Even an excuse for the New York Jets is an indictment of their quarterback.
Some excuse the team for their 3-9 record, pointing to the fact that most of their games have been close. While that does not match the Jets’ play on the field or the fact that most NFL games are pretty close, it sounds plausible on its face.
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But it also draws attention to why they’ve lost those close games. And the answer is, at least to a large extent, Aaron Rodgers.
The Jets-Seahawks game marked the fifth time this season that Rodgers had the ball in his hands at the end of the game with a chance to win the game with a touchdown or field goal. He has not done so a single time.
Rodgers can blame Mike Williams, other receivers, the wind, the officials, or anything else he wants. The ball has been in his hands at the end, and he hasn’t delivered.
These were exactly the situations for which Rodgers was supposed to make the difference. Instead, Zach Wilson had more victories in those situations last season (2-3) than Rodgers has this year.
This stat is far from the only way to describe Rodgers’ futility this season. The single biggest statistic encapsulating his futility is his yards per attempt, which is 6.27 after the loss to the Seahawks. Zach Wilson’s yards per attempt in his Jets career? 6.34.
Last week, interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich insisted there have been no internal discussions about benching Rodgers. All he said after the Seahawks game about making such a change? “Not as of today.”
The Jets are a failure as a team, not just as individuals. But a team that trusted their Hall of Fame quarterback to lead them to contention have instead been led down to the NFL basement once more.
