Make the Jets healthy again

The Jets suck. There are a lot of struggling teams in the NFL this season, but nobody as profoundly disappointing as this soulless husk of a team. It wasn’t long ago that it felt like this was going to work, that going all-in on another aging legend at quarterback could yield the same quick-hit success of the Buccaneers and Rams. Now after 11 weeks the train is totally off the rails, and there’s no solid path forward.

Losing to the Colts is the latest chapter in this comedy of errors.

The future is bleak for the Jets. At 3-8 they’re not making the playoffs, and as it stands they’re projected to get the No. 7 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, where it will be difficult to find a franchise-transforming player. New York may or may not have a quarterback next season, depending on which way the wind blows the next time Aaron Rodgers has to make a decision about his future, and in an effort to satiate their mercurial quarterback the organization jettisoned the first decent coach they’ve had since Rex Ryan. Robert Saleh wasn’t perfect, but it’s clear the man knew how to draw talent out of his defense. Without him the Jets have had one of the sorriest defenses in the National Football League, giving up an average of 31.4 points per game, when before Saleh’s firing they were allowing an average of 17.0.

The loss on Sunday is far from New York’s most embarrassing performance this season, but it’s unquestionably the most emblematic of their issues. Rodgers was box score impressive, but completely devoid of any explosive plays. A forced effort to turn No. 8 into the hero each week has led to ludicrous run-pass balance, even when it’s abundantly clear what the team should be doing. It’s here the second half told the story. Breece Hall put the Jets in front with an 18-yard touchdown run, which the Colts answered with a field goal. Conventional wisdom says that you keep running Breece Hall, even down by two points.

What did the Jets do on the ensuing drive?

• Breece Hall rushes for 5 yards, making it 2nd and 5
• Aaron Rodgers passes twice for 0 yards — the Jets punt

The drive after that?

• Breece Hall rushes for no gain, it’s 2nd and 10
• Aaron Rodgers passes twice for -2 yards — the Jets punt

It doesn’t matter that the Jets then finally scored a touchdown, and the Colts answered back, because these two drives tell the story. The offensive focus of the Jets right now is more about making sure Rodgers and the clown car of offensive friends he hand-picked are happy, rather than trying to win football games. Meanwhile on defense the team has taken such a profound step backwards since the firing of Saleh that Anthony Richardson completed 66.7% of his passes — over double what he did in his last start.

We’re left with a team that isn’t lacking roster talent, but heart. Nobody on the roster seems to actually care about winning or losing football games. They clock in, play the game, float along, collect their check, and do the same next week. As much as Rodgers loves to talk about caring, his actions show otherwise. Meanwhile on the other side of the ball it’s pretty damn sad that when asked about what’s happening players can only acknowledge that they suck now.

The Jets are dying a slow death, and it’s not fun anymore. The schadenfreude might still exist when it comes to Rodgers, but at the same time there’s a sad reality that the entire organization is sinking, and truth be told the NFL is more fun when the Jets are good. It’s nice to have at least one New York team be competent at the game of football, and this was supposed to be the Jets’ time.

So, what can be done to fix them at this point? There isn’t a great answer. Obviously GM Joe Douglas has to be fired. One of the most stunningly awful architects in the NFL, Douglas took over a struggling 4-12 team and managed to destroy any chance of them getting better. There have been some decent draft picks, sure — but also the decision to draft Zach Wilson, scapegoat everyone around him, and completely bend to the whims of Aaron Rodgers.

The team needs a new head coach, but it’s unclear if anyone promising will take the job knowing the organizational instability this team has. Pair that with the possibility they might get stuck with Rodgers in 2025 and it’s tough to see who would want the headache, especially when other jobs will open around the league. This means the Jets will likely need to accept a b-tier coach, which is all the more painful considering Robert Saleh will almost assuredly get a job next year, either as a head coach or a high-profile defensive coordinator.

The most difficult piece of this puzzle is installing a culture shift away from the current status quo. That’s not possible until everyone on the roster feels like their play is what defines their future, not just the relationships they have with Aaron Rodgers. That could take years to correct, and even then there’s no guarantee.

Sadly, this is the future the Jets wanted with their decision making, and they’re reaping what they sowed.

Winner: Josh Allen

The Bills are big winners on Monday morning thanks almost entirely to the heroics of Josh Allen. His game against the Chiefs was hardly the best he’s had this season, but Allen came up big when it mattered most to make one of the best plays this year.

It’s tempting to be flip and say, “The Bills won now so they can lose to the Chiefs in January,” and that could very well be true. All we can do is live in the moment and realize that right now Allen is playing some of the best football of his already great career, while also making a case that he should be MVP.

Loser: The Atlanta Falcons

Well, this has completely collapsed. The Falcons have lost two in a row to teams they should absolutely beat if they want to lay claim to the NFC South. Whatever destiny they had in their control has now evaporated, and the team faces a brutal back-to-back coming up against the Chargers and Vikings.

There is a very real chance the Falcons’ season could come down to its divisional game to close out the season against the Panthers. There’s also a very real chance that any of the teams playing in the division could still win it, when in reality the Falcons should have shut the door on this thing already.

Bad time to be all-in on a mediocre quarterback.

Winner: The Steelers defense

I don’t know how Pittsburgh keeps doing it. Every single year Mike Tomlin has this team swinging above its weight class and competing when nobody thought it was possible. This year the Steelers have a 1.5 game lead in the AFC North, and a favorable schedule down the back end of the year that sees the team play the Browns and Bengals twice, which could easily be another four wins before we talk about their other games.

Mike Tomlin isn’t just coach of the year, outside of Andy Reid he’s coach of the decade.

Offensively this team is still devoid of a lot of talent, but that defense is good enough to shut down almost anyone in football.

Winner: Denver Broncos

Credit where its due: This whole thing is working.

It might have taken some time for the Broncos to find their rhythm, but Sean Payton now has this team cooking. The offense has caught up to the production of the defense, and while it’s still an uphill battle to make the playoffs from 6-5, there’s no doubt that this team will be really ready to compete in 2025.

Once Denver gets a few more weapons, an actual receiver other than Cortland Sutton, and sprinkles in a running back who can average more than 4.0 yards-per-carry… hoo boy this team could be really scary.

Right now it’s okay to appreciate the massive turnaround, and realize the Broncos being a joke is an old punchline.