Remember the good
Aaron Rodgers played more than 4 snaps! We can talk about the Jets quarterback who was supposed to make the team great again but instead brought it back to the bottom for a long time - it's an inexhaustible topic and we'll come back to it many times.
Since we need to talk about the good stuff in this column, let's note Rodgers' 13th-place ranking in passing yards and a pretty decent touchdown-to-interception ratio (all things considered): 20-8.
While the promised "unlocking of Garrett Wilson's potential" after a full season with Rodgers didn't happen, the Jets receiver has put up good numbers after struggling to start. He's now 8th in the NFL in yards (877) and in the top-5 in receptions (81).
After a very quiet debut season, Edge Will McDonald opened up, taking 10 sacks to that point. If it weren't for him, New York's pass rush would be in trouble.
The Jets' pass defense is still one of the best in the league.
After a week of rest, we've seen bits and pieces of what the Jets offense was supposed to be by design. However, even those bright episodes and even quarters weren't enough to win.
What went wrong
Everything that could have gone wrong
Let me start by calling Rodgers an important, but not major, factor in the Jets' failure.
What was the original intent in the first place? One of the best defenses in the league gets an experienced quarterback who only needs to demonstrate average play to get this whole cart rolling in the playoffs. A year ago, the Jets finished 7-10 with Zach Wilson hurting his team rather than helping.
The problem is that defense level is a volatile thing. Elite defenses can slip even if there have been no major personnel changes. "The Jets suddenly stopped getting great pressure on opposing quarterbacks and stopping takeaways. And instead of "defense decides, quarterback doesn't mess up," it became too often a situation where Rodgers had to put on his superhero cape.
And he's kind of too old for that shit. I guess Rodgers-2021 could have saved the day, but the Jets only had Rodgers-2024, a 40-year-old quarterback who missed an entire season due to an Achilles injury. In other words, even a year ago, when he was just moving to New York, he was expected to have an average game. Now there was less room for average play, and circumstances demanded he play at the level of a top-10 quarterback in the league.
The things that were supposed to make Aaron's job easier were not a help either. The offensive line, despite all the infusion of big names, never became a cohesive unit. Rodgers quickly lost confidence in it and threw the ball away in situations where the young ones were still holding it and waiting for the play to develop - Aaron had no desire to take extra shots at his age.
And worst of all for the offense, categorically did not earn the takeaway despite the presence of fairly dynamic early-round backs Bryce Hall and Braelon Allen. The Jets rank penultimate in the league in yards per carry per game (87.0). Part of that is dictated by how often the Jets have had to play when trailing by a score. It's partly because Rodgers was the team's de facto offensive coordinator.
Aaron Rodgers is a completely inflexible player in all things. Other older quarterbacks have recognized the fact of aging and tried to adapt to new conditions on the field - Drew Brees or Peyton Manning, who literally lost limbs or sensation in their fingers in their final season. And they, despite their status, listened to what the coaches said - screens, short ones, anything to help.
Rodgers, on the other hand, plays the same football he did 10 years ago. He doesn't recognize modern trends like lots of motion before the snap and tactically pulls the blanket over himself, blaming others when things go wrong. I remember when longtime legendary running back Adrian Peterson, who played against Rodgers in the division, simply became obsolete because he could only play out of an I-formation with a fullback and was categorically unable to play out of a shotgun. Peterson was the last great representative of the former football era. So Rodgers looks like the last of the Mohicans too, but only at the quarterback position. "F*ck your electricity, you can see all right with a light bulb."
But if you want the main culprits behind the team's deafening failure amidst colossal ambition, take it higher.
Because someone gave Rodgers that freedom by making him feel like both a part-time coordinator and general manager. Someone fired Robert Saleh in the middle of the season, which only negatively impacted the play of the defense. Someone traded Davante Adams and made a deal with Haason Reddick when it was too late. Someone wasn't shy about keeping Nathaniel Hackett on the staff.
All of the Jets' managerial decisions - both pre-season preparations and reactionary ones along the way - were bad. We shouldn't simplify the reasons for the collapse and reduce them to any one figure. It was a well-deserved collective result that took a lot of monstrous effort.
I repent for predicting
F*ck me, right? 10-7 and a loss in the conference finals. What's especially cool right now is this sentence, "The Jets have all the ingredients for a serious playoff run - an elite defense, good takeaways, and a reliable quarterback." Wrong on every word. I was expecting it to be, if not like the Rams with Stafford or the Broncos with Manning/Osweiler, at least like the Colts with Rivers. It ended up being like the Colts with Matt Ryan.
What's next
There could be a lot of options, but my guess is that Rodgers will be parted ways and a new quarterback will be sought on the free agent market. The defense still has potential, and it could easily bounce back to high pass-rush and takeaway stopping values next year. Hire new coaches, air out the locker room so the ayahuasca smell is gone, and we can get to work.
Related: 2024 NFL Playoff Picture
The New York Jets season has been a rollercoaster ride for fans. (New York Jets) Early hopes and New York Jets mock drafts gave way to disappointing New York Jets news today. Despite flashes of brilliance, the team struggled to find consistency, leading to plenty of New York Jets post game analysis on SportsNet New York (SNY) and SNY Network. Jets news and New York Jets rumors swirled as the season progressed, with New York Jets updates often focusing on the quarterback situation. Even New York Post Sports couldn't ignore the drama, with headlines like "BYE-BYE, NEW YORK JETS" dominating the New York Post. The New York Jets recap shows a team that underperformed, leaving fans and analysts alike wondering what went wrong. Was it poor coaching decisions? A lack of offensive line support? Or did Jets rumors about internal conflict have merit? One thing is for sure, the New York Jets highlights reel will be shorter than expected. Now, the focus shifts to the New York Jets draft and the search for New York Jets GM candidates who can steer the team back to contention. (SportsNet, sports news, York)