Written by Buddy Crutchfield | 18 April 2012

Who says Mark Sanchez won't have a starting job in 2013?!?

And so it begins.

We may be in the early days of spring, but the Jets have already started their inevitable march to a top-10 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft. That's right. We're still eight days away from the 2012 NFL Draft and we've already thrown in the towel on the upcoming season. Not since the Rich Kotite days have I felt the Jets are as clueless and misguided as they are right now. If you want Jets highlights to be at the top of SportsCenter, then you'll enjoy the 2012 season. If you want the Jets to make the playoffs, then you'll be disappointed. Even with a schedule that ranks among the easier in the NFL (20th in difficulty), the team's failure to address right tackle, wide receiver, a second running back, a pass rusher, an aging linebacking corps, safety, and a PUNTER(!!!), along with adding the most famous backup quarterback in football history to a roster with the most mentally fragile quarterback in football history has doomed the 2012 campaign before it can even begin.

Despite these pessimistic missives, the Jets will still play 16 games this fall. And since there is no fast-forward button on the NFL calendar, we will have to endure the embarrassment that will be the 2012 season.

So without further ado, similar to last year's format, here is Buddy's Broodings on the 2012 New York Jets Schedule.

BUDDY'S BROODINGS

Week 1: Sun., 9/9, vs. Bills, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Buddy's Broodings: Eh. A winnable game but a tough opponent. The start of the Tebow Era should be expedited as Mario Williams flicks Wayne Hunter out of his way, and detaches mark Sanchez's right arm from his body. (Just kidding. That would be anticlimactic. Tebow Time will have to wait.)

Prediction: Bills 17, Jets 16 (0-1)

Week 2: Sun., 9/16, @Steelers, 4:15 p.m. (CBS)

Buddy's Broodings: I've yet to regain feeling in my toes from the AFC Championship Game. A place where nothing good ever happens. Two of my worst football memories happened in that stadium. I can't see this going well.

Prediction: Steelers 23, Jets 10 (0-2)
 

Week 3: Sun., 9/23, @Dolphins, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Buddy's Broodings: Perhaps the only team more clueless than the Jets, the Dolphins still don't have a quarterback. With that said, Ryan Tannehill may be better than either of the Jets' options, but in his third career start he won't find a way to beat Rex and Revis.

Prediction: Jets 23, Dolphins 9 (1-2)

Week 4: Sun., 9/30, vs. 49ers, 1 p.m. (FOX)

Buddy's Broodings: The Jets last hosted the 49ers on Oct 17, 2004, a game the Jets won 22-14 thanks to a 13-point fourth quarter. The win marked the best start in Jets history at 5-0. History won't repeat itself (in either case).

Prediction: 49ers 20, Jets 13 (1-3)

Week 5: Mon., 10/8, vs. Texans, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Prediction: Rex Ryan defenses always play well against the Texans, and the Jets have never lost to the Houston franchise. They will delay the complete organizational meltdown and win this one.

Jets 27, Texans 21 (2-3)

Week 6: Sun., 10/14, vs. Colts, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Buddy's Broodings: Andrew Luck comes one fourth-and-goal completion away from earning his career double-digit comeback. The Jets barely hold on.

Jets 17, Colts 13 (3-3)

Week 7: Sun., 10/21, @Patriots, 4:15 p.m. (CBS)

Buddy's Broodings: Back at .500, the Jets will say they've turned a corner and mastered the Wildcat...and then they'll play the Patriots. Expect lots of "unnamed Jets sources" to "vent" to Rich Cimini after the game. This will be ugly.

Prediction: Patriots 38, Jets 10 (3-4)

Week 8: Sun., 10/28, vs. Dolphins, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Buddy's Broodings: Mark Sanchez's demise will begin picking up steam as the Jets squeak out a victory. Fans will begin clamoring for Tebow. He'll start getting more reps in practice. The Bye week will be miserable.

Prediction: Jets 16, Dolphins 6 (4-4)

Week 9: Bye

Prediction: Teeeeeee-bow! Teeeeeee-bow!

 

Week 10: Sun., 11/11, @Seahawks, 4:05 p.m. (CBS)

Buddy's Broodings: A miserable, terrible place for a fragile road team to play. I can already see Pete Carroll running around in his khakis celebrating on the sideline and Marshawn Lynch dying of a Skittles overdose. Tebow Time is upon us.

Seahawks 22, Jets 17 (4-5)

Week 11: Sun., 11/18, @Rams, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Buddy's Broodings: Sanchez will save his starting position for one more week by leading the Jets to a narrow victory over a garbage Rams team. Plus this way Tebow doesn't have to embarrass himself on national TV on Thanksgiving night against the Patriots.

Prediction: Jets 19, Rams 17 (5-5)

Week 12: Thurs. 11/22, vs., Patriots, 8:20 p.m. (NBC)

Buddy's Broodings: The Jets get screwed with scheduling having to play the Patriots just four days after a road game in St. Louis. Nevertheless, Sanchez loses his starting job after a putrid performance on national television. Rumors begin to swirl that Rex Ryan is out at the end of the season.

Prediction: Patriots 34, Jets 9 (5-6)

 

Week 13: Sun. 12/2, vs. Cardinals, 1 p.m. (FOX)

Buddy's Broodings: The Jets have not lost to the Cardinals since Nov. 23, 1975, and that won't change on this day. It's TEEEEEEEBOW TIME! (Ugh.) The Jets will win in an agonizingly boring fashion. Revis will shutdown Fitzgerald. The back pages will be full of stupid headlines. This is so predictable.

Prediction: Jets 23, Cardinals 12 (6-6)

Week 14: Sun. 12/9, @Jaguars, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Buddy's Broodings: This will be flexed to a night game as Tebow returns to his hometown as an NFL starter for the first time. He will dominate and the Jets will win. Tebow supporters will predict a magical playoff run. I predict the team's final win of the season.

Jets 24, Jaguars 7 (7-6)

Week 15: Mon. 12/17, @Titans, 8:30 p.m. (ESPN)

Buddy's Broodings: Chris Johnson will set a Monday Night Football record for rushing yards in a game, as the Jets' old, slow linebackers are embarrassed on a national stage.

Titans: 27, Jets 16 (7-7)
 

Week 16: Sun. 12/23, vs. Chargers, 8:20 p.m. (NBC)

Buddy's Broodings: NBC will hype this one as a "playoff game," with the winner putting themselves in the pole position for the last playoff spot in the AFC. On a cold, freezing night with their fans pumped about the four-day weekend, the Jets surrender a nine-point fourth quarter lead. Tebow will put the Jets in scoring position on the final drive, but Nick Folk will miss a 45-yard field goal. Season over.

Chargers 20, Jets 19 (7-8)

Week 17: Sun. 12/30, @Bills, 1 p.m. (CBS)

Buddy's Broodings: On a frigid, snowy day in Barfalo, the Rex Sanchez era comes to an end. Tebow is injured early in the game, Sanchez comes in and gets picked three times. Rex finally snaps and verbally attacks Sanchez on the sideline, Sanchez starts crying, Tebow realizes he's on a cursed team and floats up to the heavens in a cylinder of bright light. Rex loses his job. Sanchez retires and realizes his true dream, taking over Nick Jonas' role in the Broadway hit "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying."

The blog shuts down. The Jets settle for the No. 11 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft and reach for a scrambling quarterback.

Bills 27, Jets 3 (7-9)

The End.