EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — New York Jets players and coaches often talk about how they can’t resort to pointing fingers, even when things are at their worst — and that’s exactly what happened right now.
There was a play late in the fourth quarter on Sunday, a coverage failure that was perfect for this painful and confusing season. But this game was decided by decisions made minutes earlier on the other side of the ball.
It felt like the Jets were about to win a game. They regained momentum early in the second half, scoring on a forced fumble and then a Blaise Hall touchdown a few plays later. They took a 24-16 lead early in the fourth quarter on a Kenny Yeboah touchdown catch. The Colts tied it at two before Aaron Rodgers went on a drive down the field to take the score to the Colts 25-yard line with 3:30 left in the game. On fourth-and-2, Rodgers walked to the line of scrimmage. Jets cornerback DJ Reed thinks they’ll give it their all. Instead, Rodgers tried to get the Colts offsides. It didn’t work out, and the Jets called a timeout. Anders Carlson made a 35-yard field goal. Interim head coach Jeff Ubrich viewed it as a sign of confidence in a Jets defense that has made plays at the end of games multiple times in 2022 and ’23.
“When we see the field goal team going forward, we’re all happy: let’s do what we do,” Reed said. “That’s what we’ve been doing for the past three years.”
That’s not what they did on Sunday. This is 2024.
On the second possession, Anthony Richardson threw a pass to Alec Pierce down the right sideline. Cornerback Sauce Gardner threw the ball to safety Jalen Mills, who was supposed to be in position to prevent Pierce from catching the ball and possibly even intercept it. Instead, Pierce easily caught the ball and gained 39 yards.
At the end of the game, Gardner ran over and pointed at Mills. Literally pointing. twice.
What a great pass from Anthony Richardson! @colts Threatening👀
📺： #INDvsNEW CBS/Paramount+
📱: https://t.co/waVpO909ge pic.twitter.com/xTTdoEKmMs— NFL (@NFL) November 17, 2024
“This is a drama that should never have happened,” Gardner said.
A few plays later, Richardson ran for a 4-yard touchdown. The Colts didn’t complete their two-point conversion, but that didn’t matter. The Jets’ offense fumbled on the first possession without any timeouts and then killed the clock on the second. Rodgers was sacked on third down and time ran out. The Jets lost another game they should have won in embarrassing fashion. Final score: 28-27. Jets record: 3-8. Jets season: In the toaster.
“It’s hard to deal with,” Reed said. “That’s what you play the game for. You want to play meaningful football in November, December, January… We want to stick together. We have to stick together. There will be accusations – and that’s OK Understood – but guys in the locker room, we have to stick together and I feel like we have the right guys to do that.
In what is arguably the most disappointing season in Jets history, it’s clear that even if the Jets have the right character players, they don’t have the right players.
The Jets are at a critical point in their season, and their offense was booed from the sidelines in the first quarter at home. The point is, when fans cheer, it’s usually in a derisive tone — like Sunday, when the Jets’ offense fumbled for the first time late in the first half, or when Gardner made an impressive tackle in the second half It was in the fourth quarter after weeks of trying to get their opponents to find their footing.
They should have combined a winning defense with one of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks to become a true playoff contender. Instead, since Robert Saleh was fired and replaced by defensive coordinator Ulbricht, the team’s defense has looked like one of the worst in the NFL, giving up 26.2 points per game and failing on fundamentals. Collapse at a critical moment.
“I noticed it,” Reed said. “Our defense hasn’t been up to our standards the last few games. We’ve given up touchdowns, or given up explosive plays. I really can’t explain what it is. Coach Ulbricht does have a lot to do, but He’s a grown man and he can handle it. I just think it comes down to executing and playing our role, and I feel like we didn’t execute, whatever we were told to do, we just didn’t execute on the field.
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That’s part of Rogers. Earlier this week, he was asked if he still planned to return in 2025 as he stumbled to the end of the worst season of his career. He replied tepidly: “Yes, I think so.”
Sunday’s performance didn’t make it seem like Rodgers’ return to the Jets would be a good thing for the team or the players. The 40-year-old didn’t pass for more than 100 yards until the third quarter. He looked unwilling (or unable) to throw the ball downfield, and his excuses — last week he said the offensive line needed to block longer, and on Sunday he blamed his lack of deep passing games on the Colts’ two-game High ball defense – not very good.
Over the past two weeks, Rodgers has completed six passes of 10 or more yards downfield, one of which was a beautiful sideline pass to Xavier Gipson in the fourth quarter on Sunday. Moments like this are rare, and the Jets offense has become somewhat less explosive since trading Davante Adams. Rodgers completed 29 pass attempts for 184 yards Sunday.
Ulbricht was asked if Rodgers’ silence was hindering the Jets’ offense. His answer changed.
“We’ll look at the tape carefully,” Ulbricht said. “Of course, injuries can hinder anybody in this situation, but it’s never going to be blamed on one person. It comes down to protection, receivers, running backs, the running game, all that stuff. So, I know Ya Len wants to play better, but it’s not just him, it’s all of us.
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Rodgers doesn’t look like Rodgers anymore, even if no one within the Jets organization wants to admit it publicly.
“Yeah, I mean, it wasn’t my best performance,” Rodgers said. “I feel like I did some good things but unfortunately in this game sometimes you have to make a decision and choose a side, sometimes you choose the right side, sometimes you choose the wrong side… it’s Just one of those weird things where sometimes you pick the right side and you get lucky and sometimes you don’t and you have to look at the damn tablet and see a guy in the slot.
When he was asked that the struggle was something he had never dealt with before, he dismissed the notion.
“This happens all the time,” Rogers said. “It does happen a lot, but sometimes you just make the right choice and you do well, and it always seems to be right. Sometimes it’s a hunch. I’m experiencing progression. Sometimes in both cases Sometimes it happens that I have to skip a progression and trust that the person is open, and sometimes you wish you could move on. That’s the beauty and frustration of the game.
The Jets are 3-8. Their playoff hopes, if any, are between one and four percent, depending on your source. There are a lot of frustrating things. And none of them are pretty.
“It’s hard to understand,” Reed said. “I’m still processing it.”
(Top photo: Albello/Getty Images)
