Is this team winning a Super Bowl with Robert Saleh and Nathaniel Hackett?
No, it’s not.
Look, I get it: the New York Jets’ latest humiliating defeat was not solely on coaching. Aaron Rodgers cannot make the mistakes that he made; those three picks are each on him. Allen Lazard cannot drop the passes he dropped; those plays are on him. You can go on and on. There were plenty of player-inflicted mistakes that the coaching staff had no impact on.
But as we sit here on October 7, 2024, precisely 1,360 days after the Jets introduced Robert Saleh as their head coach, I ask you… where is the evidence that Saleh is capable of leading this team to a championship?
Saleh’s last remaining backers can let him off the hook all they want for the player-inflicted mistakes in the Jets’ last two grotesque losses. At the end of the day, Saleh’s body of work is what it is. The sample size is becoming too large for his body of work not to be an accurate indicator of his quality as a head coach.
After 57 games, Saleh has a 20-37 record. Not only is Saleh’s .351 win percentage worse than Adam Gase’s career mark (.400), but it places Saleh 183rd out of the 201 coaches in NFL history with at least 50 games coached.
Saleh has recorded one measly winning streak of more than three games. He only has five blowout wins (3+ scores), which is about once every 11 games. The Jets have had a winning record entering only 11 of Saleh’s 57 games (19%). New York is on track to rank top-seven in penalties for the second consecutive season.
At what point is the product on the field a direct indictment on the culture created by the head coach? Saleh has had four years to make this team his. He has cycled through multiple offensive coordinators, countless assistant coaching changes, and countless roster changes. Four years in, the results have not changed, no matter who is donning the Jets’ ever-changing logo.
This was supposed to be Saleh’s best shot. He finally has a quarterback, they said. He finally has an offensive line, they said. He finally has superstar playmakers, they said. Just give him an All-Madden roster with 99 overall ratings across the board, and Saleh will finally get it done!
Yet, the Jets continue to lose in the same exact mind-numbing ways they did over the past two seasons.
They still come out of the gates looking unprepared; New York has trailed at halftime in four of its five games and has only scored more than seven points in the first half once.
Their offense still cannot clear the lowest of bars when the defense puts on a masterclass performance. Getting Aaron Rodgers and all of these big-name offensive players was supposed to ensure the Jets would win games where the defense dominated, as it did over the last two games. Same result. Twice in a row, the Jets had one of those games that fit directly under the “They would’ve won this with Rodgers instead of Wilson!” umbrella if it occurred in 2023, only to lose all the same.
The Jets’ inability to capitalize on strong defensive performances becomes even more frustrating when considering Saleh’s offseason promise to become more involved in the offense. Relative to the team’s talent level, the results have become even worse since Saleh inserted himself into the offensive conversations.
They still cannot convert the one last play they need in a clutch situation. They still cannot get the 1-2 yards they need on a key third or fourth down. They are still committing boatloads of penalties (21 for 166 yards over the last two games). They still make baffling personnel decisions (burying a thriving Braelon Allen behind Breece Hall while the latter is running worse than 2023 Dalvin Cook).
It’s the same movie with a better cast.
And there is only one constant: the director.
Optimistic fans might defend Saleh by pointing to the fact that the Jets were one play away in each of the last two games from being 4-1 right now. On the same end, pessimistic fans might argue that the Jets are one dumb Will Levis play away from being 1-4.
None of those hypotheticals matter. The reality is that the Jets are 2-3, and they’ve gotten there in miserable fashion. Outside of one outstanding game against a lowly New England team, the Jets have never looked like a smooth operation this year.
San Francisco (a team that isn’t the unbeatable juggernaut everyone labeled them as to excuse the Jets’ loss) completely dominated the Jets.
Tennessee (not a very good team) largely outplayed the Jets but squandered their advantages due to the quarterback’s self-inflicted mistakes.
Denver’s defense smothered the Jets, and while it does look like an elite unit, the Jets only needed to eclipse 10 points to win, and the same Broncos defense gave up 13+ points to teams led by Geno Smith, Justin Fields, and Gardner Minshew. An Aaron Rodgers-led offense couldn’t do it at home.
The Jets defense unquestionably came to play against the elite Vikings offense. You can’t poke any holes in the defensive performance. But the Jets offense was utterly pitiful once again. And, yes, Minnesota’s defense is elite, but one week earlier, the same defense coughed up 465 yards and 29 points to Jordan Love in his first game back from an injury.
While the Jets ended up with a somewhat respectable 17 points and came close to the game-winning touchdown, the offense was far worse than the 17 points let on. Their two touchdowns were set up in Vikings territory, and their one field goal drive was initially a three-and-out until they lucked into a roughing the punter penalty. All told, the Jets possessed the ball 13 times and had one drive for 50+ yards, which ended in a field goal. That is a disgraceful output in 2024.
The blame for the Jets’ offensive ineptitude does not solely fall on Hackett. It is also on Saleh, if not more so.
Saleh was brought in to be a “CEO” head coach; i.e. a guy whose main job is to establish a culture and overarching identity. He does not call plays on gameday like coaches such as Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan. Saleh has a lot less on his plate. All he has to do is make sure his team has an identity, comes out prepared, plays disciplined, and has a general sense of chemistry.
He has not accomplished any of those goals. Perhaps the defense checks those boxes, but the offense has not come remotely close to checking any of them, and that is on Saleh more than anyone else.
The look and feel of this operation are what reflect back on Saleh. Watching the Jets play football simply doesn’t look or feel good, even when they come close to winning. New York Jets football is sloppy, undisciplined, and severely lacking in chemistry. Nobody appears to be on the same page. Any time one player zigs, you know the other is going to zag.
Say they did finish the comeback in either of these last two games, through Greg Zuerlein’s 50-yard field goal and Rodgers punching in a final touchdown against Minnesota. Even in those scenarios, did the Jets look good? No, they would be victories akin to their 2023 win over the Giants; a win that, mind you, was followed by five consecutive losses to balance the scales based on how well the Jets were actually playing.
The Jets have the right players in place. Everyone agreed on that entering this season. Each player who is underperforming right now was playing well in their most recent season. Tyron Smith. Breece Hall. Garrett Wilson. Even Aaron Rodgers. Yes, 2022 was a down year for Rodgers by his standards, but he was average, and the Jets would have won the last two games if he played “average”.
So, why isn’t it working?
Individuals are underperforming, but when all of these talented players are underperforming at the same time, it can’t just be coincidence, can it? It would sure be wild if all of these uber-talented veterans just suddenly forgot how to play to their peak of their abilities at the same time.
Blame Nathaniel Hackett’s script. Blame Robert Saleh’s direction.
The Jets have phenomenal actors. Unfortunately, the studio did not give them leaders who can allow them to put on a phenomenal show.
New York’s talented cast will probably overcome the writing and direction to muster up a few more watchable episodes throughout the season. It might even lead to a bonus episode in January. Ultimately, though, the plot of this show is too far gone to result in the memorable finale that fans were hoping for.
And there almost certainly won’t be a Season 5.
