooting interest may be, the odds of the Jets playing spoiler are slim at best.
Still, that’s the beauty of being a fan. There’s no wrong way to root. No one needs to be lectured on what outcome to hope for, least of all the loyal Gang Green diehards who have ridden out another long year.
For those firmly aboard the tank train, it’s time to get back to it with our tank rooting guide. Here’s how the New York Jets can climb up the draft board this week.
The current draft order (top 10)
This weekend, the New York Jets will have an opportunity to rise to No. 2 overall in the draft order. By Sunday night, the Jets could find themselves in the two-hole—if certain things break correctly.
As of Dec. 27, here is the current top 10 of the 2026 NFL draft order:
New York Giants (2-13, .530 SOS)
Las Vegas Raiders (2-13, .542 SOS)
Cleveland Browns (3-12, .492 SOS)
New York Jets (3-12, .543 SOS)
Tennessee Titans (3-12, .572 SOS)
Arizona Cardinals (3-12, .578 SOS)
Washington Commanders (4-12, .504 SOS)
New Orleans Saints (5-10, .498 SOS)
Cincinnati Bengals (5-10, .517 SOS)
Kansas City Chiefs (6-10, .513 SOS)
The Jets currently hold the strength-of-schedule tiebreaker over the Tennessee Titans and Arizona Cardinals, while remaining less than 0.01 percentage points behind the No. 2-ranked Las Vegas Raiders. The Jets also own the tiebreaker over the New York Giants, a significant edge in a crowded race near the top of the draft board.
The problem is Cleveland.
The gap between the Jets’ SOS and the Browns’ is steep enough that tiebreakers likely won’t be enough to close it. For New York to jump Cleveland, it would almost certainly need to finish with an outright worse record.
Even so, the path to the No. 2 overall pick remains very much alive entering this week.
The Jets’ path to the No. 2 pick
Here are the outcomes New York needs to have a chance of claiming the second overall pick by the end of Week 17:
The New York Jets falling to the New England Patriots.
The Cleveland Browns defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The New York Giants defeating the Las Vegas Raiders.
That magical scenario would give the Jets the No. 2 pick, and create a top four that looks like this:
Las Vegas Raiders (2-14)
New York Jets (3-13)
New York Giants (3-13)
Cleveland Browns (4-12)
At that point, the Raiders wouldn’t need to worry about tiebreakers at No. 1, while the Jets would have the strength-of-schedule edge over their crosstown rivals.
Strength of schedule (SOS) would become the deciding factor moving forward. That’s where the Jets catch a break. New York is well within striking distance of the Raiders, whose SOS is less than 0.01 percentage points lower, making that tiebreaker easily flippable, as noted above.
The most essential NFL matchups
Per Tankathon, the following matchups carry the most influence on the strength-of-schedule race between the Jets and Raiders:
New York Jets Week 17 Tank Rooting Guide, Important Matchups, Tankathon
Each star reflects a half-game swing in New York’s favor, either a win by an opponent on Las Vegas’ schedule or a loss by a team the Jets have faced. The more stars, the more weight the game holds in the Jets’ SOS battle vs. LV.
Here is a list of the games worth tracking that could swing the Jets’ strength-of-schedule tiebreakers against the Raiders, ordered by how much they influence New York’s SOS positioning:
3-star (1.5 games): Philadelphia Eagles win @ Buffalo Bills
2-star (1.0 games): Tennessee Titans win vs. New Orleans Saints
1-star (0.5 games): Los Angeles Chargers win vs. Houston Texans
1-star (0.5 games): Green Bay Packers win vs. Baltimore Ravens
1-star (0.5 games): Indianapolis Colts win vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
1-star (0.5 games): Tampa Bay Buccaneers win @ Miami Dolphins
1-star (0.5 games): Seattle Seahawks win @ Carolina Panthers
1-star (0.5 games): Arizona Cardinals win @ Cincinnati Bengals
1-star (0.5 games): Cleveland Browns win vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
1-star (0.5 games): Chicago Bears win @ San Francisco 49ers
1-star (0.5 games): Los Angeles Rams win @ Atlanta Falcons
Note: While a Colts win over the Jaguars would provide a slight boost for the Jets in an SOS tiebreaker against the Raiders, the better outcome for the Jets is a Jacksonville victory. New York owns Indianapolis’ first-round pick, and the priority is maximizing its position on the draft board.
The Jets fans’ pro-tank NFL rooting guide
While adding in the SOS tiebreaker games, here are all the results pro-tank fans should be rooting for on Sunday:
New York Jets loss vs. New England Patriots
Cleveland Browns win vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
New York Giants win @ Las Vegas Raiders
Philadelphia Eagles win @ Buffalo Bills
Tennessee Titans win vs. New Orleans Saints
Los Angeles Chargers win vs. Houston Texans
Green Bay Packers win vs. Baltimore Ravens
Indianapolis Colts win vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Tampa Bay Buccaneers win @ Miami Dolphins
Seattle Seahawks win @ Carolina Panthers
Arizona Cardinals win @ Cincinnati Bengals
Cleveland Browns win vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Chicago Bears win @ San Francisco 49ers
Los Angeles Rams win @ Atlanta Falcons
Keep this in mind: for the Jets to win the SOS tiebreaker this week over the Raiders, everything does not need to break perfectly. To realistically stay in the mix for the top overall pick, Gang Green must lose, Cleveland must lose, and a Raiders win over the Giants would be the most favorable outcome.
With the league’s only two-win teams, the Giants and Raiders, set to face each other Sunday, no other club can reach the top spot in the draft order by the end of the week.
As a result, No. 2 overall is the highest the Jets can finish when Sunday’s slate wraps up; however, by rooting for the SOS tiebreakers, with a Week 18 loss and a few other bounces that can put the Jets in position to ultimately earn the No. 1 selection in April’s draft.
Hopefully, in the coming years, these late-season rooting guides will be for the Jets to clinch the AFC East, not to secure the highest possible draft pick.