There was a plan drawn up before this season by the Jets that included qualifying for the playoffs for the first time in 13 seasons, potentially winning the AFC East for the first time in 22 years and perhaps reaching the Super Bowl for the first time. Time in 56 years.
It was a flashy plan, to be sure. But it seemed possible with the acquisition of Aaron Rodgers, a championship-proven quarterback wearing the green and white for the first time since Joe Namath.
You don’t have to be a die-hard Jets follower to know how it turned out.
Not as planned.
The downfall of the Jets, who lost their fifth straight game Sunday at MetLife Stadium in a 13-8 pillow battle with the Falcons, appears to have happened as quickly as Rodgers’ Achilles tendon that caused his left calf to lift up like a window. Shadow on his fourth offensive play of the season.
Even with the losing season this developed into, Rodgers represented a get-out-of-jail-free card for those running the Jets — head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas.
There was an assumption, with Rodgers vowing to return in 2024, that ownership would bring everything back with the same leaders and try again.
But the way the Jets are playing right now, especially on offense, you have to wonder if there’s an expiration date on his get-out-of-jail-free card.
You have to wonder how many times Jets owner Woody Johnson can sit in his suite watching his team perform the way it did on Sunday, and how many boos from angry fans he can hear.
For Saleh and Douglas, this is not sustainable, and they should know that.
It’s hard to fathom, if the Jets lose the rest of their games — which is very possible given the fact they don’t have an NFL-caliber quarterback among the three healthy players on the roster — that Johnson won’t lose what patience he has left.
I know Jets fans want a penalty for this, and they’ll quickly turn against the head coach, because he’s always the first to bear the brunt of the frustration.
But I do not live in the camp that believes Saleh should be fired, because he remains a strong motivator, which I value as much in head coaches as any other trait. Every week, I see Saleh’s players play hard for him despite the terrible circumstances the team finds itself in with an offense that would have a hard time scoring a touchdown in a Pop Warner game.
There was no hint of finger-pointing from Saleh’s defence, who showed no shortage of intensity despite knowing their efforts would be in vain with the inept attack unable to score a goal.
But Saleh is the head coach and this of course makes him responsible for the attack as well as the defence.
When asked if he had players in attack to improve in the last five matches, Saleh, who looked completely beleaguered, said: “We have to find a way to get the players we have better.”
The Jets were 3-3 in their bye week after defeating the Super Bowl runner-up Eagles and looked like their season was about to take off — even without Rodgers. They survived every game in a 13-10 overtime win over the Giants to get to 4-3 immediately after the bye and a playoff berth looked like a legitimate possibility.
But the Jets have lost their last five games since then, scoring two offensive goals in that span, which is inexcusable — even for a team ravaged by injuries.
“We are looking,” Saleh said. “You have to find ways to get better and compete. You have to keep grinding.”
The Jets have scored a total of 10 offensive touchdowns in 12 games this season, an inefficiency that is hard to fathom. In their past six games, they have committed three offensive touchdowns — none on Sunday against Atlanta.
When Tim Boyle, who replaced ineffective No. 2 Zach Wilson, who took over after Rodgers’ injury, was replaced by Trevor Siemian in the fourth quarter on Sunday, it marked the top four quarterbacks the Jets have played this season.
If Siemian starts next Sunday against the Texans, it will match the most starting quarterbacks the Jets have started since 1989 when Ken O’Brien gave way to Tony Eason, who made way for Pat Ryan, who was replaced by Kyle Mackey.
The Jets finished that season 4-12 and Joe Walton was fired as head coach, after cups of beer were thrown at him on his way out of the Giants Stadium tunnel for the final time.
If the Jets run the schedule and lose, they will go 4-13 on a 10-game losing streak, and that grand plan they had for 2023 could rupture in the same way it did to Rodgers’ Achilles tendon three months ago.
