What’s Wrong With the New York Jets?
The New York Jets lost to the New England Patriots 22-25. (Photo courtesy New York Jets)
By Owen Kutlu, Sports Editor
This was the year. This was finally the season. The New York Jets were going to turn around their dreadful recent history — all thanks to Aaron Rodgers. He was the savior of the franchise.
Or, at least he was supposed to be…
After a tragic season opener last year in which Rodgers tore his achilles on his first drive in a Jets uniform, he was set to return and take this team to the promised land. As said by nearly every analyst, the Jets were just a quarterback away from being a legitimate contender. And now they had their quarterback.
If the already immense amount of talent on the team wasn’t enough, the Jets committed even more to their 40-year-old quarterback this year. They signed star wide receiver Mike Williams in free agency, traded for all-pro pass rusher Haason Reddick, and rebuilt the entire offensive line to protect him. This included signing future hall of famer Tyron Smith, trading for veteran Morgan Moses, signing guard John Simpson and using a first-round pick on another tackle in Olu Fashanu.
On paper, the roster has more talent than any other team in the league and they came into the season with lofty Super Bowl aspirations. A top five defense from the previous year with a newly invigorated offense. It was all there to finally have a chance. Now sitting at 2-6 after a brutal loss to the one-win New England Patriots on Sunday, how could everything have gone so wrong?
To start, the off-season acquisitions have been less than stellar. Mike Williams has played a very minimal role in the passing game. Haason Reddick decided to hold out and not play in order to try and get a new contract, which eventually led to him requesting a trade. Tyron Smith has looked like a shell of his former self. While these pick-ups didn’t necessarily go the way many expected, the team still had plenty of talent on both sides of the ball for them to be among the best.
The Jets began the season at 2-1 after beating the Tennessee Titans and New England Patriots in back-to-back weeks after suffering a loss to the San Francisco 49ers in week one. Things didn’t look perfect, but there was no major concern. Rust was expected from Rodgers, and they still had a winning record. Not time to panic.
That all changed the following week when they took on the Denver Broncos, which was supposed to be an easy win. It turned out to be anything but that. The offense struggled to move the ball at all, while the defense somewhat did their job. It looked like it was about to be a disastrous loss for the Jets, but there was some hope as somehow they got in range to set up Greg Zuerlein for a game-winning field goal attempt. Wide right, he missed it. Brutal loss.
The next week the Jets would fly to London to face a familiar face in Sam Darnold and the Minnesota Vikings. Darnold had been having an incredible start to the season with the Vikings, so this would be a challenge. The Jets did not show up in the first half, going into the locker room down a double-digit deficit. It looked like the team was beginning to spiral. However, the defense held strong in the second half and the offense began to show progress. The Jets had yet another chance to win a game with a last-minute drive. They were moving the ball until Rodgers was not on the same page with Mike Williams and got his pass intercepted to seal the game for the Vikings. Maybe it was time to panic…
Then it happened on that Tuesday morning: The Jets unexpectedly fired their head coach, Robert Saleh. Many thought this was a knee-jerk reaction to two unfortunate losses and that it was a little premature to pull the trigger. Some even thought Rodgers was the one behind the scenes making this happen. At the end of the day, it was owner Woody Johnson’s decision and he reasoned that there was still time to turn the season back around if they acted quickly. He thought this was the right move. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was to take over as interim head coach. Shocking.
It didn’t get any easier the next week, as they were set to take on a division rival in the Buffalo Bills. The game was tight all the way through, within one score a majority of the time. However, the Jets repetitively shot themselves in the foot. Two missed kicks by Zeurlein and an overwhelming amount of dumb penalties allowed the Bills to stay within reach. But yet again, the Jets had a chance at a game-winning drive to pick up a huge win. Once again, Rodgers was not on the same page as receiver Mike Williams, and his ball got intercepted to cap another loss. Heartbreaking.
It was like watching the same movie three times in a row. Fans were in disbelief at how this was possible. After all, that is one of the main reasons the Jets brought Rodgers to New York. He was one of the best at closing out games. It was just not clicking for some reason.
The front office still believed that there was potential to right the ship. That led to them trading for star wide receiver Davante Adams the following morning, who also happens to be one of Rodgers’ closest friends. How was anyone supposed to stop this new passing attack with a tandem of Garrett Wilson and Adams? That was the thought, at least.
The Jets returned to primetime to face the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. They needed this win badly.
The first half looked promising as they put enough points on the board to take the lead at halftime. It was all downhill from there. They did not score a point in the second half and the Steelers blew them out by a score of 37-15. At this point, those Super Bowl hopes at the beginning of the season had felt like a lifetime ago.
Surely, they would get back on track next week against the Patriots, who they had already beaten once this year and looked to be one of the worst teams in the NFL. Or not. The Jets controlled the entire game, but once again, they let the Patriots linger around due to a series of mistakes.
Zuerlein had yet again missed multiple field goals that would have put the game out of reach and the Jets officially had a severe kicker problem. They were still in a good position to win the game. All they needed was one stop against a backup quarterback. But no — the Patriots drove down the field and pushed the ball into the endzone on a fourth and goal to win the game. Another close loss. Backbreaking.
And just like that, the once favorites of the AFC East were dwelling at the bottom of the league with a 2-6 record. The players and fan base were left both angry and in shock. They had the golden ticket and managed to ruin everything. Year after year, the franchise continues to disappoint and fail in more incredible ways each time. This time it might be the one that puts fans over the edge. Many have begun calling for Woody Johnson to sell the team and a new front office to tear everything down. It is full-blown chaos in Florham Park, New Jersey.
The Jets will look to turn things around tonight against the Houston Texans to save any hope left of making a playoff run and quelling the immense amount of rage from the fanbase. They are running extremely short on time. It may be too little too late for the New York Jets.
