The 2017 New York Jets were supposed to be a total disaster. Like, "0-16 is a real possibility" kind of disaster. Before the season even kicked off, the national media was sharpening their knives. ESPN’s Mike Clay famously projected them to win about zero games. People were calling it one of the most blatant tanking efforts in the history of modern sports. Looking back, it’s easy to see why. The roster looked like a preseason depth chart from a team nobody cared about.
They had just purged the locker room. Gone were Brandon Marshall, Eric Decker, Nick Mangold, and Darrelle Revis. In their place? A journeyman quarterback named Josh McCown who was roughly 100 years old and a bunch of kids nobody had heard of. But then something weird happened. The games started. And they didn't just lose every week.
They actually competed.
The Josh McCown Era and the Offense That Could
Honestly, Josh McCown shouldn't have been that good. He was 38. He had played for half the teams in the league. Yet, in 2017, he became the soul of the 2017 New York Jets. He finished the year with 18 touchdowns and 9 interceptions, completing over 67% of his passes. That's a career year for a guy who was basically hired to be a human sacrifice while the team waited to draft Sam Darnold.
The connection he found with Robby Anderson—now Robbie Chosen—was electric. Anderson went for 941 yards and seven scores. He was this skinny, undrafted kid from Temple who just ran past everyone. It was playground football at its finest. Then you had Jermaine Kearse, who came over in the Sheldon Richardson trade right before the season. He provided the steady hands.
It wasn't a "good" offense by league standards, ranking 28th in total yards, but it had heart. They’d hang around. They’d keep games close. They’d frustrate the hell out of teams that were objectively more talented. If you remember the Week 3 win against the Dolphins, it was the first sign that this team wasn't going to just lay down and die.
Jamal Adams, Marcus Maye, and the New Identity
The 2017 draft changed the vibe. Taking Jamal Adams at number six and then Marcus Maye in the second round was a statement. Mike Maccagnan, the GM at the time, caught a lot of flak for doubling down on safeties, but for that one year, it looked brilliant. They were the "New Jack City" secondary.
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Adams was a fireball. He was everywhere. He was hitting people like they owed him money and trash-talking every veteran in the league. It gave the 2017 New York Jets an edge they hadn't had since the Rex Ryan days.
Demario Davis was another huge part of that defense. He actually led the team with 135 tackles. People forget that Davis was a Jet twice; his 2017 stint was probably the best individual season by a Jets linebacker in a decade. He was the glue. Alongside him, guys like Leonard Williams were still high-ceiling prospects who commanded double teams. They weren't a top-five unit, but they were physical. They made you earn every yard.
The Games That Defined the Season
The schedule was brutal, but the wins were memorable. That Week 5 win against the Browns? Ugly as hell, but it was a win. The Week 10 win against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday Night Football? That was the peak.
The Jets wore those all-green Color Rush uniforms and absolutely demolished Buffalo. They had seven sacks. The stadium was actually shaking. For one night, the 2017 New York Jets looked like a playoff team. It felt like the "tanking" narrative had been shoved back down the throats of everyone in Bristol, Connecticut.
But there were also the heartbreakers. The Week 6 game against the Patriots still haunts Jets fans. The Austin Seferian-Jenkins "fumble/touchback" call. If you know, you know. He caught a touchdown, but the refs ruled he fumbled it into the end zone and out of bounds. It changed the entire momentum of the season.
"I still don't know what a catch is," was the common refrain from fans that Monday morning.
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If they win that game, they’re 4-2. They’re leading the AFC East. The trajectory of the Todd Bowles era might have been completely different. Instead, it was a reminder that when you’re the Jets, the universe usually finds a way to remind you who you are.
Why 5-11 Felt Like 10-6
Expectations are everything in sports. If you expect a Super Bowl and go 8-8, the season is a failure. If everyone says you’re going 0-16 and you win five games—and lead in the fourth quarter of four others—it feels like a triumph.
Todd Bowles actually did some of his best coaching this year. He kept that locker room together even when the wheels started coming off late in the season. When Josh McCown broke his hand against the Broncos in Week 14, the season was effectively over. Bryce Petty came in, and... well, let’s just say the drop-off was steep.
But the 2017 New York Jets left a legacy. They proved that culture matters more than "tanking" for a high pick. They played hard for each other. You saw it in the way they celebrated in the end zone—this was the year of the choreographed team dances. They were having fun.
The analytics guys hated it. They said the Jets were "winning their way out of a franchise QB." And maybe they were right. Winning five games pushed them to the 6th pick, which eventually led to the trade-up for Sam Darnold in 2018. If they had gone 1-15, they could have stayed put and taken whoever they wanted.
Lessons from the 2017 Campaign
What can we actually learn from this specific year? For one, "paper rosters" are almost always wrong. The 2017 New York Jets were a collection of "cast-offs" and "nobodies" who outperformed a dozen teams with much higher payrolls.
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It also showed the value of a bridge quarterback. Josh McCown didn't just play well; he mentored the entire roster. He was the "Dad" of the team. In a league that usually treats veteran backups like disposable assets, McCown proved that the right veteran can stabilize a sinking ship.
Lastly, it served as a warning about the "rebuild" process. You can have all the heart in the world, but if you don't find the long-term answer at quarterback, the "feel-good" 5-11 seasons eventually turn into "fire everybody" 4-12 seasons.
Actionable Takeaways for Football Students
If you’re looking back at this season to understand how to evaluate NFL teams today, keep these things in mind:
- Watch the point differential, not just the record. The Jets were -83 in 2017, which isn't great, but it was far better than the 0-16 Browns or the 3-13 Giants. They were usually a one-score game away from a win.
- Identify "Year 2" leaps. Marcus Maye and Jamal Adams showed that hitting on defensive back picks can immediately change a team's defensive identity, even if the record doesn't reflect it yet.
- Evaluate the "Bridge QB" impact. When looking at modern teams like the 2024-2025 Raiders or Vikings, look for the "McCown Effect"—a veteran who protects the ball and allows young receivers like Robby Anderson to develop.
- Don't trust August predictions. Every year, one team is designated as the "Tank Team." Half the time, they end up like the 2017 Jets: too scrappy to actually lose enough to get the #1 pick.
The 2017 New York Jets weren't champions. They weren't even "good" by the literal definition of the word. But they were a reminder of why we watch the games. On any given Sunday, a group of guys who "don't belong" can make a lot of experts look very, very stupid.
If you're researching this era for fantasy trends or historical betting data, focus on the home/away splits from this season. The Jets were 4-4 at MetLife but 1-7 on the road. That home-field grit was the defining characteristic of a team that refused to be the punchline of a national joke. They finished the season with their heads up, which is more than most people expected in August.