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I was watching a podcast where Ron Jaworski was breaking down what went wrong with the Philadelphia Eagles this season. They started 10-1 and then fell apart, getting blown out in the first round of the playoffs by Tampa Bay. an average team.
Jaworski was asked about what led to the collapse, leading to them losing five of their last six games of the regular season.
Jaworski said a lot of things, but one thing he mentioned, was that the demise began even during the 10-1 start the season.
He said, “They lost to the Jets (in Week 6).”
The way he said the word “Jets” was dismissive.
And it occurred to me, how often I hear people speak that way about the Jets.
Perhaps missing the playoffs 13 years in a row, has led to people dismissively talking about them.
They need to put a stop to this.
Some people would say winning will put an end to this, but it goes deeper than that.
Because it seems like when they do win some games, it just seems like the second they go through a tough stretch again, the disrespectful talk returns.
The “Same Old Jets” stuff returns.
You should be able to lose games, after winning a few, without people going back to that default setting.
You are going to lose games in the NFL. It’s a tough league.
Remember, when linebacker C.J. Mosley complained after a Jets loss, ironically against Philadelphia, about how Eagles players openly showed disrespect to the Jets.
This was after a Jets 33-18 loss to the Eagles on December 5, 2021:
“Mosley said Eagles defensive tackle Fletcher Cox laughed at Jets coach Robert Saleh. He said the Eagles’ captains did not shake hands with the Jets’ captains after the coin toss. The Eagles rolled over the Jets on Sunday with a backup quarterback as the Jets’ defense showed little resistance,” wrote Brian Costello for the New York Post after the game.
“At the end of the day, this is all about respect,” Mosley said. “Right now, teams are not respecting us. That’s well-deserved whether it’s by self-inflicted wounds or the history of the Jets.”
Mosley came from Baltimore, one of the most successful organizations over the last couple of decades, a team that is universally respected.
They will be playing on Sunday in the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Ravens might have one of the best cultures not just in the NFL, but in all of team sports.
So “fine-tuning” the Jets culture, as Aaron Rodgers wants to see happen, could help the Jets become more respected.
Something else you can’t do is allow people to go over the line and disrespect you, and just laugh it off.
This is something I wrote about in the lastest issue of Jets Confidential Magazine, which is available now.
Here is an excerpt:
“Some of the stuff that has been said about Aaron Rodgers in the last few months went over the line. And the QB and decision-makers in the Jets organization need to keep receipts.
When a host of a New York sports talk show says, ‘Jimmy Kimmel should ‘slap a defamation of character’ suit on Aaron Rodgers,” and then his update guy calls Rodgers ‘F face’ do you roll out the red carpet for them at Jets camp?
