The Jets Are Actually Good?!
After the Jets opening day shellacking at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens, I wrote an article about how tough it’s been to be a Jets fan over the past 11 seasons of playoff-less football. At the end of the article, I wrote, “I want the team to turn it around. I want the Jets to be competitive again. I’m tired of being the “same old Jets,” the laughing stock of the NFL. But this is it. The rebuild needs to be entering a new phase now because I can’t take more years of searching for a decent head coach, GM, and quarterback to lead the team. This is it, New York Jets. Now go out there Sunday and make me proud.”
Well, I have good news, fellow Jets fans: It worked. If I had known all it would take was me writing an article about the possibility of eventually losing my fandom for the Jets to actually become good again, I would’ve written that piece long ago.
In the Mix After Six Weeks
For other NFL teams, being in the mix of teams that still have playoff aspirations after only six weeks of the regular season might not seem for much of an accomplishment. For Jets fans though, this is a big deal.
Last year, after six games, the Jets were 1-5. The year prior following their first six contests they were 0-6. The year before that: 1-5. The Jets have been in the dregs of the league from the get-go each of the prior three seasons. Fans knew by mid-October of those years that it just wasn’t in the cards for the Jets.
This year, the team is 4-2. That’s the club’s best record after six games since 2015. In fact, in the 20 seasons before this one, the Jets were only above .500 after six games three times (2004, 2010, & 2015). In two of those three seasons they ended up making the playoffs and winning a playoff game. I wouldn’t go making playoff plans just yet, but this is a huge step in the right direction.
The Rookie Revolution
The NFL should rebrand it’s “Pepsi Zero Sugar Rookie of the Week” award as the “Jets Rookie of the Week,” because by the looks of it, Jets rookies are going to be taking home a majority of these awards this season.
The Jets have already had three different rookies, Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, and Sauce Gardner, win the award three of the first five weeks of the season. Barring an upset, either Hall or Gardner should win the award again for this past week.
Breece Hall, after just six games, already looks like he has the potential to be a top five running back in the NFL. Despite having fewer carries than Michael Carter in Weeks 1 and 2, Hall is in the top 10 in football in total yards from scrimmage. According to Vegas, he’s the current favorite to take home Offensive Rookie of the Year honors.
The only rookie who you could argue has been more impressive than Hall over the first six games is current Defensive Rookie of the Year favorite Sauce Gardner. Gardner has all the makings of a true shutdown corner. In single coverage this season, he’s allowed a 19.0 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks, best in the NFL. It’s still early, but pass catchers becoming “Lost in the Sauce” has the potential to be the modern day version of “Revis Island.”
For a team that’s lacked superstar players over the past few seasons, the Jets may have found two with Hall and Gardner. Together with Garret Wilson, all three bring a swagger the Jets haven’t had in a very long time. All of these stud rookies, coupled with the emergence of Quinnen Williams as one of the best defensive players in football, means Jets fans finally have some elite talent on their favorite squad.
The Underdogs
Over their first six games, the Jets have been favored to win exactly ZERO times. Despite that, they have a winning record, accomplishing this feat for only the second time in the Super Bowl Era. Despite being underdogs on paper, this is a team that’s playing like it believes it should win every game—players have definitely bought into everything that Robert Saleh’s selling.
The Jets are coming off of a win where they crushed the Packers at Lambeau Field, a place Green Bay hadn’t lost since 2020. Before the matchup, many had pointed to the fact that the Jets defense hadn’t beaten any top quarterbacks. After making Aaron Rodgers look like he’d wished he had retired on Sunday, that argument now no longer holds any water. The statistics back up the eyeball test for anyone who’s watched the Jets play the past couple of weeks—New York has a top ten defense.
The Jets will be underdogs once again this weekend when they go to play the Broncos in Denver. But if they play the way they did against the Packers, this Jets team might be able do something no Jets team has done in seven seasons—win four games in a row. Regardless of what happens though, it’s safe to pull that Jets gear out of the back of the closet, Jets fans, you’re not the laughing stock of the league anymore. Because the New York Jets are (finally) actually good.