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During the Jets’ 27-13 loss on November 13 to New England, Patriots radio analyst Scott Zolak was quite critical of Gang Green throughout the broadcast.
And one point he said, “That team (the Jets) is going in a completely different direction than you are (Patriots).”
Well, there is no arguing that point about this past season, a campaign the Jets finished 3-14, and New England is still playing, with a contest on tap this week in the divisional round of the playoffs against Houston. The Patriots finished the season with a 14-3 record, the exact opposite of the Jets.
Both teams had first-year head coaches running their teams for the first time – Aaron Glenn (Jets) and Mike Vrabel (Patriots).
The Pats were 4-13 in 2024 and fired their head coach, Jerod Mayo, after one season.
The Jets were 5-12 in 2024 under Robert Saleh and interim coach Jeff Ulbrich.
There was a perception that the Jets had the better roster entering this season, but that perception turned out to be wrong.
Vrabel did a nice job in Year 1 with some very good drafting and work in free agency. The Jets first year under Glenn was rife with dubious personnel decisions (coaching staff and roster), including at the all-important QB position.
Obviously, second-year QB Drake Maye was a huge part of New England’s resurgence this year, but keep in mind, he was average as a rookie, and one of the keys to his transformation was Vrabel hiring veteran OC Josh McDaniels to run that side of the football.
The Jets hired a man who had never been an NFL play-caller before.
However, the Patriots’ fast turnaround, similar to this one in Jacksonville and Chicago, should give people in Jetsland hope that with better decisions this year, compared to last year, the Jets could turn things around quickly.
It will be interesting to see if Glenn can do in Year 2 what Vrabel (New England), Liam Coen (Jacksonville), and Ben Johnson (Chicago) did in Year 1.
After a bad penalty in the Jets-Pats game in Foxboro, Zolak said, “Another dumb play, they just stack them. Dumb team. They are going to be bad for years.”
Not is not an opinion that Jets fans could be thrilled with – “They are going to be bad for years.”
And if that is the case, who knows if Glenn will make it past 2026 or ’27?
However, to avoid falling into the trap of being “bad for years,” better decisions need to be made on the staff, roster, and X’s and O’s on game day.
That is why this defensive coordinator hire is huge. They need to hire somebody who is settled science, and has proven he can call defenses on a high level in the NFL. Not a time to roll the dice on a first-timer. The Jets need to play more disciplined, organized defense than they did this past season, a campaign rife with blown assignments.
And much better roster decisions overall.
Giving Justin Fields, a QB with a 14-30 lifetime record, a two-year, $40 million deal with $30 million guaranteed, should be the poster child for how not to handle the roster. Just the massive deal given to a Green Dot linebacker who had suspect film, especially against the pass, before the deal was consummated.
The Jets’ defense, starters, and backups, was not constructed well, and the Jets will have to ignore the hype about some of these players on their own website, and make some wholesale changes on that side of the ball – new coordinator and probably 7-8 new starters.
So if the Jets want to avoid being “bad for years” as Zolak thinks they will be, better decision-making is needed in so many aspects of their football operation than we saw this past season.
January 16, 2025
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