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SEATTLE — The Jets have talked about being a playoff team, now they get to show that they mean it.
The 3-5 Jets know they have backed themselves into a tough road to make the postseason, but Antonio Cromartie promised a playoff berth, and many of his teammates said they think it is possible.
Any turnaround this season begins today against the Seahawks (5-4) at noisy CenturyLink Field.
“This is huge,” tight end Dustin Keller said. “We’re in a tough spot right now. We still have an opportunity. The season isn’t wasted or anything like that. We still have an opportunity. It’s just a matter of us capitalizing on it.”
The Jets have not capitalized on may opportunities lately. They ended the first half of their season with a 30-9 dud of a loss against the Dolphins at home. That game gave no one who follows the Jets confidence that this team is capable of going anywhere. The coaches spent the bye week examining what went wrong over the first eight games. They talked to players this week about cutting down on all the mistakes they made in the first half with red zone turnovers, ill-timed penalties and sloppy fundamentals.
Several Jets said they feel they should have won every game they played this year outside of the home loss to the Dolphins and the early blowout to the 49ers.
“I feel like if we don’t do some of the self-inflicted things our record could probably be flipped,” safety Yeremiah Bell said. “We think that. With this next stretch of the season, it’s going to be all about us doing the right thing and not helping teams to win ballgames.”
Turning it around today won’t be easy. The Seahawks are 4-0 at home with their famed “12th Man” giving them an advantage. They have the No. 4 defense in the NFL, a ball-swarming, attacking unit. Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson has exceeded expectations and running back Marshawn Lynch is on pace to have a career year.
A look inside the game:
MARQUEE MATCHUP
Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch vs. Jets front seven. Many of the Jets are familiar with Lynch from his days with the Bills, but he looks like a new man with the Seahawks, Since Week 9 of last season, he leads the NFL in rushing with 1,288 yards and 13 touchdowns. This season, he has the second-most yards after contact. Tackling has been a problem at times this year for the Jets, who are allowing the fourth-most yards after contact.
The Jets think they may be able to get Lynch to cough up the ball, though.
“You’ve got to have multiple guys to the football, there’s no doubt about it,” Bell said. “Over the years, he’s put the ball on the ground a couple of times (12 career fumbles), so I think our awareness has to be up. We have swarm tackle with the first guy wrapping him up and the rest of the guys trying to pull the football out.”
RATTLE THE ROOKIE
Wilson has been a find for Seahawks coach Pete Carroll. He has been outstanding, particularly at home — 4-0 in Seattle with a 120.2 quarterback rating, nine touchdowns and no interceptions. The Jets believe they can get to Wilson. They feel they can bait him into making some bad throws that could lead to an interception. Wilson has five touchdown passes on throws of 20 yards or more, so the Jets need to watch out for the deep ball.
SEEING RED
The Jets were No. 1 in the NFL in red-zone offense in 2011. This year? They are tied for 19th and have committed three interceptions inside the 20. Not all have been Mark Sanchez’s fault. There was a tipped ball and one was the result of a poor route. Still, Sanchez must be more careful when the Jets get into scoring territory.
“That’s where you have to be sharp and at our best, and we haven’t been this year,” Sanchez said. ”We’ve identified some of those things, and that’s where our emphasis will be. We just have to keep playing smart and really take care of the ball and don’t hurt ourselves.”
RUSH HOUR
The Jets’ pass rush has been a rumor again this year. They have 12 sacks, 29th in the league. But it seems as if they are trying to find ways to spark that area. They brought up rookie Marcus Dowtin to the active roster before the Dolphins game, and he did get to the quarterback (although he got flagged for hitting him in the head). This week, they moved Ricky Sapp, another player who has shown ability in practice to get to the quarterback, to the active roster. These two should cut into the reps of Aaron Maybin, who has been largely ineffective this year.
PRIORITY PROTECTION
When it comes to a pass rush, the Seahawks are almost as good as it gets. They have 25 sacks, third best in the NFL. Chris Clemons leads the team with seven sacks, followed by rookie Bruce Irvin with five. The Jets have had protection issues at times this season, allowing 19 sacks through eight games. If Sanchez is on his back, the Jets’ offense will go nowhere.
brian.costello@nypost.com