There are two Jets teams — the dangerous, surprising group that has defeated playoff contenders and the inept one that has performed as many predicted, able to defeat only the winless Browns.

The difference is simple. At home, the Jets can play with anyone, featuring a dynamic big-play offense and a stingy defense. On the road, they are a punching bag, unable to beat the lowly Buccaneers and also-ran Dolphins.

“For us, some of the road issues are indicative of the things we’ve had to overcome in general: Playing four quarters, starting fast,” quarterback Josh McCown said Friday following practice, before the Jets flew to Denver to face the skidding Broncos. “Those are all things we got to get better at.”

But the differences are jarring. At home the Jets are 4-3, having defeated the Jaguars and Chiefs, and nearly beating the Patriots and Panthers. On the road, their lone win in five games is over the Browns, a game in which they produced a measly 212 yards of offense. The one game they have been out of this season came at Oakland, a 45-20 bludgeoning at the hands of the mediocre Raiders. They are averaging 25.5 points per game at MetLife Stadium, 17.4 points everywhere else, 386.3 yards per game at home, 248.8 yards on the road, 133.7 yards on the ground in New Jersey, 69.2 away from the Garden State.

It naturally raises the question: Why is there such a stark difference?

“I really don’t know how to answer that question,” right tackle Brandon Shell said.

McCown attributed it partly to youth. Young teams are typically better at home, where they are comfortable and used to their surroundings, than on the road, and many key players on the Jets’ roster are new to the league. On the road, everything is new, from the stadiums to the hotels. One of those young players, second-year linebacker Jordan Jenkins, believes not having the fan support makes it harder for the Jets to start fast, a problem on the road except for the loss to the Dolphins. They feed off of the crowd at MetLife Stadium. On the road, the energy is lacking.

“It’s just a different environment,” Jenkins said. “You’re not used to it.”
“We have to bring our own energy,” Shell said.

There was a concerted effort to have lively practices this week to fix that problem, with the hope it will carry over into Sunday.

It had better happen this week, or it may not at all. The Jets are set up against the lastplace Broncos, before a trip to New Orleans against the NFC South-leading Saints, a home game against the Chargers followed by the regular season finale in New England against the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots.

Denver has lost eight consecutive games, and is 27th in the NFL in scoring at 17.2 points per game. The Broncos are 3-3 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High, and winless on the road. Complicating matters, the Jets will have to deal with the thin air, which is why they flew to Denver on Friday.

“As a young team, as you grow together and learn to go on the road [and win], you learn how valuable it is to be able to be that same group at home and on the road,” McCown said. “That’s the next step for us. That’s part of being a new group and coming together.

“There’s not a better week than this week to start doing that.”