The Jets cannot allow Aaron Rodgers to return
Some things that crushed the New York Jets in their 40-14 Week 17 loss to the Buffalo Bills were out of their control. The offensive line New York had put together to protect its quarterback, for example, was crumbled into dust by injuries.
New York’s best laid plans to keep its 41-year-old quarterback upright were torched by bad luck, taking players like Tyron Smith, Morgan Moses and Olu Fashanu all out of the lineup Sunday afternoon. That’s how you end up giving up two points via matador cosplay.
Max Mitchell is gonna wake up with a severed horse head in his bed tomorrow
— Christian D’Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) December 29, 2024 at 1:15 PM
There is, of course, much more that has gone wrong with the Jets’ season. Ownership allegedly makes decisions based on Madden ratings and the rants of teenaged boys. That included firing head coach Robert Saleh, whose absence has taken a definite toll on the defense he once crafted into an elite unit. New York’s defense ranked sixth in expected points added (EPA) allowed with Saleh on the sideline (five games). It ranks 31st in the 12 weeks since, including Sunday’s stomping in New York.
No one reflects the sorry condition of the 2024 Jets than its headlining attraction. The bad vibes are emanating from within. No one is happy with a 4-12 team, obviously, but Aaron Rodgers’s visible frustration combined with his status as a veteran leader only exacerbates that.
Aaron Rodgers is so funny as long as you aren't rooting for his team or playing alongside him pic.twitter.com/k1RHFKuteu
— Christian D'Andrea (@TrainIsland) December 29, 2024
Rodgers can fault whomever he likes for New York’s struggles, but no one shoulders more blame than the four-time MVP who was supposed to provide deliverance from the Christian Hackenbergs and Zach Wilsons of the football world. Instead, a 39-year-old player coming off his worst season as a starter has aged even worse than expected thanks to the torn Achilles that ended his 2023 after four snaps.
The mobility he used to extend plays has taken a definite hit. His pocket awareness has crumbled alongside his blocking. The situations from which he used to weave magic from thin air have instead been gentle gusts pushing this offense backward.
ok now i’m starting to feel a little bad
— Christian D’Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) December 29, 2024 at 1:59 PM
All the while, Rodgers’s outward demeanor has phased from smiling disbelief to passive aggressive hostility. Sometimes its directed at players (see above). Sometimes it’s reflected back at his own sideline.
looks like Aaron Rodgers thinks running out of shotgun on 4th-and-short is just as stupid as the rest of us do
— Christian D’Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) December 29, 2024 at 12:31 PM
That tone has bled through the roster. New York has devolved into a poorly coached mess because the Jets were put in a position where they couldn’t fire the quarterback so Saleh got tossed instead. That’s led to a total defensive collapse, certainly, but this team is an undisciplined jumble of talented players who add up to significantly less than the sum of its parts.
New York was flagged 16 times for 120 yards in a blowout where the refs effectively swallowed their whistles in the fourth quarter in hopes of getting home before dark. Five of those flags were unnecessary roughness calls, including one on Rodgers himself.
the Jets are playing objectively bad football but i’ll be damned if their unnecessary roughness penalties haven’t been hilarious
— Christian D’Andrea (@trainisland.bsky.social) December 29, 2024 at 2:19 PM
The players and coaches brought in to sate Rodgers haven’t helped. In 2023, guys like Randall Cobb, Adrian Amos and Billy Turner were unable to replicate their Green Bay success without the veteran quarterback in the lineup. Offensive assistant Nathaniel Hackett was demoted from playcalling duties when Saleh was booted. Davante Adams has shaken that curse in 2024, but fellow wideout Allan Lazard’s three targets Sunday resulted in as many catches for himself as Bills defensive backs.
CB INT
: @paramountplus & @NFLonCBS pic.twitter.com/DAhafc1X1y
— Buffalo Bills (@BuffaloBills) December 29, 2024
This isn’t a case where a full rebuild is necessary. Talent remains on the roster. The defense that regressed mightily after Saleh’s firing has a combination of trusted veterans and rising stars. Will McDonald IV, a bit of a luxury first round pick in 2023, continued to shine by harassing Josh Allen all afternoon in Orchard Park. D.J. Reed remains a viable cover corner. Sauce Gardner and Quincy Williams can return to All-Pro status by putting this putrid season behind them.
Indeed, whomever is playing quarterback next season will have a handful of nice parts with which to work as well. Garrett Wilson has star potential at wideout. The Breece Hall-Braelon Allen-Isaiah Davis tailback platoon has something for everyone. Fashanu could be a franchise tackle.
But Rodgers can’t be trusted to be the guy to get those playmakers the ball. He’s not the quarterback he once was. He’s not even an average starter. His body language suggests his quest to find out why is leading him everywhere but back to his own football mortality. There’s little accountability or self awareness in his game — a trait that wasn’t an issue when he was great but now is a glowing sigil of dysfunction when he can no longer change the fortunes of a game with a flick of his wrist.
New York needs a new head coach. In order to give him the best chance to win, they also need a new quarterback. There’s no surefire upgrade over even a diminished Aaron Rodgers, especially when you’re the Jets. But failing to swap out the sparking, smoldering bulb in a string of broken lights would be equivalent to arson for a franchise that’s a pile of debris to begin with.