The Jets weren't supposed to fall to the Bills at home on Sunday. Let's face it, they shouldn't have with a 16-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
But it happened and now the Jets find themselves in a must-win situation against the Browns on Monday Night Football.
Is that too dire considering it's Week 2? Take a look at their upcoming schedule and you'll see why it isn't.
After Cleveland comes to town, New York has to travel to Foxborough to face the Patriots. Then, following an early Week 4 bye, two NFC East powerhouses in the Eagles and Cowboys await the Jets in back-to-back weeks. Oh, and the Patriots come to MetLife Stadium in Week 7 to round out their next five games.
Sheesh.
Looking at those opponents, it's hard not to think the Jets could easily find themselves in an 0-6 hole after that Patriots meeting. That's not supposed to happen with the playoff expectations that were swirling around this group throughout the offseason. But it is a possibility if the Jets don't clean things up this week.
And though the team won't necessarily call it a must-win, they know how crucial this game is.
"It's very important," Le'Veon Bell told reporters on Wednesday. "Obviously we're off to a rocky start right now, so we at least want to break even and it's a good opportunity to do that on Monday night.
"I think every game is a must-win game, but this one obviously holds a lot of weight to it. There's going to be a lot of people watching the game, so I definitely feel that way."
Robby Anderson reiterated Bell's point that every game matters as well, and that has to be the mindset of the rest of the locker room to get passed this Browns team that also dropped their season opener on their home turf.
Odell Beckham Jr., Jarvis Landry and Baker Mayfield to name just a few playmakers on this squad put up only 13 points against the Titans, so they'll definitely look to change that this time around. And they will be facing a Jets secondary that was going up against John Brown, Zay Jones and Cole Beasley, and struggled to contain them. Also, the Jets' pressure to the quarterback wasn't too good, and Mayfield can't be allowed to have a clean pocket.
The same could be said for any of these upcoming teams that are well-rounded on both sides of the ball. But to not slip further, the Jets need to come into this matchup with Cleveland playing like it's a Wild Card Game, and the season is on the line. Because in a sense it is. Adam Gase and the rest of his staff don't want to slip down into the gutter to start off their tenure in New York.
Tougher roads lie ahead for this Jets squad after Monday night, so they better hope to have some momentum going into this stretch.