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It didn’t take long for one national analyst to end up with a huge egg on their face.
On Thursday, December 8 “Good Morning Football” co-host Kyle Brandt provided a spicy take on the New York Jets playoff chances.
What happens with the Jets game on Sunday versus the Buffalo Bills is obviously still very much to be determined. However, we didn’t have to wait until the weekend for one of his takes to burst into flames.
Raiders Go Down in Flames Along With Brandt’s Take
Usually, when people make bad takes it takes a little bit of time for it to come to light. However, in this very rare scenario, Brandt’s take on the Raiders expired the same day he made it.
On top of putting the Jets down, he simultaneously put all of his stock into the Las Vegas Raiders:
“I feel like the Jets are going to lose [to the Buffalo Bills]. There are these other teams in the AFC that have all of the momentum now that are really cooking. Some of them have really bad records but they’re coming, they’re coming hard. I’m thinking about teams that are weird, the Raiders who started off so badly. I am just so much more into them right now than the Jets.”
After starting off the season at 2-7, the Raiders had won three games in a row including two of those in overtime.
However, Las Vegas’ winning ways came to a screeching halt in embarrassing fashion to kick off Week 14 on Thursday Night Football.
With 12:20 remaining in the fourth quarter the Raiders were up 16-3 on the Los Angeles Rams. However, on the other side of the field was a reenergized Baker Mayfield who was claimed off of waivers two days prior.
The former No. 1 overall pick orchestrated a historic comeback highlighted by a final drive that went 98 yards. Mayfield tossed the game-winning touchdown pass to Van Jefferson with 10 seconds remaining to tie the game and an extra point sealed the win 17-16.
This takes us back to Brandt’s take that he liked the Raiders over the Jets in the AFC playoff race. With this crushing loss, Las Vegas drops to 5-8 and now sits at No. 12 in the conference.
If the Raiders won out (beating New England, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, and Kansas City) they’d finish with a 9-8 record as their best-case scenario. Even if that happened, as unlikely as it appears, that still wouldn’t guarantee Las Vegas a playoff spot.
Evaluating Jets Playoff Chances, Bills Matchup
While the Raiders may be down and out, the Jets are still firmly in the AFC wildcard race.
Gang Green is 7-5 and owns the final seed in the AFC playoff picture. With the Raiders falling completely out of the mix there are now two teams hot on their heels:
- New England Patriots (6-6)
- Los Angeles Chargers (6-6)
The Patriots own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Jets by virtue of the series sweep this season. So long story short Gang Green wants to stay as far away from New England as possible.
The Jets and Chargers don’t play this year so head-to-head won’t come into play. That means the next tie-breaker is conference wins and while the Jets appear in good shape in that category, you don’t want to play the tiebreaker game.
Up next is a rematch against the top seed in the AFC (Buffalo) and this is a massive game for the Jets. If they win their playoff chances become much more of a reality. If they lose, Gang Green will get closer to the rest of the pack who is clawing to get into the dance.
Brandt’s prediction about Mike White imploding against the Bills and losing could come true, we’ll find that out on Sunday. However, at least we know he was wrong on his Jets-Raiders playoff take.
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