Like Wilson, Saleh Isn’t The Guy To Turbo-Charge Jets Into Sustainable Winners
Boy do the Jets know how to set fire to a season. What they did in Thursday night’s 19-3 debacle versus visiting Jacksonville was a blowup right out of “Apocalypse Now.” No one in green on the MetLife turf was left unscathed, and that includes the coaching staff.
The loss may not have officially eliminated New York (7-8) from postseason eligibility, but it effectively ended all reasonable hope that their 12-year drought would be quenched despite their promising 6-3 start to the campaign. The bottom line is that the Jets did get to play meaningful games this December, but they torched their golden opportunity to extend things by losing all four games thanks to the same deficiency that has plagued them for most of the last half-century-plus—the coach/quarterback partnership.
If it hadn’t before then, Thursday’s dreadful outing should have erased all doubt that Zach Wilson, the BYU quarterback New York selected with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, isn’t the guy. Not even Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh could explain why just about every other QB he inserts into games, including fourth-string Chris Streveler late in Thursday’s third quarter, has shown some degree of competency in moving the ball while Wilson continues to struggle with the basics of the position, even after his three-week “reset” during which he was benched for currently injured Mike White.
When Streveler, who was elevated from the Jets practice squad to execute a select few plays, entered the contest with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter, the Jets to that point had accumulated a grand total of 78 yards of total offense with Wilson calling signals. Despite his ragged throwing arm, that first Streveler possession produced 83 yards of offense.
Not that the Jets would have surely won had Saleh made the switch earlier, but how tone deaf must he be to not have comprehended that a major change was necessary at halftime with the Jets down 13-3 in a do-or-die game? What did Wilson do in the first half to warrant confidence that he could conceivably flip the script? He really needed to make Jets fans agonize in the rain through two more three-and-outs?
Even after the game Saleh didn’t equate the Wilson removal to an outright benching, saying he only wanted to see if Streveler could help his team get their run game going. And when the Jets started to pick up first downs, he caved, with a “What the heck” attitude.
Saleh basked in all the praise when the Jets shocked the football world with their fast start, but I warned you then that the team’s vision would be hard to sustain once they started to face real starting-caliber quarterbacks. Remember, all but two of New York’s seven wins came against backups.
Yet Saleh, who rose through the coaching ranks on the defensive side of the ball, embraced a conservative philosophy from the start, relying too much on a defense that, while immensely improved from a season ago, just isn’t in the elite category.
Against the Jaguars, Defensive Coordinator Jeff Ulbrich’s unit was bamboozled all night by all of Jacksonville’s misdirections and read options by quarterback Trevor Lawrence. They didn’t learn a thing from getting burned by Buffalo QB Josh Allen’s legs two weeks ago, as Lawrence gashed the Jets with 51 yards rushing with a touchdown plunge. Um, ever hear of a spy?
What Saleh had going for him earlier in the season was that his players ate up everything he was saying. We have seen since that there’s plenty of frustration boiling underneath, enough to question why this team keeps coming out flat for big games. Jacksonville had key pieces missing on both lines yet they manhandled the Jets throughout the evening. Even New York’s vaunted defensive front, with all their rotations and bolstered by the return of Pro Bowl bound Quinnen Williams, looked overmatched on key plays.
In the end, though, the Jets were never going to win this game scoring three points, which happened to be earned after Williams strip-sacked Lawrence on Jacksonville’s opening series. With the best field position the Jets have enjoyed in weeks, Wilson led the team backwards three yards in three plays. Jets fans would have been better off exiting Amazon Prime right there.
I’m afraid, fellow Jets fans, we went through all the ups and downs of this season only to find out that we’re back where we started two years ago with regard to the coach/QB partnership. Like Wilson, I’m afraid that Saleh isn’t the guy.