The New York Jets Miss out NFL Playoff Schedule 2016 With Buffalo Bills Loss

The New York Jets are a name synonymous with recent NFL misfortune. They've become something of a punch line for fans and pundits alike over the past half decade or so, often having their season's fate decided by mid-November. But then, this year, they played their way to a 10-5 record, with just the injury depleted Buffalo Bills standing in their way of the playoffs. Things looked promising. A win and they were in. Even with a loss they still had a shot. However, this is the Jets we're talking about. They not only lost, but missed out on the playoffs altogether.

Rex Ryan's Bills handed the Jets a 22-17 defeat. That, paired with the Pittsburgh Steelers' win over the Cleveland Browns, meant the team from New York would be missing the postseason for a fifth consecutive season. Players were stunned.

"I'm a little numb right now," receiver Brandon Marshall said, via the Boston Globe. "I have no emotion. I'll get on the bus and reflect a little bit and heal up and look at the future."

While the Jets made drastic improvements from the team that finished last year 8 games below .500 at 4-12, being on the cusp of the playoffs with everything in their control only to experience the same fate as the previous 5 seasons doesn't exactly scream moral victory. At least, not right now.

"I don't believe in moral victories," Safety Calvin Pryor said, via USA Today. "Either you win or you lose."

It's even tougher still because this Jets team showed such chemistry, a chemistry that may have to be built all over again next year. A number of starting players are under expiring contracts, including quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. When asked after the game what his thoughts on the future were, however, Fitzpatrick couldn't really think about it. Not yet. There was too much heartache.

My heart hurts so bad for all those guys in the locker room," Fitzpatrick said, via the New York Times. "It's the hardest and most difficult end to a season I've had in terms of how I feel right now.

Even so, Fitzpatrick went on to acknowledge the sporting aspect of it.

"It's part of the game I love, too," Fitzpatrick said, via USA Today. "The adversity and being able to walk back in there and look everybody in the eye and give them a hug and shake hands... There is a lot of love in that locker room."

Which, unfortunately for the Jets, makes Sunday's loss to the Bills all the more heartbreaking.