Five weeks into the 2023 NFL season, the New York Jets find themselves playing a must-win game, when they visit the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

The Jets (1-3) have lost three in a row and face the Philadelphia Eagles next week before reaching their bye. If they are 1-5 at the bye, it doesn’t matter how much their schedule lightens up afterward, the Jets likely won’t make the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season.

New York is coming off a controversial 23-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. And if a loss can be considered uplifting, then this is such a case. Zach Wilson looked like a different quarterback and the Jets stood toe to toe with the defending Super Bowl champs.

This week they play the struggling Broncos (1-3), who have the same record, though are coming off their first win, a 31-28 comeback against the Chicago Bears.

Let’s look at four bold predictions for the Jets Week 5 game against the Broncos.

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Nathaniel Hackett will pull out all stops against Sean Payton, Broncos

Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who coached the Broncos to a 4-11 record before being fired 15 games into his first season in 2022, has done nothing but take the high road since current Broncos coach Sean Payton savaged him publicly in July.

Hackett will continue to do that Sunday, likely shaking hands pregame or postgame with Payton, maybe even listen to a delayed apology from the Broncos coach.

But Jets players want “payback,” according to center Connor McGovern, and you’d have to imagine, so, too, does Hackett. So, expect him to pull out all the stops with Wilson and the offense and be extra motivated to stick it to his former team.

Of course, there’s another reason to open the playbook up. Hackett began to do that last week and it worked for Wilson, specifically, and the offense as a whole. So, there’re several reasons for him to keep dialing it up.

Eyes will be on Zach Wilson, but Breece Hall will be Jets star on offense

Wilson completed 28 of 39 passes (71.8 percent) for 245 yards and 2 TDs in a breakthrough performance last week. So, all eyes will be trained on him to see if he can build on that.

But even with Hackett pulling out all the stops with his play calling, the key will be running back Breece Hall. When all is said and done, it’ll be good old-fashioned pounding the ball in the running game that will set everything else up for the Jets.

Coach Robert Saleh said that Hall is no longer on a “pitch count” following knee surgery. And the timing couldn’t be more perfect because the Broncos are giving up 176 yards on the ground per game. Hall, who had a 43-yard burst against the Chiefs, is averaging 6.6 yards on 32 carries this season. He’ll have his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season and do it in the same stadium where he tore his ACL last season.

Bryce Huff will finally break through with 2 sacks

Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson does not get sacked too often (11 times in four games) and the Jets have struggled getting home to finish their pressures (seven sacks). And you can bet Wilson and Payton will rely on quick short passes to negate the Jets pass rush, just as Dak Prescott and Mac Jones did in previous games.

But the Jets are going to break through this week and sack Wilson at least three times. The rush will be led by a player who’s not a starter but might be their most disruptive edge rusher, Bryce Huff. The 25-year-old had seven QB pressures on 18 pass-rushing snaps last week, harassing Patrick Mahomes at every turn. He’s still seeking his first sack, but Huff has a ridiculous 18 QB pressures on 67 pass-rushing snaps this season and Saleh promised we’ll see more of him moving forward.

Huff gets home twice this week and Quinnen Williams will have a sack, as well.

Jets will score season-high 27 points, end three-game skid

The Jets need a win here to keep realistic playoff hopes alive. But remember, the Broncos are in the same boat, plus they have momentum after surging back for a big come-from-behind win last week. And the Broncos — Russell Wilson, in particular — will have Payton’s back and would love to knock off their former coach.

This will be close most of the afternoon and don’t discount the Jets wearing down in the mile high conditions. But the difference will be that the Jets defense is superior to the Broncos defense, which is last in the NFL.

Jets win 27-17.