It’s “win out or bust” for the Jets.
That was the verdict yesterday from veteran outside linebacker Calvin Pace, who says Gang Green has no choice but to go 6-0 the rest of the way if it hopes to make the playoffs simply because the rest of the AFC — particularly the North Division — is so strong.
Asked whether an unbeaten finish or even 5-1 could sneak the Jets into the postseason for the third year in a row, Pace said: “Six-and-oh. We just need to win, and win the games we’re supposed to win.”
That self-imposed uphill climb begins tomorrow afternoon against the 5-5 Bills at MetLife Stadium. The Jets’ next three games — Buffalo, at Washington and vs. Kansas City — are all highly winnable, but a finishing kick of Philadelphia, the Giants and a trip to Miami looks imposing.
History says the Jets should probably break out their golf clubs now. The team last won at least six consecutive regular-season games in 1998 and has pulled off that feat just three other times in its 52-year history — in 1969, 1974 and 1986.
But Pace, who was seconded by several other Jets, said the team probably has no other choice. Losing too many allegedly winnable games has forced the Jets to adopt a “playoffs start now” mentality.
“We can’t depend on anybody else to lose,” Pace said. “If we win the rest of our games, we’ll be fine. That’s the mindset we’ve got to go in with. Stop putting ourselves in a hole and having to hope somebody else slips up.
“That’s the story of our season the past three years, where we had to make these miraculous pushes at the end when it should have never come to that.”
Running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who isn’t expected to play against Buffalo because of a knee injury, agreed with Pace’s stance that only a spotless finish will get the Jets in.
“We do have to win these last six games,” Tomlinson said. “When you look at 10-6, I don’t know [about the Jets making the playoffs]. The North is so strong, and Pittsburgh and Baltimore are up on us. So us having to win out is where we are.”
The Jets can probably write off the AFC East title to New England, which has a two-game lead and swept the season series, but the North is making it problematic for Rex Ryan’s team, too.
The Ravens are 8-3 after a crucial win over the 49ers on Thursday, while the Steelers are 7-3, and the 6-4 Bengals have at least a one-game lead and a tiebreaker edge over the Jets for the final wild-card spot in current playoff scenarios.
Asked if he agreed with Pace’s dire assessment, Ryan said he thought a 5-1 finish would probably sneak the Jets into the playoffs but that going 6-0 “is what you want the mentality to be.”
“I don’t know if that’s factual or not,” Ryan said of Pace’s prediction. “I feel pretty good about getting in there at 5-1, but 6-0 sounds good.”
Ryan, though, didn’t share Pace’s glowing praise of the North’s top three teams and specifically excluded Cincinnati when listing that division’s heavyweights.
Ryan could certainly use a flop by the Bengals, who still have to play the Ravens and Steelers in the season’s final six weeks.
“I don’t know how stocked [the North] is,” Ryan said. “Maybe the records say that. I don’t know. We’ll see. I’m not afraid of any of those team.”