The following is an excerpt from Warren Sharp's 2026 Football Preview. In addition to Warren's deep, detailed write-up on all 32 NFL teams, each chapter features page after page of full-color charts, stats, and heatmaps, as well as penalty analysis from Joe Gibbs. Click here for a full FREE chapter from the 2026 Football Preview.
Penalties are an under-discussed aspect of NFL success and failure. Average teams can become playoff contenders with good discipline, and good teams can become great simply by winning the penalty battle.
Let's look at how the New York Jets performed from a penalty perspective in 2025 and where they can improve in 2026.
New York Jets 2026 Penalty Outlook: Discipline, Flags & Hidden Edges
The Good
- The Jets committed just five pre-snap penalties on defense in 2025, tied for the sixth-best mark in the league.
The Bad
- The Jets ranked in the bottom five of net penalty average.
- The Jets ranked third in declined penalty average.
- The defense co-ranked third in committing third-down defensive penalties per game, which is to some degree an indictment for a team trailing in the majority of contests.
- Continuing on the above point, the defense co-ranked No. 1 (with Detroit) for surrendering the most automatic first downs via penalty on third-down plays.
- The Jets generated the lowest per-quarter average of penalties on opponents in the fourth quarter of games in 2025.
- The subpar fourth-quarter numbers contributed to just 40% of the overall penalties being assessed on Jets opponents in the second half of contests, the lowest percentage of any team in this category last season.
Grade: D
The Jets head into 2026 in full rebuild mode after a disastrous 2025 season.
There is no denying the Jets have some quality young talent on the roster, but the NFL is a coach and quarterback league, and the Jets fall short in both categories.
Aaron Glenn looked completely in over his head in Year 1 as head coach, and Geno Smith under center cannot instill much confidence in Jets fans for the upcoming season.
That combination will lead New York to another single-digit win season in 2026, extending the Jets' league-leading playoff drought for another year.
The silver lining with that scenario is that the New York Jets would provide an ideal landing spot for one of the many talented rookie signal callers that will be available in the 2027 NFL Draft.
This analysis continues in the 2026 Football Preview
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Warren Sharp’s 600+ page full-color PDF, the 2026 Football Preview, is unlike anything you have read. Stunning visualizations, including new heat maps and stat pages, are built with the reader in mind. Innovative, next-level thought processes abound in every team chapter and article.
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Warren Sharp's book shares insights into the players, coaches, teams, and philosophies with one goal: to prepare you for the 2026 NFL season with the smartest information delivered in the fastest, most direct way possible for optimal reviewing and retention.
- Team Chapters previews are in-depth, data-driven & full of actionable info
- Fantasy Football player profiles, predictions, and ranks
- Vegas Odds forecast team wins, division rankings, lines for all 2026 games
- Coaching strategic advice for teams, play-calling analysis & team tendencies
- Front Office Analysis positional spending, roster construction & cap analysis
- Reasons to bet over/under win totals & analysis of futures betting market
- Rookie draft class deep dive into impact for every team
- Rankings for every positional unit on every team with analysis
- Penalty analysis for all 32 NFL teams
