A cheer went up early in the fourth quarter when Robert Saleh turned to Trevor Siemian for that elusive spark, but in truth they were cheering because Siemian was not Tim Boyle, who had been cheered a because he was not Zach Wilson.
It proved to be the last-gasp of a dying season that ended at the MetLife Funeral Parlor.
R.I.P. New York Jets.
It was Falcons 13, Jets 8 when Siemian took his turn looking like a backup and Falcons 13, Jets 8 when it ended, and it didn’t only end a season for the 4-8 Jets, it ended any wishful thinking that Aaron Rodgers will miraculously ride in on his green-and-white horse to save them all.
So it is Wait til Next Year AGAIN for the Jets.
And it is Wait til Next Year for Aaron Rodgers, who apparently is the only man capable of helping offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett call the right plays.
Fugheddabout making Achilles-recovery history.
Here is One Jet’s advice for Rodgers:
“Get as healthy as possible before you step out there,” he told The Post. “Especially his position, you gotta be mobile, you gotta be able to move around the pocket. I wouldn’t want something to happen to him just as a teammate and as a person.”
The Jets are mathematically still alive, but you’d have to be consuming large quantities of ayahuasca to believe their 12-year playoff drought is about to end.
For the second straight season, Saleh has an offense that can only be characterized as offensive, as offensive and unwatchable as any modern-day offense you will ever care to watch, a headless offense, and a loss next Sunday to the Texans would give him a second six-game losing streak.
Rodgers cannot save this season but he may very well intervene to save Saleh should Woody Johnson gets the trigger finger.
In the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not world of the New York Jets, Saleh was asked if Wilson was an option for next week.
“I’m not there yet,” he said.
He should get there. Because it should be clear now that Zach Wilson gives the Jets the best chance to win.
Which would be a Pyrrhic victory of sorts for Saleh stubbornly sticking with Wilson during all his failed journeys to the end zone.
The scene in the Jets’ locker room is deja vu all over again week after week now:
Defensive players holding their tongue.
Garrett Wilson holding his.
And therein lies the shame of it all: A quality defense wasted.
A rising star receiver being wasted.
Garrett Wilson (3 receptions for 50 yards on seven targets) can run free in the secondary for all it matters and Saleh’s quarterback won’t find him.
Asked how much this all weighs on him, Garrett Wilson said: “To the highest degree, bro.”
Asked yet again why he is sticking with Hackett, Saleh said: “It’s a fair question. I guess you guys will have a better idea when you see the all-22 from this one.”
Us guys must be missing something.
“There were some really, really good opportunities that I feel like we missed out on,” Saleh said.
Sure, such as Siemian starting his second series at the Atlanta 48, but fumbling at the end of a Bud Dupree sack for a 6-yard loss.
“You’re supposed to score,” Saleh said. “We need to expect more from ourselves when we’re in those positions to go score.”
This is a recording, this is a recording.
Such as Siemian, again at the Atlanta 48, getting his arm hit by Richie Grant and losing his next fumble. “That’s my job, take care of the ball,” Siemian said.
This is also a recording: 11 penalties for 71 yards. Three false starts in the third quarter. This is of course again on the head coach. “We have to clean up the pre-snap stuff on offense with regards to the usage of cadence,” Saleh said. “It’s obviously fooling us more than it is them.”
Siemian: 5-for-13, 66 yards.
Boyle: 14-for-25, 148 yards, one interception.
“We put together some double-digit play drives,” Boyle said.
Nothing like putting together some double-digit drives, right?
“We need to score seven instead of three moving forward,” he added. “That’s kind of been our Achilles’ heel.”
Did he really have to say Achilles’ heel? It turns out that was truly when the season ended, four plays into the Aaron Rodgers Era. Wait Til Next Year. All of you.
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