Although the Jets have been a miserable NFL franchise for over the past decade (yes I’m a Giants fan), expectations were sky high for the 2024 season. Hall of fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers was returning from a season-ending achilles injury, with expectations to revitalize the lackluster offense. The team already had an elite defense and invested into acquiring a solid offensive line during free agency. Everything was set for the New York Jets to break their 13 year playoff drought and make a run for the superbowl. However, the Jets will always be the Jets.

Their season started with an away game in San Francisco, which was an extremely difficult task. They fell short by 13 points, but there were enough flashes from the team to cause little concern. After all, Aaron Rodgers had to shake off the rust from his one year absence. The following week, they barely edged out a win against a terrible Tennessee Titans team, but they still got a must-needed win. Next, they demolished a terrible New England Patriots team. Although these wins were against bad teams, the improvement in chemistry amongst the players made it seem like this Jets team could be the one to break their curse. 

Then, the problems began to occur. In week 4, the Jets played a weaker Denver Broncos team, where they lost 10-9. Not only did they have every chance to win the game, it was also one of the most miserable games ever seen. Neither team could move the ball or finish off drives with the points. After this game, the vibes were low and the problems continued. Their next game was against a red hot Minnesota Vikings team, where they once again fell short of victory. Aaron Rodgers had 3 turnovers and the offense was poor (to be fair, Minnesota’s defense had destroyed every offense up to that point except for Detroit’s–the best in the league).  

Despite losing to an elite team, the Jets decided it was time to make changes in order to fix their flaws. First, they fired Head Coach and defensive play caller Robert Saleh. He had a terrible career record, but he also had terrible talent on his offenses. They replaced Saleh with defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, which made zero sense as he wasn’t going to solve their offensive problems. Next, the Jets switched offensive play caller from offensive coordinator Nathanial Hackett to Todd Downing, who was historically not a great play caller. Unsurprisingly, these decisions didn’t work and the Jets comfortably lost to the Bills. However, things were worse. It appeared that losing Saleh’s defensive prowess resulted in their high end to regress, especially in their run defense. 

Knowing that the next two years of Aaron Rodgers contract was all the time they had left to win, the Jets weren’t done making moves. One major problem the team experienced was a lack of communication between Aaron Rodgers and his wide receivers. The team decided to deal with this by trading for future hall of famer Davante Adams, who also was Aaron Rodgers favorite receiver during his prime on the packers. Adams made his debut the following week against the Steelers, which should’ve been a very winnable game. Instead, the Jets hit rock bottom. They got destroyed 37-15 by an Ancient Russell Wilson and what had been a terrible Steelers offense. The offense struggled during important moments and had bad turnovers. The defense got gashed in the run game and conceded over 400 total yards of offense. This game basically removed any hope of making a playoff run.

So what went wrong? Is there hope? In terms of what went wrong, there were a mix of problems. First, their offensive linemen, which included very quality players such as former all-pro Tyron Smith all seemed to regress and give up significant pressure to the quarterback. Additionally, Aaron Rodgers had a lot of miscommunications with his receivers and seemed to be missing some passes and reads he’d normally make. Most importantly, the offensive coaching has been terrible. The team is undisciplined and the playcalling felt horrendous. This isn’t surprising as they put the play calling in the hands of Nathaniel Hackett, who failed as a coach and play caller when he didn’t have prime Aaron Rodgers leading the way. It feels he has struggled to adapt to modern NFL offenses and failed to take advantage of the new style of defense. On the defensive side of the ball, the defense was fine until they fired Robert Saleh. Their defense has struggled significantly after the firing, which is worrying as it was always the strong point of the team. So is there hope? The addition of Davante Adams should help the offense significantly as he gets more used to the offense. The defense has enough talent, including the return of edge rusher Hasson Reddick, to return back to their standard. However, the team really needs to cut back on their self inflicted mistakes, which ultimately comes down to their coaching. Can their less experienced coaches turn it around? It’s definitely possible, but they’re currently 2-5 (as of writing this) and would need to win at least 7 more games to have a shot at the playoffs. Their remaining schedule is fairly hard, so it would take both sides of the ball to click quickly for them to turn it around. As of right now, they play New England next week, which should be a free win. This is the perfect matchup to get back on track, so a clean win could restore confidence in the team and allow them to make some sort of run. 

In conclusion, despite entering the 2024 season with renewed hope and high expectations due to the return of Aaron Rodgers and a strengthened roster, the New York Jets have struggled to meet those aspirations. Their familiar inconsistencies have persisted, leaving the team facing an uphill battle to turn their season around