The 17-3 victory ended a 15-game losing streak to the Patriots. But is anybody cheering? No. Here’s why.
The win was more a moment of relief than a reason for celebrating, including witnessing what may be the end of Bill Belichick’s coaching career in Foxborough.
A season that started with great hope with Aaron Rodgers at the controls soon turned south with his injury. Still, the Jets hung around at 4-3 before going on a five-game losing streak and eventually ending the season at 7-10.
But, as always, the offseason brings renewed hope. In the Jets’ case, it’s renewed hope that the organizational brain trust will figure out a way to end two miserable losing streaks–eight straight losing seasons and thirteen consecutive years without a playoff appearance.
One job facing the Jets is the need to improve the pitch-and-catch corps. That means finding a quality backup to Rodgers, something the Jets should have done going into this year but didn’t. GM Joe Douglas entrusted the job to Zach Wilson, and the outcome speaks for itself. With a reset inarguably necessary, Douglas gets another last chance to get it right at Draft time. The Jets also need to get a receiver who can complement Garrett Wilson and make it easier for Rodgers to succeed.
The answer to what next is patently obvious on the coaching side: it needs to get much better. Disorganization and lack of focus (e.g., penalties) are two things that need to improve, as does the ability to develop players across the board.
What I think was going on this year won’t work: betting on Rodgers to carry the team and papering over the team’s deficiencies. The necessary alternative is addressing those deficiencies. Put another way, everybody in the organization, from ownership to coaches to players, must ask, “What can I do to improve this team?”
I didn’t get the sense that wasn’t happening from listening to Sunday’s post-game comments, so Jets fans have to hope that personal/organizational self-reflection will kick in soon. What won’t work is proclaiming, “We are not far away!” nonsense; fans are frustrated and fatigued by that. So, unless there’s a concerted effort to do things differently, it will be hard for fans to get excited about 2024, including having to experience what seems to be a self-fulfilling prophecy with this club: “Everything that could go wrong will go wrong.”
Hope isn’t a strategy, especially when, year after year, hope turns into hell.
