FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The Jets dropped their fifth recreation in a row on Sunday, this one a shocking 25-22 loss to the lowly Patriots. Listed below are some ideas and observations from the sport:
1. I assumed the Aaron Rodgers commerce was a great one in April 2023. The Jets needed to make a transfer as a result of Zach Wilson was bust. It was a raffle to usher in a participant about to show 40, but it surely felt prefer it might work.
It has not.
Rodgers is now eight video games into his second season with the Jets and his tenure has been a complete catastrophe. Nobody can blame him for the harm in his first season however his play within the second season has not been good. There have been flashes of the previous Rodgers, however he has largely seemed similar to an previous Rodgers.
The Jets had been all the time taking a danger with an older quarterback. Tom Brady has made folks overlook that, however he was an alien. Most quarterbacks fall off earlier than they hit 40 years previous or proper after. Brady was the one one who was capable of have success at such a complicated age. Peyton Manning’s final season was not a great one for him however the Broncos protection carried them to a Tremendous Bowl.
There’s a saying about quarterbacks that somebody informed me a very long time in the past and it sticks with me. Good quarterbacks disguise your staff’s warts and unhealthy quarterbacks expose them.
When Rodgers was at his finest in Inexperienced Bay all these years, it didn’t matter if the protection was not terrific or if he didn’t have the perfect supporting solid round him. Rodgers was so good, he hid the warts. Rodgers is now on the opposite aspect. He’s exposing the Jets’ warts. The working recreation stinks. The offensive line is struggling and we overrated the weapons and the protection.
There may be nothing the 2024 Jets can do now. They must trip this out with Rodgers. There might come a degree the place he wants to take a seat down due to his accidents however you don’t have any one ready within the wings to take over as your quarterback of the long run. Tyrod Taylor is 35 years previous. Jordan Travis is on the non-football harm checklist and isn’t enjoying this season. Rodgers goes down with the ship.
2. The commerce deadline is in per week on Nov. 5. The Jets have to have some tough conversations after they get via Thursday’s recreation towards the Texans. Is it time to start out promoting off gamers to get draft picks?
It is a actually bizarre state of affairs as a result of promoting off items on the deadline is often one thing reserved for rebuilding groups. The Jets are a win-now staff that may’t win.
In Joe Douglas’ early years as GM, they moved items on the deadline, most notably Leonard Williams. However that was with the concept the Jets had been at the least a yr or two away from being a contender and wanted draft picks. The Jets traded for Davante Adams two weeks in the past, an indication they had been going for it this yr.
Douglas doesn’t have a contract past this yr and with the best way this season goes, it seems like there is no such thing as a shot he shall be again in 2025. He has felt like a lame duck since Woody Johnson fired Robert Saleh earlier this month. Does Douglas care about getting draft picks for his successor? Does Johnson order him to or is he nonetheless delusional about how nice this roster is?
I might see D.J. Reed, Mike Williams, Morgan Moses and Tyler Conklin having some commerce worth and they’re all within the last yr of their contracts. Would any of the groups who needed Adams just a few weeks in the past nonetheless have an interest? It will be loopy to see a participant traded twice in a single month, however it is a loopy season.
Buying and selling away veterans is waving the white flag. If there’s even a shred of battle left within the veteran Jets, you’ll take it from them. That’s the flip aspect to buying and selling off gamers. However these Jets have proven little battle already, so it could be time to show the web page to 2025.
3. The Jets protection is fourth within the NFL in yards per recreation allowed. That reveals you ways meaningless stats could be.
This protection once more couldn’t make the large cease when the Jets wanted it to within the fourth quarter. They rolled over to Jacoby Brissett and the Patriots, a horrible offense.
I assumed the Jets protection would take a step again this yr, however I didn’t anticipate it to be this dramatic. Their stars are usually not enjoying properly. Sauce Gardner isn’t having a great season. Quinnen Williams performed properly Sunday however has not been his disruptive self for many of the yr. C.J. Mosley has been injured. Quincy Williams isn’t enjoying in addition to he did final yr.
The one Jets defender exceeding expectations is Will McDonald, who has eight sacks.
The opposite puzzling facet of this protection is its incapacity to power turnovers. The Jets have six takeaways this season and solely two interceptions. Each interceptions had been by backup Brandin Echols. They by no means provide you with an interception in these key fourth-quarter conditions.
The protection has undoubtedly taken a step again since Saleh was fired. It could be as a result of Saleh had extra to do with the protection than we thought. It could be as a result of Jeff Ulbrich is overburdened with each head teaching and defensive coordinator duties.
Ulbrich must strongly contemplate giving up defensive play-calling to an assistant and see if that works. Proper now, what the Jets are doing isn’t working.
4. Jets followers know the way that is going to go. The staff has been unhealthy sufficient that you’re beginning to dream of a top-five draft decide and doubtlessly choosing a franchise quarterback. However you already know the Jets are going to win simply sufficient to value you the highest draft decide however not sufficient to make the playoffs. We’ve seen this film earlier than.
The Jets’ schedule stays extremely weak. The Texans and Payments are the one groups with successful information remaining on the schedule. I get that the sensation on Monday morning is the Jets would battle to beat Bergen Catholic, however the actuality is they’ll win some video games within the last two months. A 6-11 or 7-10 report ought to be simply sufficient to value them a shot at a quarterback and the vicious cycle goes on and on.
Revealing stat
That is from Soccer Perspective – the Jets scored 20 or extra factors, dedicated no turnovers and held the Patriots below 250 yards. From 1940 till Sunday, groups had been 756-0 once they hit these three metrics. The Jets snapped that streak.
Stunning snap rely
Xavier Gipson was down to 6 offensive snaps. He did rating a landing. I used to be stunned his rely was this low with Allen Lazard out of the lineup. However Mike Williams bought extra work with 36 snaps. I feel Gipson can deliver a velocity dimension the opposite receivers can’t. The Jets want to determine easy methods to use it.
Sport ball
There are usually not many candidates on this recreation however I’ll go together with Quinnen Williams. He had 1 ½ sacks and seemed extra like himself on this recreation than he has lately. He was dominant at occasions.
