Jets’ Season-Ending Win Can’t Erase Disappointment From Another Miserable Season

NewYorkJets.com

I can still remember where I was during some of the Jets’ finer moments as a pro football franchise, as rare as they have been. Though I was too young to understand what was going on when Joe Namath and Gang Green shocked the world in Super Bowl III, I vividly recall things like Lance Mehl’s pair of interceptions in the last two minutes to secure a playoff victory at the L.A. Raiders in 1983. I was freezing in the stands with my six-year old son for their 41-0 beatdown of the Colts in the 2003 Divisional round and on my coach during their back-to-back runs to the AFC Championship Game in 2010-11.

But don’t bother asking me about all the meaningless late-season victories that have fooled many fans into believing better days lay ahead when all they did was ruin the Jets’ chances for better Draft slots. This goes beyond tanking, since that isn’t in players’ or coaches’ bloodstream. It’s the false hope that came when New York won three of their final four games in 2013 to save Rex Ryan’s head coaching job. Or, more recently, how the Jets defeated the Rams and Browns in back-to-back weeks in 2020. Other than costing them quarterback Trevor Lawrence, forcing them to settle for Zach Wilson instead, I have almost zero recollection of them.

And in a few years, I will probably add Sunday’s 17-3 victory in New England to the list. The 2023 season finale could go down in history as legendary Bill Belichick’s final game as HC of the NEP (a play on his disrespectful Jets resignation letter on a napkin in 2000), but the game itself was entirely forgettable and devoid of significance. Well, other than sending the Jets (7-10 for a second consecutive season) to the 10^th pick in the 2024 NFL Draft when a loss could have vaulted them to 6^th.

No, everything about the 2023 campaign will go down as another in a long list of tortuous Jets disappointments that are comingled in a massive mental blur. The sheer volume of this season’s disasters, from Aaron Rodgers rupturing his Achilles, to the midseason five-game losing streak where they couldn’t score a single offensive touchdown, all the way to clueless owner Woody Johnson’s declaration that they’ll be running it all back next season, will join the other infamous teases like 1999, 2008, and 2015-16.

There isn’t any silver lining. The organization’s claim that Rodgers would be joining a “championship roster” was debunked, most clearly when Joe Flacco, who looked washed during the last three years as a Jets backup, suddenly morphed into a touchdown machine for Cleveland at the tail end of this season.

Flacco even humbled the Jets’ supposedly vaunted defense, throwing for 309 yards and three touchdowns in Cleveland’s 37-20 home win last week.   While Gang Green’s D did have many outings where it lived up to its potential, holding some of the league’s top QBs to statistical totals well below their norms, they also dropped from fourth to 12^th in the league in points allowed per game.  

Of course, the defense’s performance this season looked otherworldly when compared to the train wreck that was the Jets offense. I highlighted some of the main blights in my last post, but it’s safe to say that there wasn’t one area among the group, from simply lining up properly in advance of the snap all the way through to its league low expected points added per play output, that performed to an NFL standard.

And it’s not like all the offense’s flaws can be fixed in one offseason. The Jets, at minimum, need two new tackles and another wide receiver besides Garrett Wilson who can consistently separate from coverage—just the hardest and most expensive positions to fill. All with a bit of a salary cap crunch that might end up costing them their sack leader Bryce Huff, a pending free agent who said on Sunday that he certainly won’t be giving the Jets a home team discount in the negotiations.

Even if Rodgers’ foot had held firm on that fourth snap of the opener against Buffalo, there was never a guarantee that his offensive line wouldn’t have betrayed him somewhere else down the line. That’s why it was always foolish for the Jets to put all their eggs in a 40-year old’s basket without a surefire backup plan. The Jets threw shade during training camp about how Zach Wilson would be taking the equivalent of a gap year while learning about how to be a pro QB from a future Hall-of-Famer. Then when Wilson was forced into action and mostly stunk, all of a sudden they changed their tunes to begging for a mulligan. Sorry, that’s not how this sports industry works.  

Many insiders believe Wilson will be traded this offseason, which would finalize another black mark on General Manager Joe Douglas’ drafting record. But sure, bring him back too, along with defensive-minded Head Coach Robert Saleh, to give fans more disingenuousness about how this program is on the rise. After all, they’re 1-0 in 2024!

So, you can be happy this week that the Jets finally broke their 15-game losing streak to the hated Patriots. Should they stink again next season, however, I’ll bet that you’ll have forgotten all about it.