The Jets season ended with a thud Sunday in Seattle, but the truth is the season went sideways long before the Jets’ trip to the Pacific Northwest.
The Jets looked primed to end the longest active playoff drought in the NFL, but a five-game losing streak in December and January has them looking ahead to next season. How did it happen? What went wrong?
The Jets will be searching for those answers during a long offseason. They will find plenty of reasons. The offense has scored just four touchdowns in five games. The defense has given up some huge drives. Injuries caught up to the offensive line. The quarterback play has ranged from OK to awful.
But when I take a look at what has happened to the Jets, there are three moments that stand out when considering what went wrong. Here is a closer look:
Oct. 23 vs. Broncos, Empower Field, second quarter
The Jets discovered their winning formula during a four-game winning streak in October. They played great defense, ran the ball and made sure the quarterback did not turn the ball over. That formula was working for them again on this day in Denver. Breece Hall broke a 62-yard touchdown in the first quarter, and the defense was having its way with Brett Rypien and the Denver offense.
Alijah Vera-Tucker’s season-ending elbow injury changed the composition and effectiveness of the Jets’ offensive line.APThen, everything changed on two plays. On third-and-6 from the 50-yard line with 9:57 left in the second quarter, Zach Wilson threw an incomplete pass to Jeff Smith. It was a non-descript play, but behind the line of scrimmage Alijah Vera-Tucker stood grabbing his right elbow with his left hand in clear pain.
Vera-Tucker had been one of the stars for the Jets in the early months of the season. Vera-Tucker moved from left guard to right guard after the Jets signed Laken Tomlinson in free agency. Then Vera-Tucker played left tackle when injuries mounted there. Then he shifted to right tackle to fill a hole there. Vera-Tucker was a stud at all three positions, and looked like he was heading to a Pro Bowl season. But that elbow injury, suffered while pass blocking, ended his season and changed the Jets’ offensive line. They were never quite the same after Vera-Tucker went down. There were other problems, but losing the best player on the line was a killer.
The Jets punted the ball after the play, and then got it back following a Broncos punt. On first down, Hall took a pitch to the left side and was tackled. He clutched his left knee, and was carted to the locker room having suffered a season-ending torn ACL.
Hall was having a dominant rookie season, and surely would have been one of the favorites for Rookie of the Year had he stayed healthy. Beyond that, he was the most explosive player the Jets had on offense. He could turn a 3-yard run into a 60-yard run with one move. The Jets offense does not have anyone that can do that now. Hall remains the team’s leading rusher two months after he played his last down.
Breece Hall was averaging 5.8 yards per rushing attempt before his season ended with an ACL injury in Denver.Getty ImagesThese back-to-back offensive plays for the Jets changed everything. The offense never truly recovered. The Jets won that day, 16-9, but in hindsight it may have been their biggest loss.
Nov. 20 vs. Patriots, Gillette Stadium, post-game
Wilson had a terrible game in this 10-3 loss to the Patriots. He threw for just 77 yards and looked confused and ineffective for the entire game. But that is not what people will remember from this day. In a post-game interview room, Wilson damaged his image more than he ever did on the field. At the end of his interview, he was asked whether he felt the offense had let down the defense, which only gave up three points.
“No. No,” Wilson said.
The session ended with that answer, and there were immediate reverberations inside the Jets organization. The Jets defensive players were not happy. Wilson would have to apologize a few days later, but the damage was done.
Jets coach Robert Saleh benched Wilson for Mike White, a move he may have made otherwise but was pushed over the goal line by Wilson’s post-game remark.
Zach Wilson’s unwillingness to accept blame for the offense’s poor performance against the Patriots did not sit well with many teammates.APThere were doubts about Wilson before that day, but that answer seemed to confirm the worst rumors about Wilson’s lack of leadership. The move to bench him changed the trajectory of the organization. Wilson was no longer the future of the franchise. The No. 2 overall pick was benched and made the No. 3 quarterback with seven games left in his second season.
The team bounced back the next week with White at quarterback, but something changed that day in Foxborough. The mojo has not felt quite right since then.
It was also a crushing loss for the team that was sure it was going to end its seven-year losing streak to the Patriots. Instead, Marcus Jones ran a punt back 84 yards for the game-winning touchdown with five seconds left to crush the Jets.
The post-game just made it even worse.
Dec. 11 vs. Bills, Highmark Stadium, third quarter
The Jets bounced back after the Wilson mess with White under center. They beat the Bears, followed by close losses to the Vikings and the Bills, losses that felt like moral victories because of how close they were and who the opponent was.
But with 4:45 left in the third quarter of the Bills game, White dropped back and threw an incompletion intended for Tyler Conklin. Bills linebacker Matt Milano sprinted through the middle of the Jets offense untouched and drilled White in the ribs. The hit was so hard that White’s jackknifed in half.
A monstrous hit suffered in Buffalo left Mike White injured and the Jets without a quarterback they believed in.Charles Wenzelberg/New York PostWhite would go to the locker room to have X-rays that came back negative, and he returned to the game in an eventual 20-12 loss.
The real blow came afterward when further tests showed White had broken ribs. The Jets hid the news for a few days, but then it was announced on Friday that Wilson would start against the Lions. It sucked the life out of the Jets.
They had just lost two games with White, but they believed in him through those losses. The Lions and Jaguars — two teams that were playing well but were beatable — were coming up at home on the schedule. The Jets would end up losing both games; Wilson played OK against Detroit, but was horrible against the Jaguars and was booed off the field at MetLife Stadium.
The Jets were now reeling, and you knew the season was over. They had a little hope heading into Seattle, but White did not play well, perhaps still feeling the effects of the broken ribs.
When the Jets do the autopsy of the season, these three moments will be ones they take a long look at.
What advice did Geno give Zach?
The Fox television cameras caught Geno Smith and Zach Wilson having an extended conversation and hug after the game. No one can relate to what Wilson is going through better than Smith. Smith had some wild ups and downs as the Jets quarterback, and at times was not a fan favorite. He was benched in his second season for Michael Vick, though he did regain the job and had his best game as a Jet in the 2014 season finale.
After spending the first four years of his career with the Jets, Geno Smith journeyed to the Giants and the Chargers before finding success with Seattle.USA TODAY SportsYou’d love to know what advice Smith gave Wilson and whether Wilson can follow it. It was pretty remarkable watching Smith on Sunday. He did not slice and dice the Jets defense, but he had his moments. He looked poised and in control. He also showed maturity after the game by resisting the urge to take any shots at the Jets.
It took Smith four different teams and 10 years in the NFL to finally realize his potential. The Jets can only hope that the light bulb goes on quicker for Wilson.
Stat’s so
The Jets have ranked among the NFL’s worst offenses in offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur’s two seasons.Corey Sipkin The Jets offense is among the worst in the NFL … again. It has been a rough decade for the Jets in many areas, none more than on offense. Here is a look at where the Jets have ranked over the last decade in points and yards per game:
2022: No. 27 in points, No. 22 in yards (offensive coordinator: Mike LaFleur)
2021: No. 28 in points, No. 26 in yards (Mike LaFleur)
2020: No. 32 in points, No. 32 in yards (Dowell Loggains)
2019: No. 31 in points, No. 32 in yards (Dowell Loggains)
2018: No. 23 in points, No. 29 in yards (Jeremy Bates)
2017: No. 24 in points, No. 28 in yards (John Morton)
2016: No. 30 in points, No. 26 in yards (Chan Gailey)
2015: No. 11 in points, No. 10 in yards (Chan Gailey)
2014: No. 28 in points, No. 22 in yards (Marty Mornhinweg)
2013: No. 29 in points, No. 25 in yards (Marty Mornhinweg)
Source: Pro Football Reference
