There are NFL teams that project enough strength and resilience that they can shrug off a miserable 10-9 home loss in the rain. And then there are the New York Jets. Taking a soggy field for their contest against the Broncos after a solid 2-1 start, head coach Robert Saleh's boys delivered the kind of performance that makes fans in the stands swear off football for life and turns a star quarterback into a sour prig—well, OK, Aaron Rodgers was already that, but he's aiming it more pointedly at his own guys now.
Everyone can agree on this: It was not the defense's fault. After holding the Patriots to three points last week, they shut down the pass and only really slipped up on one Denver touchdown drive. Even late in the game, when they could have pleaded exhaustion, they stiffed the Broncos on key plays and put their offense in position to win. They also helped produce this bleak QB stat graphic:
But even though so much went right on one side of the ball, the Jets' offense could never quite capitalize. Immediately after this futility flashed on the screen, linebacker Quincy Williams forced and recovered a fumble. A 34-yard penalty in the end zone helped bail the Jets out on third-and-11, but even with first-and-goal at the one, New York went no gain, no gain, incomplete, false start, field goal. It was one of their most productive drives.
Rodgers spent the day soaked, bullied, and disconnected from his teammates. He was sacked five times and hit many more. He had communication issues with his offensive line that led to five false starts. And despite picking up a respectable 225 yards through the air, it was obvious that his receivers are still getting used to him. The complexity and intensity of Rodgers's approach is a notorious challenge for young wideouts, and it was this apparent crossed wire with 23-year-old Xavier Gipson that, followed by an instant sack on fourth down, nearly buried the Jets.
I say "nearly" because the one thing the Jets did right was conserve their timeouts. The defense built another wall, the Broncos missed a field goal with 87 seconds left, and Rodgers got 13 yards of passing to set up Greg Zuerlein for a potential 50-yard game-winner. He sliced it wide right, so the Jets couldn't even wear a 3-1 record to insulate them from their issues. With their next three opponents sporting a combined record of 10-2, the first of them the undefeated Vikings in a U.K. game, New York already appears to be at an inflection point that will determine whether or not their season might be worth a damn.
After the sloppiness out on the field, there was some disagreement in the postgame about how to get better. Saleh, in his words to the media, wondered aloud if Rodgers's pre-snap misdirection was too much for the rest of the offense to handle. He walked that back Monday morning, but not before his QB got in a bit of a dig when asked at his own presser if simplifying his cadence would help.
"That's one way to do it," Rodgers said. "The other way is to hold them accountable."
I would not want to be in the middle seat between these two guys on the flight to London.
