The Jets are unwatchable.
This is the biggest problem the franchise’s leaders face right now. No one expects the Jets to be a good team with the hand they’ve been dealt. People understand they lost Aaron Rodgers four plays into the season. They understand they are on their eighth different offensive line combination. Jets fans can be reasonable. Super Bowl hopes faded on Sept. 11 when Rodgers sat down on the MetLife Stadium turf. Playoff hopes faded when they watched Zach Wilson act like the field was uphill when the Jets were on offense.
But can they just be a functional NFL team? Is that too much to ask?
Jets fans got a Jets-free Sunday this week after the debacle on Black Friday that featured a new chapter of the Jets Follies with the Fail Mary. Many Jets fans probably watched the Giants because that was on local TV. The Giants stink just as badly as the Jets do and they have their own issues at quarterback and the offensive line. But the Giants are watchable right now because of Tommy DeVito.
I don’t think even the most diehard Giants fans believe DeVito will be the team’s long-term quarterback, but he is a fun story and they have managed to win their last two games with him at quarterback. He has something about him and the New Jersey kid storyline is a lot of fun. He also looks like he can manage an NFL offense sufficiently enough that the Giants look like an NFL team.
The Jets’ offense currently looks like something they should show prisoners at Guantanamo Bay to make them confess.
The Giants are statistically worse than the Jets on offense and let’s be real — if the Patriots’ kicker could make a 35-yard field goal, the tone would be different around here this week. But the Giants got some luck, just like the Jets did against the Giants when Big Blue’s kicker missed a field goal.
So now it’s on Joe Douglas, Robert Saleh and Nathaniel Hackett to figure out how to get this offense to a level that it is not painful to watch. That is how low the bar is. No one is asking for the 1999 Rams. No one expects 35 points.
Give your fans some reason to want to watch the final six games.
The Falcons come to town this week and it feels like this is a chance for the offense to get going. Yes, Tim Boyle is still at quarterback and there is no reason to expect him to do much, but the Falcons are in the Jets’ weight class. They are 5-6 and they don’t have a high-flying offense either. This game could be a race to 10 points. The Jets get the Texans after that. Houston has played well this season and rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud looks like a star. But the Jets’ defense should be able to slow him down.
The Jets have not gained 200 total yards in either of their last two games. They have only scored two offensive touchdowns in the same game all season and that was against the Chiefs on Oct. 1.
The Bills and Dolphins are both good teams, so expectations were low for the Jets in those ones. But the Falcons and Texans are teams they should be able to at least look functional against.
If the Jets can win these two games and get to 6-7, then the Aaron Rodgers return conversation can really begin. But if they lose one or both of these games, the Jets should tell Rodgers to wait until next year.
This has been another year of utter disappointment for Jets fans. The season fell apart four plays in. It reminds me of the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episode where Larry David’s friend’s death is attributed to the Jets and his widow says, “He loved them so much and all they did was disappoint.”
There are six weeks left in the season. The bar has been lowered for the Jets.
Just give your fans a product worth watching for the next six weeks. They deserve it.
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