Jets Biggest Need: An Alarm Clock
How many more weeks does Robert Saleh have to keep calling on the “it’s early in the season” card? If the Jets (2-3) embattled Head Coach loses his next two versus Buffalo and at Pittsburgh, a distinct possibility, what then?
For all these games count the same, and Gang Green has now dropped two in a row where they played just poorly enough to gag them away after Sunday’s 23-17 defeat to Minnesota in England.
Whether it’s the undefeated Vikings or, in last week’s case, the middling Broncos, Saleh’s club has made it a habit of coming out looking unprepared to play. It took them until over four minutes into the second quarter before they got a first down. By then, Minnesota was already up, 10-0, with the touchdown coming on a pick-six where quarterback Aaron Rodgers didn’t see linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel dropping into coverage on a zone blitz.
That was the first of two interceptions thrown by Rodgers in the first quarter, which was also the first time that’s ever happened in his 20-year career. Rodgers added a third turnover when his 50/50 ball to wide receiver Mike Williams was caught by the wrong 50%, as Vikings cornerback Stephon Gilmore thwarted the Jets’ final drive that reached 26 yards short of paydirt.
In his postgame press conference, Rodgers made sure to include himself when allocating blame for this latest defeat. Beside the turnovers, he had some missed opportunities where his receivers broke open for potential big plays, none more so than on Garrett Wilson’s double move in the last two minutes that Rodgers shot well over his head.
There were plenty of other culprits on the offensive side of the ball—Allen Lazard dropped as many balls as he caught (4), the offensive line got Rodgers clobbered to the tune of three sacks and 11 QB hits, and running backs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen combined to average 2.6 yards on 14 carries.
But most distressingly, Rodgers acknowledged that the Jets are “slow starters.” They have yet to score on their opening drive of a game, netting a total of 46 yards on 12 plays with three first downs over five games
The Jets come out every game hoping to establish the run, and other than the Week 3 win over the lowly Patriots, it has gone nowhere. Rodgers hinted that maybe it would be a good idea to go over which runs were more successful and go with those against Buffalo next Monday night (Hint: It’s not the dives up the middle).
All this points to an in-over-their-heads coaching staff, led by a guy who is now 20-36 (.357 winning percentage) on his career. That the Jets didn’t fold when they got down 17-0 on Sunday isn’t a point in Saleh’s favor; it just reflects poorly on a coaching staff that can’t seem to figure out what the opponents will be doing each week.
On the other hand, it’s not that hard for the opponents to predict what the Jets will be doing. The plan is always to feed Hall and Wilson early before spreading it around. Despite all the drops. Rodgers trusts Lazard more than he should due to their shared time in Green Bay.
Why isn’t Mike Williams, who is no longer on a pitch count following his ramp up from last season’s ACL injury, involved more in the passing game? If opponents are blitzing Rodgers like crazy, I’ve always heard screens are usually a good counter. I can’t recall any that have beaten the blitz in the last two weeks.
Part of it could be due to the offensive line issues. Right tackle Morgan Moses’ injury stung, but the Jets were able to plug in their first-round draft pick Olu Fashanu for the last three weeks, a fallback that most teams don’t have. In fact, all across the line stands a high Draft pick or highly-regarded free agent.
And behind them is a future Hall-of-Fame QB who has seen every form of exotic defensive maneuver known to football schemers. Yet the problems persist, be it with communication as to protection responsibilities or just plain losses in one-on-one battles (Hey, at least there weren’t any flags for false starts on Sunday).
Offensive Line Coach Keith Carter once had a reputation for being a ballbuster. Saleh needs to wake him up instead of making everyone on the staff treat the players “like men.” No wonder a culture that tolerates mistakes has permeated the locker room, at least on the offensive half.
At some point, Rodgers is likely to succumb to these beatings, and that will be the end of this Jets season. He was already dealing with a swollen knee from the Denver debacle; now he added a low ankle sprain and said that other parts of his body were “making lots of noises” from the Vikings poundings. At 40, he doesn’t have the recuperative powers from before the Achilles injury that ended his 2023 season after just four snaps.
How about the Jets not waiting for Rodgers to be forced into leaving the field on a cart again and acknowledge the urgency of their situation? They don’t need star wide receiver Davante Adams as much as they need an alarm clock that alerts them to the start of games AND their season.
If you give a child a hammer and that child starts banging holes in the wall and you continually watch as the child bangs holes in the wall, and you do nothing about it, whose fault is it the child or yours.
Substitue the child with the hammer to Saleh running the team as HC or Hackett attempting to run the offense as OC.
Who is responsible for this disaster, whether he likes it or not, it falls into Woody’s lap.
Unfortunately the way a professional football team is structured, you can fire the coach but you are then forced to hire someone off of his staff . I can never recall a team firing its HC and replacing him with an outsider.
We know some fans will say Ulbrich or Middleton or Oden.
But are they the answer. Maybe only as interim.
The NFL has become an analytical league. Everything is based on numbers. The human element is not a consideration.
But Jet fans, do you need analytics to tell you that a Saleh coached team starts slow almost every game, do you need analytics to tell you that the Jets are an undisciplined team, do you need analytics to tell you that it appears a Saleh coached team never makes halftime adjustments.
Do you need analytics to tell you that Hackett is an absolutely terrible OC, do you need analytics to prove to you that Hackett’s schemes are
juvenile at best. The word innovator has never been used in the same sentence with the name Hackett whether the first name was Paul or Nate.
Football writer, Connor Rodgers asked this question after the game “What do they do all week”. I guess he was referring to Saleh and Hackett. Maybe someone could ask JD or Woody.
It is time for Woody to grab the hammer. Yes, the Jets are 2-3, the season is still salvageable for a shot at the playoffs but does any fan actually believe that.
Woody definitely needs to fire Hackett today. Taking the play calling away from him, will not eliminate the stink of his infantile game plans. Does that wording sound harsh, yes, but not as harsh as 55 cold winters without a Super Bowl appearance.
Carter is definitely a candidate for hammer time. He came here with a very questionable reputation, has that reputation change not really.
The Broncos blitzed the hell out of the Jets offense last week, did you notice any changes in the Jets blitz assignments yesterday, of course not. The NFL is a copy cat league, the Bills and Steelers front lines are already licking their chops to get after Rodgers. Have you seen anything that tells you it won’t happen.
Lastly Saleh is toast, his BS is done carrying him. It doesn’t matter if he loses the fans, it will matter when he loses the locker room.
Based on how this team has played this year, excluding the Pat game would it really matter if the Jets got rid of Saleh, Hackett and Carter this week. Could it get any more embarrassing, very doubtful. They play next Monday night, the extra day would let the new assignment get accustomed to their new responsibilities.
Hire Uhlbrich or Boyer as head coach
Downing as OC
Ben Wilkerson as offensive line coach.
Woody it is hammer time, this would probably be the only moves that you will make as Jet owner that will have a big majority of the fans endorsement.
For the sake of this season, use the hammer🔨 . This will only get worst if you let it fester.
Hiring Saleh with his “ all gas, no brakes” has turned out to be a mistake. He is not the first very good coordinator to fail as a coach.
But keeping him at this point is a recipe for a disaster.
It’s time to call in the receipts like Saleh once said.
Woody, your fan base is tired of watching the child hammer holes into the wall.
I am at a function. I really can’t say what I want but the Jets need a new HC, his words not mine, I’m calling in receipts