It was 8:15 on Monday night. Aaron Rodgers ran out with the American flag just several minutes before the game to a huge roar from the crowd. There was a massive buzz in MetLife Stadium. Breece Hall just ran for 26 yards on his first carry after his ACL surgery. Then, Aaron Rodgers got sacked by a ferocious Buffalo Bills D-line and wasn’t able to put any weight on his leg.

Week 1
It felt like all of the energy got sucked out of MetLife. Jets fans knew that the offensive line was a weak link, but was it this weak? There were only four snaps before Rodgers tore his Achilles. FOUR. Like all Jets fans, I was completely stunned watching Aaron get carted off the field and having to watch Zach Wilson play QB in Week 1.

The Jets defense mainly kept them in the game as they were trailing 13-3 at halftime, but it wasn’t looking too good. A couple of players talked to Rodgers during halftime, including Garrett Wilson. Wilson revealed on a podcast that Rodgers told him, “Sorry, kid” when he went to check on the injured QB. In the second half, the Jets came out, made some big plays, and the crowd got back into it. The Jets capitalized on 3 turnovers from Josh Allen (2 INT, 1 fumble) and a possible catch-of-the-year from star WR Garrett Wilson to take a 16-13 lead with 1:48 to go. A terrific Bills drive and a kick that doinked in eventually led us to overtime. After the Jets made Buffalo punt on the opening drive, undrafted rookie Xavier Gipson recorded a 65 yd punt return TD that sent many fans in MetLife Stadium home happy ! This completed the comeback for the Jets and they won 22-16. On a night that we believed that Rodgers would lead the Jets to a win, it was the defense anchored by S Jordan Whitehead (3 INT), along with Xavier Gipson and Garrett Wilson (5-34-1).

To be honest, Zach played solid with the situation he came into. Only making 1 serious mistake (a terrible INT thrown in the 2nd quarter), his stats were: 14/21, 140 passing yds, 1 TD, 1 INT, 6 rushing yds. It definitely could’ve been worse against a very solid Bills defense. Breece Hall also looked electric, going for long gains of 26 and 83 yds, while finishing with 11 touches and 147 scrimmage yds. The offensive line started out terrible, but was better as the game went on, only giving up 2 sacks to Zach and opening up holes for the running game. The Jets defense got 5 sacks and made Josh Allen turn the ball over 5 times, making him look very frustrated at certain times. Lastly, the special teams was solid during the game and only got better with the Gipson return TD. A wild ending to a wild night.

Week 2

Right after playing the Bills, the Jets had to face a team that just beat the Giants 40-0 without their star QB. The score was basically how the game looked: 30-10 Dallas. The game wasn’t in the Jets’ control from the start and they played catch-up for the majority of it. The Cowboys scoring a TD nearly 6 minutes into the game and Zach Wilson getting lit up by superstar LB Micah Parsons set the tone for a rough afternoon. The Jets were only down 10-0 in the 2nd quarter before Zach Wilson threw a dart to Garrett Wilson for a quick 68 yd TD. On the Cowboys’ drive following the TD, Sauce Gardner dropped a would-be pick six that would’ve given the Jets a 14-10 lead. Instead, Dallas responded with a first down and a TD, going up 18-7. The Jets had a nice drive to end the half, getting a field goal and only trailing 18-10 while getting the ball.

The second half seemed like the exact opposite of the Bills game. 2 punts, a fumble by RB Dalvin Cook, and 3 INTs by Zach took away momentum of having another miraculous comeback. The offensive line had a horrendous day, as Wilson got pressured on 70% of the snaps and couldn’t do much at all. The run game was stuffed up for the most part, as the Jets only had 64 rushing yds (36 from Zach running for his life). Breece Hall only got 4 carries for 9 yds, and was unhappy after the game. Zach Wilson played half decent for 3 quarters before trying to play hero ball and throwing 3 ugly picks. Those 3 picks were the result of a terrible rushing attack by Cook, Carter, and Hall. Duane Brown has looked out of shape for the Jets in the first 2 games as he was a main reason why Parsons got through the offensive line with such ease. Also, where was the Jets defense that made Josh Allen look terrible? Lots of missed tackles, costly flags, and Dak Prescott (31/38, 255 yds, 2 TD) made the game look far worse than it was. Star WR CeeDee Lamb also tore up the secondary, going for 11 receptions and 143 yds.

The Jets’ schedule in the next 4 games consist of the Patriots, Eagles, Broncos, and Chiefs. If they can finish 3-3 heading into Week 7 against the Giants, that would be a solid start. In his career, Zach has had huge struggles against the Patriots (0-4, 54-106, 693 yds, 2 td 7 int). Will it be a similar result on Sunday? Jets fans sure hope not.

When Aaron Rodgers announced that he wanted to play for the New York Jets on March 15, it probably made every Jets fans’ day.

The Jets were coming off a very disappointing end to the season as they didn’t score a touchdown after Week 15 and finished 7-10 after starting out 7-4. Losing AVT, star running back Breece Hall, and forcing Mike White to play with 5 fractured ribs were several reasons why the team struggled. It also didn’t help that Zach Wilson lost all of his confidence during this losing streak and got booed out of MetLife Stadium against the Lions and Jaguars. The Jets haven’t had a very good QB in a while. Sam Darnold was a massive bust as the No. 3 pick in the 2018 draft. Geno Smith was atrocious throughout the early 2010’s as another bust. Ryan Fitzpatrick had a solid 2015 season, throwing for 31 TD’s and 15 INT with nearly 4000 yards, but he regressed heavily the next season. You can even go all the way back to Bret Favre, who threw the same number of TD’s as INTs (22) and was in a similar situation as this year’s Jets. So, could Rodgers be able to end this drought and lead us to the playoffs for the first time in 2010? Yeah, they definitely could.

If the Jets had an average quarterback (at best) last year, they definitely could’ve made the postseason. They had a top 5 defense that was anchored by All-Pro DT Quinnen Williams (12 sacks) and All-Pro LB C.J. Mosley (158 tackles). They had a lethal CB duo led by DROY Sauce Gardner and D.J Reed. Before Breece Hall tore his ACL, he was the favorite to win OROY (681 scrimmage yds, 5 TD). Star WR Garrett Wilson won the award as he had 83 receptions for 1103 yds and 4 TD’s while dealing with subpar quarterback play.

Before the Rodgers trade got finalized, I had expectations of a 8-9 win team that can possibly make the playoffs. Now, I see the Jets winning anywhere from 10-12 games and a team that should make the playoffs. They have given Breece Hall lots of time to work his way up to a full workload, as they signed star RB Dalvin Cook from the Vikings in free agency. In addition, they added WRs Allen Lazard, Mecole Hardman, and Randall Cobb to increase their depth at the receiver position. Signing S Adrian Amos can be a solid upgrade over Lamarcus Joyner. Rookie Will McDonald looks outstanding at practice with lots of highlights over the summer. The Jets also hired Nathanial Hackett as their new OC to reunite with Rodgers after firing Mike LaFleur. However, one thing that lots of people are questioning is Aaron Rodgers’ productivity this season.

Lots of people don’t know that Aaron Rodgers played through a fractured thumb on his throwing hand last season. This led to him having meh numbers for his standards (26 TD, 12 INT). When fully healthy, Aaron is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. Between 2020-2021, he threw for over 8,000 yards, 85 TD and 9 INT. If you go all the way back to 2018, his stats are: 16,858 passing yds, 136 TD, 15 INT. Those are crazy numbers that a healthy Rodgers can have! It may take some time for him to build chemistry with the offense, but I believe it is very possible for us Jets fans to have a very good season! It all starts on Monday night against the Bills.