The Jets dropped their third straight game and eighth in their last nine on Sunday, a 26-21 loss to the Seahawks that sends them to 3-9 this season.
Here are some thoughts and observations on the game:
1. Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich announced Monday morning that Aaron Rodgers would remain the team’s starting quarterback this week against the Dolphins. Rodgers’ status became a question after Ulbrich left the door open for a change slightly after Sunday’s loss.
To me, there is nothing to gain by benching Rodgers. I understand he has not played very well this season. I get that Sunday’s game swung on the two-play sequence when he missed Garrett Wilson in the end zone and then threw the pick-six to Leonard Williams. But this team’s problems run much deeper than Rodgers and I think we are long past the part of the season where you make a move like this to give the team “a spark” like Robert Saleh tried with Mike White in 2022.
It would be a different story if the Jets had a young quarterback in waiting behind Rodgers. They don’t. They have Tyrod Taylor and Adrian Martinez. Rodgers does still give the Jets the best chance to win.
There were moments on Sunday when you started to think: Here he is. That is the Aaron Rodgers I remember. He threw a pretty pass to Davante Adams and later hit Adams on a quick pass after a bad snap that was a really heads-up play. He also moved better than he has in weeks, reinvigorated by the bye week.
All of that should give him the chance to lead the team in the final five games and try to salvage a few wins in this miserable season.
I also think he is an all-time great and that has to be considered here. Benching a four-time MVP who is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play is not something you can do lightly. There will be repercussions in the locker room and with players viewing the Jets around the league, as well as prospective coaches and GMs. The Jets have a terrible image problem at the moment. They are viewed as a dysfunctional franchise.
Benching Rodgers, who has not played well but also has not been absolutely terrible, would just add to that dysfunctional label.
2. During a stretch in Robert Saleh’s first season with the Jets in 2021, the team would routinely get blown out and the games would be over by halftime in some instances. Saleh used to talk about how most NFL games come down to the fourth quarter and either your defense making a stop or your offense putting together a game-winning drive. His message back then was the Jets had to get to that point as a team.
Well, the Jets have gotten there and it has been ugly.
Sunday’s game was yet another instance where the defense gave up a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter and the offense could not put together a game-winning drive. The Jets have lost six games this season that they could have won in the fourth quarter. The Broncos, Vikings, Bills, Patriots, Colts and Seahawks all found a way to beat the Jets in a close game late.
There is blame to be shared, for sure. Kicker Greg Zuerlein gets some blame for missing kicks against the Broncos, Bills and Patriots. The defense collapsed against the Patriots, Colts and Seahawks. The offense failed against the Vikings, Bills, Colts and Seahawks.
When the autopsy is done on the 2024 Jets, the fourth-quarter failures are going to be a big part of it. This team is missing something when the game is on the line. Maybe it is poise, fight, heart, guts … I’m not sure exactly what it is, but I’m sure they don’t have it and that showed itself again Sunday.
3. One bright spot from Sunday’s game was the play of rookie left tackle Olu Fashanu. He did not allow any pressures on 42 pass-blocking snaps.
Fashanu is going to get a nice run at left tackle now with Tyron Smith on injured reserve. There is no reason for the Jets to bring Smith back this season. They need to give this time to Fashanu to develop.
It is pretty clear that Brock Bowers is going to be a stud for the Raiders and the question has already come up whether the Jets should have drafted him instead of Fashanu. I get it. You watch Bowers and it is hard not to be impressed. But the Jets needed a left tackle more than they needed a tight end. I still understand their reasoning for drafting Fashanu.
This conversation is not going to go away, though, and it is always tough for a lineman to compete with someone who scores touchdowns in the comparison game.
It is super early, but Fashanu is showing some positive signs for the future.
4. Haason Reddick continues to have little to no impact. He had three pressures in Sunday’s game, per PFF, and two tackles.
Reddick only has a ½ sack in five games with the Jets. The Reddick trade will go down as one of the worst in Joe Douglas’ time with the Jets, especially when you view it through the lens of swapping out Bryce Huff and John Franklin-Myers for him. Then, you add on the holdout. It is an ugly one.
REVEALING STAT: The Jets have 13 defensive pass interference penalties this season. That is second-most in the NFL. The Lions have 15.
SURPRISING SNAP COUNT: Xavier Gipson was credited with one defensive snap. No, he was not playing two ways Sunday. He stayed on the field on fourth down, believing the Seahawks were punting and the Jets were flagged for 12 men on the field.
GAME BALL: Kene Nwangwu gets elevated from the practice squad Saturday and has a 99-yard kickoff return and a forced fumble on a kickoff in his first game for the Jets. That is quite a debut.
