Going into Monday night, the Jets had a new head coach, a new offensive play caller, and, they hoped, a fresh lease on their season. Six days after owner Woody Johnson’s surprise firing of head coach Robert Saleh, New York had a chance to get a big win against the Bills in prime time, a win that would have put them in a first-place tie in the AFC East. Time was of the essence—after firing Saleh, Johnson justified the change by saying he believed it would lead to “more wins, starting now.”
It’s a high standard. And if Johnson had instead said he wanted his Jets team to merely show some improvement, or some signs that they could do more offensively than they had in the first five weeks of the season, perhaps the vibe by the end of the night would have been cheerier. But Johnson said “now,” so the mood after a 23-20 loss in a strange, penalty-filled game was largely one of frustration.
“I think there’s concern, but that’s important,” said quarterback Aaron Rodgers. “We need to get going. This was a golden opportunity. Some games you win in the NFL, and some games you give away. This was a giveaway.”
Rodgers’s comments reflected a sloppy performance from his team, one that came with 110 penalty yards and two missed field goals and ended with a back-foot interception on what could have been a game-winning drive, a play on which Rodgers said receiver Mike Williams ran the wrong route.
But those comments might also reflect the general tone around the Jets, who seem once again on the precipice of succumbing to their own dysfunction.
Because, honestly, the game really wasn’t all that bad.
This was the Jets’ first game under interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich, who was promoted from defensive coordinator following Saleh’s ouster. It was also the first game for new offensive play caller Todd Downing, who took the role from offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett this week as another domino in the Jets shake-up.
Downing’s play calling seemed to make a meaningful difference. The offense wasn’t perfect, but in many ways, the Jets offense was a crisper, cleaner product against the Bills than it had been at any point since the season began.
The Jets collected 393 yards of offense, 7 yards away from a season high. Rodgers played well, averaging .30 expected points added per play.
Some specific features that had been missing from the Hackett offense were present. Downing called for pre-snap motion on 72.9 percent of the offensive plays, a season high. Particularly during his opening script, he leaned on play-action. During the week, Downing had said that starting fast was a priority, and by 9 p.m. ET, the Jets had scored their first opening-quarter touchdown in the last 22 games.
Running back Breece Hall and receiver Garrett Wilson, both off to slow starts this year, were heavily featured and finished with season-high production: 169 total yards on 23 touches for Hall and eight catches for 107 yards and a touchdown for Wilson.
Most importantly, the explosive plays that had been lacking from this offense through five weeks showed up. The Jets had eight plays of 20 yards or more during the game. Hall had his longest run of the season, a 42-yard trip into the red zone in the third quarter. And Rodgers connected with receiver Allen Lazard on the play of the game, a 52-yard Hail Mary touchdown as time expired in the first half, a moment of pure magic in the Meadowlands.
It was the type of play the Jets were hoping for when they made the aggressive move to trade for Rodgers in 2023—the type of throw most quarterbacks wouldn’t even dare try. The Bills seemed to believe the 40-year-old Rodgers wouldn’t dare, lining up with three defenders in the no-man’s-land between the line of scrimmage and the end zone, assuming the Jets would try a lateral instead of a Hail Mary.
“We’re fortunate we have the best Hail Mary thrower in the history of this game, and he made somebody pay again,” Ulbrich said. “You’ve got to catch those waves of momentum, and you’ve got to ride it and finish it, and we didn’t do that.”
Finishing drives was an issue—and despite the offense’s overall improvements, the Jets still struggled in big moments. The Jets went 1-for-4 in the red zone and were 4-of-12 on third down.
“This should have been a 30-plus-point game on offense, and this shouldn’t even be a conversation,” Rodgers said.
And while there were improvements on offense, the defense seemed to take a step back—something that was probably to be expected after Saleh’s departure. The Jets tackled poorly and were gashed by the Bills on the ground for 149 rushing yards. Buffalo rookie Ray Davis had 97 rushing yards on 20 carries, and when quarterback Josh Allen needed to salt the game away with a scramble for a first down, he could.
“It wasn’t the defense we’re accustomed to, especially against the run,” Ulbrich said.
So, where does all that leave the Jets? At the end of the night, the Bills are still the team to beat in the AFC East, now standing at 4-2 while the Jets are 2-4. Throughout the night on ESPN, the Jets, and Johnson in particular, were catching strays. Appearing as a guest on the Manning-cast, Bill Belichick wasn’t shy in expressing his support for Saleh, whom Belichick said had done a good job as a coach, and his general disdain for the Jets organization, particularly at the ownership level. (Belichick, famously, spent one day as the Jets head coach in 2000 and then went 38-11 against New York while coaching the Patriots.)
“I’m not a big Jets fan, in case you don’t know that,” Belichick said. “That’s kind of what it’s been there with the Jets. They’ve barely won over 30 percent in the last 10 years. The owner being the owner, just ready, fire, aim.”
Perhaps that sense of inevitability contributed to the frustration. “At 2-4,” Ulbrich insisted, “we are by no means out of this thing.” And given the modest progress this offense seemed to make in the first game of the post-Saleh era, there’s at least a chance Ulbrich is right.
But “more wins, starting now” is a different story, one the Jets apparently still have to wait for. And as the hope for a fresh start devolved into the same old mistakes, missed opportunities, and some mild finger-pointing, progress took a back seat to the failure to reach that boldly stated goal.
