Underwhelming might suffice as a five-game summary of the New York Jets through five games of the 2024 regular season.
Even so, the Jets can move into first place in the AFC East with a win on Monday night against the Bills.
A 2-3 start resulted in Jets owner Woody Johnson firing head coach Robert Saleh and promoting Jeff Ulbrich, the Jets’ defensive coordinator, to take the reins as the interim coach.
Ulbrich demoted offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, stripping his play-calling duties to hand the responsibility to quarterbacks coach Todd Downing.
It might not take long to determine if the changes are akin to putting lipstick on a pig, given how much deference the offensive coaching staff gives Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Can Buffalo’s offense get back on track?
The Bills had a much better start to their campaign. They rattled off three straight wins but have now lost back-to-back games.
In hindsight, Buffalo might have benefited from a soft schedule, as its three wins (Cardinals, Dolphins, and Jaguars) came against sub-.500 teams, with a combined record of 5-12.
Defensively, those opponents rank 25th or lower in FTN Fantasy’s comprehensive Defense-adjusted Value Over Average (DVOA) metric.
Offensively, Bills quarterback Josh Allen is coming off a 9-for-30 (131 passing yards) performance on the road against the Houston Texans.
Allen and his receivers weren’t on the same page. He has the fourth-highest percentage (19.5%) of “bad throws” that don’t include spikes or throwaways. Buffalo receivers have the second-highest percentage of dropped passes per attempt (7.8%).
Things won’t get any easier against a Jets secondary that Pro Football Focus ranks first in pass coverage with an 86.5 grade.
Rodgers deserves blame for the Jets’ dysfunction
Trading for Rodgers also meant the Jets essentially would give him the keys to the franchise.
Even before his arrival, Saleh signed Hackett as the offensive coordinator, given his strong relationship and perhaps even friendship with Rodgers since working together in Green Bay.
Some think Rodgers was even working behind the scenes, prodding the Jets to sign wide receiver Allen Lazard, a former Packers teammate.
We know that Rodgers definitely played a part in the Jets signing another former teammate in wide receiver Randall Cobb.
Thus, Rodgers has been the puppet master, pulling the strings for quite some time now.
There are even reports that Rodgers contacted the Jets owner after learning that Saleh was considering firing Hackett as the coordinator.
The dismissal completely blindsided Saleh, which suggests that something must have changed radically over a short period of time for the Jets front office to make such a decision.
Interestingly, the first thing the Jets’ new play-caller addressed when meeting the media was the Jets’ rushing attack.
“First of all, this team does have a strong run game. We just haven’t seen it come to fruition consistently enough,” Downing said. “Secondly, I think there become times where you can find people pressing a little bit because there’s an expectation for production and when it’s not met, you can feel a sense of urgency.”
There was no mention of his underperforming quarterback, who ranks 25th in Total QBR.
Unless Downing is brave enough to add dramatic wrinkles, we’re bracing for more of the same: the Jets’ stagnant offense relying on a dominant defense.
Best bet: Under 41 points (-110 at BetMGM)
–By Michael Nwaneri, Field Level Media
