Unfathomable Depths: Jets continue to sink with another miserable loss
Gang Green has yet another gut-wrenching loss, losing to the Vikings in London. Plus, how we've already reached despondency in early October.
What’s Up with the Jets? 🛩️
The Jets (2-3) lost yet another gut-wrenching game, falling to the Vikings (5-0) by a 23-17 score (box)
Trailing by six points with a chance to win with a score in the final minute, QB Aaron Rodgers threw an interception to lose the game
Rodgers had his worst performance as a Jet, going 29/54 (53.7 percent) for 244 yards, two touchdowns, three interceptions and a 54.9 passer rating
RB Breece Hall was a total non-factor for the second straight week, rushing for just 23 yards on nine attempts (2.6 yards per carry) and catching three passes for 14 yards
WR Garrett Wilson had his best game of the season, catching 13 passes on an insane 22 targets for 101 yards and a touchdown
Wilson’s 101 receiving yards are the second lowest for any pass-catcher with 20+ targets in a game dating back to 2006
RB Braelon Allen had only six touches (five rushes, one catch) on offense in the loss
WR Allen Lazard has his worst game of the season, as well, dropping four passes, though he did catch a touchdown in the first half
After falling behind 17-0, the Jets have now lost 97 consecutive games when trailing by 17+ points dating back to 2001
WR Malachi Corley, who the team drafted in the third round this year, was a healthy inactive for Sunday’s game
Injury Updates 🏥
CB Michael Carter II injured his hamstring during warmups and missed a majority of the game
Game Balls 🏈
OFFENSE
🏈 Garrett Wilson: It was another absolute slog for this Jets offense on Sunday, but the lone bright spot was there being some progress in the Rodgers/Wilson connection. While there were still 2-3 moments where they were clearly still out of sync, but overall this was the most life we have seen so far this season from Garrett Wilson. Overall on the day, Wilson hauled in 13 catches for 101 yards and a touchdown, while getting targeted an incredible 22 times. This team will still need more efficiency out of Wilson moving forward, but it was the lone bright spot on the offensive side of the ball.
DEFENSE
🏈 D.J. Reed: For the second consecutive week, D.J. Reed takes home the game ball on defense. Yet again, he was without a doubt the best player on the field for this team as he locked down receivers pretty much all day long on Sunday. He wasn’t always on Justin Jefferson but held up against him quite well, and the one penalty called on him was a pretty clear offensive pass interference that for some reason was called against Reed.
Play of the Week 📺
Normally I try to make the Play of the Week be something positive for the Jets, but I don’t have it in me to cherrypick a bright spot after yet another gross loss. Rather than doing the “there is no play of the week” bit all over again, I’m going with the play that felt the most consequential to me.
Even more so than the game-ending interception, this was THE moment where I felt in the pit of my stomach that the Jets were going to lose. On a backyard style play, Garrett Wilson freed himself after a double move on what would have been the go-ahead, if not game-winning touchdown. Unfortunately Aaron Rodgers missed him, perhaps in part due to the pressure in the pocket.
In the moment, you could just feel how big of a wasted opportunity that was. 40 seconds later, the Vikings were lining up in the victory formation.
A Look at the Standings 📈
The Jets, Bills and Patriots all lost on Sunday, while the Dolphins won. Here’s how the AFC East looks after Week 5…
It’s only October, and we’ve already reached total despondency ✍️
How many more times can we be expected to do this?
I’m so tired of watching seemingly the same game week-after-week by this godforsaken football team that we made the foolish choice to root for at an earlier point in our lives. Every year we think it’s going to be different, every game we rationalize to ourselves that they can win, and yet this team somehow always finds a way to fuck it up.
Despite the general manager, the head coach and the personnel changing throughout all of the years this is a franchise that knows nothing but losing, and has yet to escape their own viscous spiral. It’s so unbelievably expected at this point, but in a weird way that makes it even more frustrating to watch.
When it comes to baseball, I’ve spent the last few weeks unlearning my negativity and past sports trauma thanks to the Mets earning my trust and going out and proving me wrong on the field. With the Jets, it’s been the complete opposite. All they’ve done over the past few weeks is reinforce every pessimistic and negative feeling that I’ve ever had about this team, and it’s made me question why I ever even thought things could turn around in the first place.
It’s not going to change, especially when they have this coaching staff. This legacy of losing stretches back far before Robert Saleh walked through that door, but the problems with this football team start with this regime. Every single game looks and feels exactly the same, whether they have the worst quarterback play in the entire league or Aaron Rodgers under center. They come out of the gates slow, they always look totally unprepared, and they always find a way to choke at the end of these games.
It’s as if we’re living in the movie ‘Groundhog Day’ and being forced to watch the same damn game every single week, and we always know what the result is going to be. And yet the awful, bullshit quotes from this head coach never seem to relent despite the fact that nothing ever seems to change.
“It’s early. We’re five games in,” Saleh told reporters after the latest loss. “We have a long way to go.”
This is not what Jets fans want to hear, and it is yet another example in a long list of them of this coach refusing to hold his team accountable. Earlier in the week coming out of the loss to Denver, Saleh recycled his now infamous line that they don’t need to embarrass the players after bad losses by going through the film or punishing them. And yet he’s surprised that nothing ever seems to go any differently.
For the second straight week, Saleh got contradicted by one of his own players in the postgame comments. Last week it was Rodgers disagreeing with Saleh’s quote about the cadence being too complicated. This week, we saw Quincy Williams holding himself and his teammates more accountable than his coach seems to be willing to.
“I'm going to be honest — people get tired of hearing the same shit,” Williams said after the game. “People gotta start taking accountability. People get tired of hearing the same thing every week. That's all I got to say.”
Honestly, man, I’m just tired at this point. I am exhausted. Every year we expend so much energy and hope into a team that never has an interest in rewarding those feelings. It’s a shame because this fanbase deserves more.
It’s the kind of sinking, frustrated, despondent feeling that makes you wish you could just give it all up, but we all know we’ll be back again next week trying to convince ourselves that maybe, just maybe we’ll eventually get that ultimate reward.
At this point, though, I’m not holding my breath.
Next Week’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Jets (2-3) vs. Bills (3-2)
Where: MetLife Stadium – East Rutherford, NJ
When: Monday, 8:15 PM EST
Where to Watch: ESPN
Around the NFL 🏁
After letting a 20-3 lead slip away, the Texans defeated the Bills thanks to a 59-yard field goal as time expired in regulation
Despite Bengals QB Joe Burrow throwing for five touchdowns, the Ravens rallied back to defeat Cincinnati in overtime on a game-winning field goal from Justin Tucker
The Jaguars finally got their first win of the season thanks to a 371-yard performance from QB Trevor Lawrence, defeating the Colts by a 37-34 score
Commanders QB Jayden Daniels continued to sparkle as a rookie as Washington beat up the Browns, 34-13
QB Kyle Murray and the Cardinals overcame a 10-point deficit to defeat the 49ers, 24-23, to send San Francisco to a 2-3 record
What can one say but, Aaron welcome to the subpar history of the New York Jets!