It is no secret that the New York Jets, yet again, underperformed this season. Many fans expected the arrival of “new” talent like Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams to turn things around for the Jets, who have not made the playoffs since 2011 and have not had a winning season since 2015. Instead, they went 5-12, worse than their 7-10 record last season when they had Zach Wilson at QB, and severely underwhelmed fans. Now, with the Jets releasing Rodgers and probably Adams within the next few weeks, it looks like it’s back to the drawing board with the team. But why did they fail so badly? Why did the Jets, a team which had +2000 (4.8%) odds of making it to the Super Bowl at the start of the season, fall so short? 

Many pin the blame squarely on Aaron Rodgers. However, the issue is far more complex than that. This season, Aaron Rodgers threw 28 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and 3,897 yards, roughly on par with Patrick Mahomes. Considering that Mahomes made it to the Super Bowl this year (although failing spectacularly during the game — an article for another time), it seems that Rodgers is not culpable as many people suggest. Rodgers also has the highest passer rating for a Jets quarterback who has started in an entire season all-time, with a passer rating of 90.4. So then, who is to blame?

Blame for the Jets’ abysmal performance this season can fall upon kicker Greg Zuerlein’s performance the first half of the season. Zuerlein’s performance deteriorated. He went 9 for 15 in field goals early on, which is subpar compared to his career performance. He was taken out from games after the Jets’ 25-22 loss to the Patriots on October 27th after being responsible for a third loss by one or more missed field goals (the first two being 23-20 and 10-9 losses to the Bills and Broncos, respectively). Though it’s just a hypothetical, if Zuerlein hadn’t missed those crucial kicks, the Jets could have potentially finished the season at 8-9, which is still a losing record but better than 2023’s 7-10 record and better than their abysmal 5-12 performance this season. 

Another major player in the Jets’ awful season can be traced to coaching and ownership failures. In October, Jets owner Woody Johnson fired head coach Robert Saleh, who had a 2-3 record at that point in the season, after he failed to perform to expectations. He was replaced by Jeff Ulbrich, former defensive coordinator for the Jets, and the Jets proceeded to go 3-9 under Ulbrich’s leadership. Firing Saleh could have had better outcomes if handled correctly back in the offseason perhaps, but firing him in the middle of the season created chaos within the Jets organization. This made overall leadership ineffective and caused players to underperform, as their coaching staff was unable to make good decisions. All of this said, the main problem as far as I can see it is the Jets owner, Woody Johnston. Under Johnson, the Jets have a record of .428, and only 6 playoff appearances. Since taking over the team in 2000, there have been 9 different head coaches. This has not given the coaches time to develop and leaves players confused, often resulting in rough seasons even though some of these squads had considerable talent. There’s no denying that “Sell the team” chants have been heard ringing through MetLife suggesting fans have reached a breaking point. Who knows: It worked for the Commanders last year; maybe it can work for the Jets, too.