It’s hard to decide who needed this win more. Was it head coach Robert Saleh? GM Joe Douglas? QB Zack Wilson? The players? I say it’s NYJ’s fans.
Robert Saleh needed the win; he is hanging onto his job. It has been a rough week for him, too, after friend Joe Benigno of WFAN outed him for telling WFAN’s Evan Roberts and Tiki Barber that the head coach is not a fan of Zach Wilson coming back to start after being benched against the Buffalo Bills and not starting against the Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons. For his part, Benigno didn’t apologize for the leak.
Wilson certainly needed the win after his poor showing this season. The media didn’t leave him alone this week after it was announced he’d be the surprise starter on Sunday. You bet he needed it after The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that Wilson was reluctant to play again.
Douglas needed the win–perhaps it’s more of a respite for getting scathed by the press and fans for standing behind Wilson. And the players needed a W, too. Putting in the work in practice is frustrating just to get no reward for it. Today, ‘Victory Monday” will be special for them.
But as much as others needed the Jets to end up in the victory column, the Jets fans needed it most. They have put up with mostly garbage football for the past 13 seasons. And just when they thought they had seen the light at the end of the tunnel (with Aaron Rodgers’s singing), he went down in Game 1 and hasn’t played since.
From Rodgers’ injury to Wilson’s ineffectiveness to losing to Fail Mary to Bengino, this season has been a trauma for Jets fans. It is worse than Rich Kotite’s forgettable final season in 1996 when he went 1-15 as Jets head coach. It’s worse because Jets fans thought this season would be different, a winner.
And nothing in the first half of Sunday’s game indicated a turnaround. The offense began terribly, as usual, with a scoreless halftime tie. But something clicked when the third quarter began. Wilson orchestrated a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to give the Jets a 7-0 lead. He followed it up by creating an eight-play, 69-yard touchdown drive to give the home team a 14-0 lead. He just let it rip, playing carefree.
For fans, it was a treat. For a team that has struggled offensively all year (the Jets failed to score a touchdown in three of their last five games and have only ten offensive touchdowns in 12 games), on Sunday, the NYJs had two TDs to begin the second half. Unbelievable!
Lauren’s happy (photo, Pubcrawls.com)
I didn’t think the Jets were capable of winning another game this season, so, for sure, I was surprised. It’s why sports is such a great reality show. You always know what’s going to happen until it doesn’t.
So what if this win isn’t going to save the season? In the short run, it matters; it is something fans can enjoy for at least a few days. My good friend Lauren, a bartender at Scallywag’s in Hell’s Kitchen and a Jets fan, and plenty of her brothers were proud and happy when I spoke to her about the win.
It’s the kind of win that even this cynical observer can enjoy and be cheery about.
Jets fans may not have received a game ball from Saleh, but they should have. They stuck it out, attending games and watching religiously, even when they had no reason to be invested.
Jets 30, Texans 6.
