EAST RUTHERFORD – This is why you parted with the draft picks and paid the money. Aaron Rodgers was brought to the Jets for games like this, moments like this.
Fourth quarter. One possession. Ball in his hands. Drive down the field, score a touchdown, win the game.
MetLife Stadium collectively held their breath as Rodgers’ prayer hung in the air Monday night. Mike Williams broke free, then cut back. He slipped to the turf as Bills corner Taron Johnson undercut the route for an interception. Rodgers and the Jets never touched the ball again.
Final Score: Bills 23, Jets 20.
Maybe it’s time to stop expecting the Jets to win these games.
“It’s the little things,” Rodgers said. “Every single time.”
The Jets’ record now sits 2-and-what-could-have-been. They were smacked in the opener against the 49ers. You can excuse that. These last three games are immensely hard to process. Rodgers took the field twice with a chance to beat the Broncos. An unblocked rusher ended one drive, then Greg Zuerlein missed a field goal on attempt No. 2. Rodgers threw an interception to Williams against the Vikings. Now this one against the Bills.
It wasn’t an ideal situation. Penalties contributed to a 3rd-and-16. Receiver Allen Lazard ran up the seam and then threw his hand in the air. That took the defense’s attention with him and left Williams alone. He was supposed to be on the red line, Rodgers said. Instead, he ran an in breaker.
Rodgers tried to adjust mid-throw. It failed. Johnson intercepted it. Williams, who suffered a concussion on the play, was not available to the media. Concussed players do not speak after games.
“It has to be down the red line,” Rodgers said.
Bad teams are broken by the details. The Jets are exhibiting all the qualities of a bad team.
And it’s far more than a miscommunication on an interception.
What makes this particular loss so disheartening is the sheer number of opportunities the Jets had. The box score is particularly frustrating. Rodgers finished 25 of 35 for 294 yards with a pair of touchdowns. Both Lazard (six catches, 114 yards, touchdown) and Garrett Wilson (eight catches, 107 yards, touchdown) went over 100. Breece Hall had 169 scrimmage yards, including his first 100-yard game on the ground (113 on 18 carries). You’d think the Jets blew Buffalo out with those markings.
They didn’t because they allowed the Bills to score touchdowns on three of their first four possessions. The Jets missed two field goals (43 and 32 yards) that bounced off the uprights. They went just 1-of-4 in the red zone. They committed 11 penalties for 110 yards.
In spite of it all they still had a chance. They failed for the third time in as many attempts. This wasn’t supposed to happen anymore. They had their closer. Yet it is. Time and time again.
“We need to lock in more,” said Hall.
“This was a golden opportunity,” Rodgers said. “Some games you win in the NFL and some games you give away.
“This was a giveaway.”
Give the Jets credit. To a man they all insisted the season isn’t over – everything they want to accomplish is still there for them, and it is. They’re two games back of the Bills for the division lead, but still play Buffalo again, same with the Patriots. They have two left against the Dolphins. Their schedule absolutely lightens up on the back half with games against the Cardinals, Colts, Seahawks, Jaguars, and Rams.
But Wilson admitted in the locker room it’s “harder than it sounds” to fight off the feeling like the Jets have been here before – the dreaded “here we go again.” They were supposed to turn the corner each of the last two years and haven’t. If anything, they look like they’ve regressed.
They were 3-3 after six weeks last year. They were 4-2 after six weeks in 2022. Now, they’re 2-4. They’ve already changed their head coach (Jeff Ulbrich), play caller (Todd Downing), and have Rodgers back under center.
“We have to find a way to get it done,” Ulbrich said. “It’s another thing we have to shine a light on. What are we calling? Is it the calls? Whatever it is, we have to fix it and fix it fast.”
It’s supposed to be fixed already. Things are supposed to be different. Yet it’s just more of the same. The Jets are finding ways to lose – inventing new ways, it appears. Patience is justifiably running thin.
So maybe it’s time to end the blind faith. Wait to see to believe.
And the next time they have the ball with a chance to win, just prepare for the inevitable demise.
