GLENDALE, Ariz. — The Jets were embarrassed 31-6 by the Cardinals on Sunday and are now 3-7. Here are some thoughts and observations from the game:
1. I have covered many coaches and young players who arrive with the Jets talking about turning things around and about ending the talk of Same Old Jets. Then, at some point, you see their look change. They look beaten, perplexed and miserable after getting beaten down by the Jets’ losing ways.
Aaron Rodgers had that look Sunday.
On the field, he was screaming and waving his arms in frustration. In the postgame press conference, his answers were short and quiet. The swagger was gone.
While I chuckled at some of the coaches or rookies who came in talking about championships, I actually thought Rodgers, one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, might be able to defeat the bad vibes of the Jets. While a Super Bowl would be a tall order, I thought he could lead them to the playoffs.
But now Rodgers has been swallowed and eaten alive by the Same Old Jets. He looks nothing like the old Aaron Rodgers, just an old Aaron Rodgers. On Sunday, he looked afraid to hold onto the ball and look downfield despite decent pass protection. His longest pass was a 15-yard checkdown to Breece Hall.
The Jets traded for his BFF Davante Adams with the idea that would spark this offense, but in the first half Sunday, the two did not connect once. On the goal line early in the third quarter, with a chance to get back in the game, he missed Adams twice.
During the Jets’ five-game losing streak last month, Rodgers was banged up and you could explain away his struggles with that. But he is healthy now. He practiced fully last week for the first time since early in the season.
This isn’t about a barking knee or a hamstring grabbing. It looks like Rodgers has fallen off the cliff. Rodgers had just 151 yards passing on Sunday despite 35 attempts. He has never had that few yards with that many attempts in his career.
The Jets took a gamble with the Rodgers trade. They knew he was about to turn 40 and was coming off a down year in 2022. The risk was understandable, but it was a risk. It came with the risk that all the decision-makers would be fired if it didn’t work. Robert Saleh is already watching Jets games from his couch. Joe Douglas is unlikely to return in 2025. The Jets will have a painful rebuild coming and Rodgers will cost them $49 million in dead money.
As for Rodgers, people will forget about this Jets stint because that is what it has been – utterly forgettable. It will be a footnote in his great career like the Chargers are for Johnny Unitas and the Rams are for Joe Namath.
The Rodgers experiment failed. Same Old Jets wins again.
2. Another trend with the Jets through the years has been young, good players getting beaten down by the losing. You can sense that now happening with Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner and Breece Hall. I’m not sure there is anything the Jets can do. You feel bad for these players. They are talented and probably have won for most of their careers growing up. But now they are staring at a third straight losing season. This year was supposed to be different with a healthy Rodgers.
You could feel Wilson’s frustration in the postgame locker room. He has had dynamic moments this season, most notably his catch against the Texans. But Wilson wants to win. He does not have the diva tendencies of many receivers. But here he was explaining away another loss, another game where the Jets did not reach the end zone. It felt like the game could have been ripped from 2022 or ’23.
The one difference from those years, though, is the defense usually played well in 2022 and ’23. It didn’t on Sunday. Gardner was partially to blame for his big missed tackle on third down. Gardner seems stunned by this season and you can feel his frustration growing.
Jets fans have to hope that these young stars don’t tire of the Jets and ask for a trade this offseason. It will be tempting for a new general manager to deal one of them and acquire enough picks to speed up a rebuild. The Jets have been down this road so many times before when they have dealt away players who looked like they would be career-long stars for the team – Keyshawn Johnson, John Abraham, Darrelle Revis, Leonard Williams and Jamal Adams come to mind.
It would be sad to see the Jets move on from Gardner, Wilson or Hall for Jets fans. But it might be a relief after all this losing for the player.
3. What has happened to the once mighty Jets defense? It is not a simple answer. Here is my list of what I think went wrong:
A) They were bound for some regression this season. The defense has played so well over the last two years. It is hard to maintain that level. Even with a slight regression, the Jets were still going to have a good defense.
B) Losing Bryce Huff and John Franklin-Myers was huge. Those two were productive players and popular ones in the locker room. I had one player tell me that he always knew Franklin-Myers would make the tackle if the opponent ran to his side. They never worried about backs getting to the second level when JFM was out there. I know Huff has not had a good year in Philadelphia, but he was built for this defense. Huff was just emerging as a really good player and the Jets let him walk. Haason Reddick was invisible Sunday.
C) Firing Robert Saleh has clearly had an effect on this defense. I’m not sure if it is from a schematic standpoint and they miss his defensive mind, or if Jeff Ulbrich is just overwhelmed by doing both the head coach job and defensive coordinator. Whatever it is, the defense has been much worse since Saleh has been gone.
4. Lost in this mess of a game Sunday was that left tackle Tyron Smith exited the game with a neck injury and did not play the second half. This could lead to a significant change with 2024 first-round pick Olu Fashanu now playing left tackle. Smith has not had a good season, so it may not be a huge loss. You knew Smith would get hurt at some point. That was part of the logic of drafting Fashanu No. 11 overall. Now, the Jets could get an extended look at Fashanu. If the Jets believe Fashanu can protect Rodgers, they should just let him play the rest of the season and let him develop. We’ve reached that part of the season with the record where it is.
Revealing stat
Rodgers averaged 4.3 yards per attempt on Sunday, looking afraid to throw it deep. He is averaging 6.4 yards per attempt this season. That is the lowest in his career since becoming a starter in 2008.
Surprising snap count
Braelon Allen only had 14 snaps in Sunday’s game. Breece Hall played 47. I don’t understand why that gap is so wide. Allen is able to move the ball through the middle. He is productive when he plays. The Jets need to give him a bigger role.
Game ball
The Jets missed tons of tackles but Jamien Sherwood made 17 of them. Sherwood continues to have a breakout season, playing in place of C.J. Mosley and was one of the only positives from Sunday.
