Eric Decker said on the NFL Network that Tom Brady’s impending Deflategate suspension will give the Jets a better opportunity to make the playoffs in 2016.
The Jets wide receiver says the AFC East is “up for grabs” with Brady sitting out four games.
Decker isn’t exactly breaking out any fancy analytics with that statement. It stands to reason that the Jets’ path to the AFC East title, or at least a playoff berth, is a little easier if Brady’s suspension holds up.
The problem is that it almost sounds like Decker is saying that it’s the Patriots’ plight rather than their own talent that will launch the Jets into the playoffs for the first time since 2010.
The Patriots have won the AFC East 12 times in the last 13 seasons. The only time they didn’t win the division is when Brady was lost for the 2008 season in Week 1. Except for that season, Brady has played 16 games every year since 2002. So one way to look at it is that no other team has won the AFC East since 2003 when Brady appears in more than one game.
Also, the Jets’ two games against the Patriots both come after Thanksgiving. So suspension or no suspension the Jets can expect to face Brady twice.
