The best play Aaron Rodgers made all day came about 30 minutes after he and the Jets lost to the Vikings, 23-17, Sunday at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
That was when Rodgers, as a true leader does, was accountable for his own poor performance and resolute about his belief in the team and its head coach (at least publicly).
“You’ve just got to be honest with your performance every single week and hold yourself to a standard,” a visibly dejected Rodgers said after the game. “Obviously, I was below my standard.”
Rodgers’ accountability, of course, was of little consolation to Jets fans. At the end of the day, accountability doesn’t overcome a 17-0 first-half deficit. Accountability doesn’t win games.
So, while his accountability after the game was admirable, the reality is that Rodgers didn’t make a lot of positive plays in the game.
And now, one week removed from throwing away an eminently winnable game at home in a 10-9 loss to Denver, the Jets are teetering dangerously on being an all-out mess if the losing continues.
And Rodgers is at the center of it after throwing a career-high three interceptions to the Vikings, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
Mark this down as Rodgers’ worst non-injury moment in a Jets uniform. And if you’re a Jets fan, you hope that it turns out to be what Rodgers likes to refer to as an “outlier.”
Because Rodgers was the reason the Jets lost this game, and that’s a problem considering he’s the best, most accomplished player on the team.
His 63-yard pick-six, thrown right into the chest of linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel in the first quarter, was a backbreaker. It gave Minnesota an early 10-0 lead and represented a damaging points-swing since the Jets were in Minnesota territory at the time, trailing 3-0 with a likely chance at a game-tying field goal.
It’s distressing enough that this Jets season of such massive promise stands at 2-3 entering upcoming difficult games against the Bills (at home) and Steelers (on the road).
But it’s even more disturbing that Sunday’s game represented everything Rodgers was brought to the Jets for. Consider this scenario tailor-made for Rodgers on Sunday:
There was 3:07 remaining in a game the Jets had little business still being in. They trailed by six points and had the ball on their own 30-yard line with a chance to steal the game.
Rodgers, with 21 career fourth-quarter comeback victories and 32 game-winning drives in his back pocket, was brought to the Jets to thrive in this very situation — put the team on his shoulders and carry it to victory.
But this time, Rodgers looked a lot like the previous dozen or so name-your-Jets-quarterbacks when faced with this scenario in that he failed to get the job done.
The potential game-winning possession ended when, on third-and-10 from the Minnesota 26-yard line, Rodgers underthrew receiver Mike Williams inside the 10 and cornerback Stephon Gilmore picked the pass off to end the Jets chances.
It was Rodgers’ third interception of the game. His second came on the possession after the Van Ginkel pick when he overthrew Allen Lazard by about 10 feet and was picked off by Vikings defensive back Camryn Bynam.
“I just found out I’ve never thrown two picks in the first quarter before, so, that’s the first,” Rodgers said. “One of them cost us obviously seven [points]. In a game we lose by six, plays like that are exponentially highlighted. Three turnovers for me is definitely out of character and I’m disappointed in what happened.”
Not even Jets head coach Robert Saleh, who usually bends over backwards to praise Rodgers, could muster an ounce of positivity over the way his quarterback performed.
“Obviously, up and down,” Saleh said. “Unfortunately, that pick-six was a big difference in the game.”
Rodgers said, “I’ve got to take care of the football. You can’t turn the ball over three times and win in this league.”
Rodgers then put on his brave, leader face and did what he could to lead after he’d helped throw this game away.
“The most important positive to take with us is if we stick together, because there’ll be a lot of people outside the building won’t be sticking with the Jets,” he said. “[I] still have a lot of confidence in this team. I think it’s a team that’s going to make a run. Whether that run starts next week, the following week or whenever it might be, I’m confident in our guys, I’m confident in [our] leadership and confident we’ll get this thing straightened out.”
It is early, five games into a 17-game season.
And, with Buffalo dropping to 3-2 after Sunday’s loss in Houston and the Patriots and Dolphins compromised teams, no one is running away from the Jets in the AFC East at the moment.
But if the Jets’ best player doesn’t perform like their best player should, and do it soon, all the accountability in the world won’t matter a damn bit.
