Playoff Preview: New York Jets

Offensive MVP: WR Santonio Holmes

After missing the first four games of the season, Holmes was amazingly able to come back and fit into a new offense with the Jets. Holmes gave QB Mark Sanchez an instant security blanket, a guy he could rely on in big situations. The former Steeler has always had flair for the dramatic, and has been absolutely clutch this year, helping the Jets win three close games in a row in dramatic fashion. Holmes cooled off a bit at the end of the season, and everyone will remember the big drop he had against Miami, but expect the former Super Bowl MVP to have a big playoff run.

Defensive MVP: LB David Harris

No player has really stuck out this year, and a strong case can be made that S Jim Leonard was their defensive MVP before he went down with a season ending injury in week 12. The best player this year is probably the most unsung hero on the Jets defense. Harris is a consistent player that leads the team in tackles with 99 to go along with 3 sacks and a forced fumble.

Best Win: Week 15 at Pittsburgh

After being blown out by the Patriots 45-3, and then losing a close match-up against the Dolphins, many thought the Jets may have an epic collapse and miss the playoffs. Coming out and beating a very good Steelers team in a hostile environmental was a huge win. They showed a lot of toughness and character in this game. Their team could have easily made excuses and come out and played flat. Instead they rallied and showed those two losses were more of an aberration. If the Jets can beat the Colts in the first round of the playoffs, they will most likely end up facing the Steelers again and they know they can match-up with them even on the road.

Rookie Grade: D-

The Jets only had 4 draft picks but none of them had an impact this year. The Jets expected big things from first round pick CB Kyle Wilson but after starting the first two games, he basically disappeared and has not really had much impact this year. Second round pick G Vlad Ducasse had a chance to start at guard where the Jets were very weak, but was not able to win a starting position. RB Joe McKnight, who the Jets kept over RB Danny Woodhead, has been disappointing and did not really see the field until the end of the season. Overall, a underwhelming rookie class.

How Can They Make It To The Super Bowl: Mark Sanchez

Quarterbacks like Rex Grossman, Trent Dilfer, Brad Johnson have shown that you don't necessarily need to be a star quarterback to lead your team to the super bowl. The Jets need Sanchez to be smart with the football and manage the game. The Jets have a lot of talented players around him that can make plays on their own, but when Sanchez has a bad game like he did against the Patriots and Dolphins in week 13 and 14, he gives his team no chance to win. The Jets have struggled with extra time off (lost first game of season, game after bye week, and long lead up to the Patriots game), and considering most of their starters sat out last game, it will be interesting to see if the trend continues.