With the Giants recap in the can, it’s time to walk through the letdown that was the Jets. As I said in the other recap, there will be no sugar coating here, and nor should there be given what a mess the Jets STILL ARE. Even when we thought they might free themselves from their typical dysfunction, it has returned in several ugly ways. Let’s get into it!

The Jets

Any conversation about this Jets season has to begin with Aaron Rodgers season ending injury in week one. Number eight lasted just four plays and as he was carried off the field, all the preseason excitement and anticipation left with him. I am not going to waste time discussing the “comeback that didn’t happen,” as it was nothing more than an attention seeking ploy by Rodgers. Instead, we will focus on the glaring flaws in the Jets operation that the injury exposed. Some of what we are about to break down makes it all the more confounding that no one involved in the franchises day to day operation is losing their job. This examination begins, as it so often does, with the coaches and front office.

General manager Joe Douglas has had a lot of good moments running the New York Jets, especially on draft nights. But this past year, going back to the offseason, was by far the worst of his tenure. Douglas willful negligence when assembling this roster was pretty surprising given how strong of a leader he’d been so far. While he deserves credit for acquiring a future Hall of Fame quarterback, his ignoring an offensive line in desperate need of help laid the groundwork for his team’s collapse. The refusal to address these issues even carried over to the season when he waited forever to sign a quarterback to the roster and had an extremely quiet trade deadline despite helpful players being available. I’d blame him for the disastrous additions of Lazard, Cobb and Turner but those were Rodgers picks…more on that later.

While Douglas and the front office dropped the ball, Rob Saleh and the coaches didn’t cover themselves in glory either. Saleh’s third year on the Jets sideline featured more of the same issues we had seen in his first two years in charge. An underprepared team, playing an undisciplined and mistake prone game. Penalties plagued this group on a weekly basis as they continually shot themselves in the foot with next to no margin for error given their offensive limitations. Saleh himself was only outdone by the mess that is Nathaniel Hackett and his play calling. Hackett’s bad reputation preceded him, but his hiring was deemed “alright as long as Rodgers was under center”…so much for that. While it wasn’t just his fault, none of the three Jets quarterbacks excelled under his tutelage. Saleh and company of course deflected their failure onto bad luck and injuries, while still claiming they loved their “85′ Bears” defense and “Super Bowl Caliber” Roster. They can believe what they want, but in the end the facts say Saleh is 18-33 as head coach, and staffs like the Cleveland Browns make him look even worse considering what they overcame on their way to an 11-6 season.

As for the aforementioned quarterback play, to be blunt it was horrendous. Zach Wilson was thrust back into the starters job when Rodgers was injured and struggled to run the offense. Number two showed no real progression as a player and eventually lost the job after some brutal outings. Saleh compounded the problem when he insinuated that he was not the person responsible for playing Wilson on a weekly basis and causing a firestorm that he and former WFAN host Joe Beningo were in the middle of. Regardless nothing improved with Tim Boyle or Trevor Siemian under center whilst other backups, ones Joe Douglas could have acquired, acquitted themselves well for their respective teams. The offensive line and poor weapons (excluding Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson) played a part in this as well, making one wonder if Rodgers could have successfully led this offense.

As we head into the offseason, the Jets have a lot of work to do to get this team in better shape going forward. That work begins with trying to establish some boundaries in their relationship with Aaron Rodgers. While I don’t see a way for them to calm down his bizarre appearances on The Pat McAfee Show, they need to establish a typical player/coach/front office relationship with him. Rodgers himself admits he was behind several of the damaging decisions made this season when it came to personnel. The ones he wasn’t behind, were made in service of appeasing him and enticing him to come to the Jets. Gang Green needs to let Douglas pick the players and simply consult Rodgers for more knowledge on a player should he already know them, not let him play fantasy football with this roster. By all accounts this won’t be the case as Rodgers has said he still plans to involve himself in personnel decisions and the Jets are happy to go along with that.

Douglas and company must set about seriously addressing the offensive line, a unit that likely needs four new players on it. It absolutely must be the priority this offseason, despite what Rodgers and the media think the Jets should be adding to this roster. They certainly need improved weapons in the offense which could bring Rodgers old running mate Devante Adams into play should he want to leave the Raiders, but that asset expenditure must not come before the line is dealt with. Aside from the trenches and retaining their own players, the Jets must add a competent backup quarterback and jettison Zach Wilson in the process. Wilson’s time in the Big Apple has been a bust and it’s hard to imagine him succeeding here at any point. The Jets can no longer place their faith him, especially if Rodgers goes down at any point in the season, so reliable veterans need to be at the top of the list.

Much like the Giants, this is a pivotal offseason for the Jets. They have to get this one right or they run the risk of wasting another year their talented core’s once bright future. We can only hope they deliver but one thing is for sure, it won’t be a dull offseason at MetLife Stadium.

The Last Song

In every recap we used a song by the musician who gave this blog its namesake. In searching for a Springsteen song that accurately captured the somber nature of the disappointment that this season was, I settled on Atlantic City off of Nebraska. As the Boss says, “Well now, everything dies, baby, that’s a fact Maybe everything that dies someday comes back.” Feels like a good way to look at this past season and what lies ahead for the Jets in 2024. Follow me on Twitter @YNWA9623 and subscribe to the blog by hitting the follow button in the bottom right corner of your screen and entering your email address.