See an injured starting quarterback. See a difficult schedule. See the green and white uniform long associated with falling short.

No wonder there is lots of 30,000-foot skepticism the Jets are going to experience a breakthrough this season.

But a closer look reveals an ascending talented roster – confirmed by the number of ex-Jets claimed off waivers by other teams – and confident leaders willing to accept big expectations like a playoff berth instead of falling back on tired clichés. Joe Flacco is more than capable of holding down the fort until Zach Wilson returns.  

Here are The Post’s five bold predictions for the season:

This scenario last happened in 2015, when it was a bitter pill to swallow after a season-ending loss to cough up a playoff spot. The same outcome has a very different feel in January 2023 because it suggests the arrow is pointing up even with a 12^th straight playoffs-less season.

The Jets pull a few upsets before Thanksgiving to stay within striking range of .500 and then finish strong. The problem is the AFC is loaded with probably 10 of the NFL’s 15 best teams, so 9-8 isn’t good enough for the No. 7 seed. The Jets haven’t posted a winning record since that 2015 collapse.

Sauce Gardner is a trendy pick for Defensive Rookie of the Year. The problem is a cornerback needs a bunch of interceptions to win that award and Gardner wasn’t even targeted in three preseason games. Maybe that changes when veteran D.J. Reed is healthy and playing on the other side.

The Jets have two of the top-10 candidates for Offensive Rookie of the Year (according to betting odds) in running back Breece Hall and receiver Garrett Wilson. The prediction here is Hall, who starts taking the lion’s share of the carries by October – and doesn’t need to come off the field on third downs because he can block and catch – after beginning the season in a timeshare with Michael Carter. One or two rookies has eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing every season since 2012.

Wilson is going to miss at least three games and the season-long interception leader likely will be a quarterback who played all 17 games. But what about from Week 4 (or the time of his season debut) onward?

It is possible for quarterbacks of winning teams to lead the league in interceptions, as Matthew Stafford, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger have shown in recent years. Sometimes interceptions are drive-killers, sometimes they serve as third-down punts.

Wilson, who threw 11 interceptions in 13 starts as a rookie, isn’t going to change his gunslinger mindset, especially with this improved complement of downfield receivers and an offensive line that gives him more time to hang on to the ball and improvise.

It sounds bolder than reality says. Or maybe not because the Jets have lost 12 straight in this series over six years and 12 straight against AFC opponents over three years.

But if you have done the math to get to 9-8, you know it includes some upsets. And which team finishes in last place in the division if not the Jets? Ahem.

The last time that the Jets swept the Patriots was in 2000, when Brady was a rookie on the bench. The Patriots went two decades without getting swept by a division opponent until the upstart 2020 Bills pulled off the feat to take away some of the mystique.

For the first time since 2015, the Jets finish 3-3 AFC East, after getting swept by the Bills and splitting with the Dolphins.

Expectations are sky high for the defensive line now that a healthy Carl Lawson (career-high 5.5 sacks) and rookies Jermaine Johnson and Michael Clemons are added to a mix with John Franklin-Myers (six), Quinnen Williams (seven), Sheldon Rankins (eight), Solomon Thomas (3.5) and Jacob Martin (four).

But the Jets plan to employ a deep rotation and cap defensive line snaps at about 40 per game per player. That will limit production and keep them all out of the Pro Bowl.

As a bonus, Clemons, a fourth-round pick, plays more and is more productive in the box score than the first-rounder Johnson.