by Team Del Genio
Thursday, Oct 31, 2024The New York Jets were a desperate team after general manager Joe Douglas fired head coach Robert Saleh last week after their 23-17 loss to Minnesota in London. The problem with the team was not on the defensive side of the football which was the specialty of the former San Francisco defensive coordinator. The Jets were only scoring 18.6 points per game. Saleh allegedly wanted to fire offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett after the game (as well as in the summer given recent reporting) yet he was the one to lose his job in the end.
Douglass elevated defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to be the interim head coach, and he is well thought of in the building. The team has blocked approaches by other teams to interview him as their potential head coach, so this is probably a real audition for him to keep the job if he can turn around what was a 2-3 team. Ulbrich did not fire Hackett, but he was able to take away his play-calling duties. Former Tennessee offensive coordinator Todd Downing got elevated to call the plays on offense, although his relationship with Aaron Rodgers was unclear. Rodgers had conflicts with Matt LaFleur and Mike McCarthy when those head coaches were calling his plays.
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson had lamented the lack of creativity in the play-calling, yet it may take many weeks to overhaul the offense if that is the direction Downing and Ulbrich want to go. Yet it is still Rodgers who has to execute the plays, and he is the one at the line of scrimmage with the authority to call audibles. Maybe the problem was not the defensive head coach but Rodgers himself. When Saleh was fired, he ranked 21st in the NFL with a quarterback rating of 49.1. He ranked 26th with a passer rating of 81.6. His 6.0 yards per attempt average ranked 29th.
The Jets’ first game without Saleh was a Monday night showdown at home against the Buffalo Bills. Despite the internal turmoil, a New York upset win as a 1-point underdog would have elevated the Jets into first place in the AFC East. Instead, the Bills pulled out a 23-20 victory.
After that loss there are still some considering New York “the best 2-4 team in the league” who are just a few plays away from being 5-1 on the season. Others considered them simply the same old Jets whose two victories were against Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans and Jacoby Brissett and the New England Patriots. We were somewhere in the middle. Unquestionably, New York became a better team on offense after trading for wide receiver Davante Adams the next day after the loss to the Bills. Yet were they quite as good on defense with head coach Robert Saleh who built his reputation as one of the league’s best defensive minds after years of serving as the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers? At 2-4 and risking dropping to 2-5 against a Steelers team in the hunt for a wildcard spot in the AFC, trailing them by three games with Pittsburgh holding the tie-breaker would be devastating. The pressure was high and the tension could come to a head for this team that was now on a three-game losing streak. Playing the Steelers in Pittsburgh for Sunday Night Football on a short week with an interim head coach and a new play-caller on offense while incorporating a new starting wide receiver only added to the challenge. With all three losses to Denver, Minnesota, and the Bills all being by six points or less, this team is finding ways to lose. While it was expected that Rodgers would quickly incorporate Adams into the offensive attack, the numbers indicated he was simply not playing very well. He was only completing 61.8% of his passes this season, ranking 26th in the league. His 9:5 touchdown to interception ratio was tied for 18th in the league. His passer rating of 84.4 ranked 26th.
Facing the Steelers with Russell Wilson making his first start for them, the Jets went into halftime with a 15-13 lead before getting outscored in the second half by a 24-0 margin in a 37-15 upset loss as a 2.5-point favorite. Bettors against teams that got embarrassed on national television is not a great way to build a bank account, yet traveling to Foxboro on a short week to play a 1-6 New England Patriots team was not what a group that suffers from overconfidence needs.
The Jets locker room still considered themselves Super Bowl material despite what their record indicated. After adding wide receiver Davante Adams two weeks ago, pass rusher Hassan Reddick ended his holdout and signed a contract this week. He was expected to play. Yet after their listless 10-9 loss at home against Denver a month ago, they were supposed to rebound in London against Minnesota, and then at home against Buffalo on Monday Night Football after firing head coach Robert Saleh, and then last week on Sunday Night Football against the Steelers with Adams reunited with Aaron Rodgers.
Finally, the bounce-back great performance seemed to be destined by some for their rematch against the lowly Patriots. New York played their best game of the season last month in their 24-3 thrashing of New England. The oddsmakers opened the Jets as a 6.5-point favorite in many spots, and the market has pushed them to a 7-point favorite. The last time New York was favored by a touchdown or more against the Patriots was on September 12th, 1999. Yet the Jets have not scored more than 20 points in four straight games. Rodgers has only ten touchdown passes in seven games and has thrown seven interceptions. He has been sacked 12 times and taken another 34 quarterback hits during the four-game losing streak. In his last twenty-five starts, Rodgers has an 11-14 record.
Maybe this time would be different? New York had won and covered the point spread in their last two games against New England. Yet this franchise has covered the point spread only twice in their last nine games against the Patriots after beating them and covering the point spread in two straight games. Some bettors were already going broke banking on this Jets team to finally start meeting their supposed potential. Yet with their only other victory being against Tennessee, maybe this is who they are.
Sure enough, the Jets blew a 13-7 halftime lead to lose at home to New England, 25-22, despite being a 7-point favorite. With a 2-6 record, New York has to win eight of their last nine games to reach ten wins. Maybe they could still make the playoffs with a 9-8 record, yet even them going 7-2 in their final nine games since overly optimistic.
How owner Woody Johnson will want to proceed in the offseason is anyone’s guess. Yet after a successful month fading a Jets team, we considered overrated, they may begin to offer point spread value relative to public expectations as they begin to take on the role of the spoiler while teasing their fans as to what could have been.
Good luck - TDG.
Douglass elevated defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to be the interim head coach, and he is well thought of in the building. The team has blocked approaches by other teams to interview him as their potential head coach, so this is probably a real audition for him to keep the job if he can turn around what was a 2-3 team. Ulbrich did not fire Hackett, but he was able to take away his play-calling duties. Former Tennessee offensive coordinator Todd Downing got elevated to call the plays on offense, although his relationship with Aaron Rodgers was unclear. Rodgers had conflicts with Matt LaFleur and Mike McCarthy when those head coaches were calling his plays.
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson had lamented the lack of creativity in the play-calling, yet it may take many weeks to overhaul the offense if that is the direction Downing and Ulbrich want to go. Yet it is still Rodgers who has to execute the plays, and he is the one at the line of scrimmage with the authority to call audibles. Maybe the problem was not the defensive head coach but Rodgers himself. When Saleh was fired, he ranked 21st in the NFL with a quarterback rating of 49.1. He ranked 26th with a passer rating of 81.6. His 6.0 yards per attempt average ranked 29th.
The Jets’ first game without Saleh was a Monday night showdown at home against the Buffalo Bills. Despite the internal turmoil, a New York upset win as a 1-point underdog would have elevated the Jets into first place in the AFC East. Instead, the Bills pulled out a 23-20 victory.
After that loss there are still some considering New York “the best 2-4 team in the league” who are just a few plays away from being 5-1 on the season. Others considered them simply the same old Jets whose two victories were against Will Levis and the Tennessee Titans and Jacoby Brissett and the New England Patriots. We were somewhere in the middle. Unquestionably, New York became a better team on offense after trading for wide receiver Davante Adams the next day after the loss to the Bills. Yet were they quite as good on defense with head coach Robert Saleh who built his reputation as one of the league’s best defensive minds after years of serving as the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers? At 2-4 and risking dropping to 2-5 against a Steelers team in the hunt for a wildcard spot in the AFC, trailing them by three games with Pittsburgh holding the tie-breaker would be devastating. The pressure was high and the tension could come to a head for this team that was now on a three-game losing streak. Playing the Steelers in Pittsburgh for Sunday Night Football on a short week with an interim head coach and a new play-caller on offense while incorporating a new starting wide receiver only added to the challenge. With all three losses to Denver, Minnesota, and the Bills all being by six points or less, this team is finding ways to lose. While it was expected that Rodgers would quickly incorporate Adams into the offensive attack, the numbers indicated he was simply not playing very well. He was only completing 61.8% of his passes this season, ranking 26th in the league. His 9:5 touchdown to interception ratio was tied for 18th in the league. His passer rating of 84.4 ranked 26th.
Facing the Steelers with Russell Wilson making his first start for them, the Jets went into halftime with a 15-13 lead before getting outscored in the second half by a 24-0 margin in a 37-15 upset loss as a 2.5-point favorite. Bettors against teams that got embarrassed on national television is not a great way to build a bank account, yet traveling to Foxboro on a short week to play a 1-6 New England Patriots team was not what a group that suffers from overconfidence needs.
The Jets locker room still considered themselves Super Bowl material despite what their record indicated. After adding wide receiver Davante Adams two weeks ago, pass rusher Hassan Reddick ended his holdout and signed a contract this week. He was expected to play. Yet after their listless 10-9 loss at home against Denver a month ago, they were supposed to rebound in London against Minnesota, and then at home against Buffalo on Monday Night Football after firing head coach Robert Saleh, and then last week on Sunday Night Football against the Steelers with Adams reunited with Aaron Rodgers.
Finally, the bounce-back great performance seemed to be destined by some for their rematch against the lowly Patriots. New York played their best game of the season last month in their 24-3 thrashing of New England. The oddsmakers opened the Jets as a 6.5-point favorite in many spots, and the market has pushed them to a 7-point favorite. The last time New York was favored by a touchdown or more against the Patriots was on September 12th, 1999. Yet the Jets have not scored more than 20 points in four straight games. Rodgers has only ten touchdown passes in seven games and has thrown seven interceptions. He has been sacked 12 times and taken another 34 quarterback hits during the four-game losing streak. In his last twenty-five starts, Rodgers has an 11-14 record.
Maybe this time would be different? New York had won and covered the point spread in their last two games against New England. Yet this franchise has covered the point spread only twice in their last nine games against the Patriots after beating them and covering the point spread in two straight games. Some bettors were already going broke banking on this Jets team to finally start meeting their supposed potential. Yet with their only other victory being against Tennessee, maybe this is who they are.
Sure enough, the Jets blew a 13-7 halftime lead to lose at home to New England, 25-22, despite being a 7-point favorite. With a 2-6 record, New York has to win eight of their last nine games to reach ten wins. Maybe they could still make the playoffs with a 9-8 record, yet even them going 7-2 in their final nine games since overly optimistic.
How owner Woody Johnson will want to proceed in the offseason is anyone’s guess. Yet after a successful month fading a Jets team, we considered overrated, they may begin to offer point spread value relative to public expectations as they begin to take on the role of the spoiler while teasing their fans as to what could have been.
Good luck - TDG.
