MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA. –Jets owner Woody Johnson walked into the losers’ locker room before Sunday’s game against the Dolphins was even over.
He stood in the doorway, surely trying to figure out how his team missed the playoffs for the 12th straight year, the longest active drought in the NFL. This year looked like the year the Jets picked up wins in Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Denver, when they beat the Bills at home and when they stomped on the Bears on Thanksgiving weekend to go 7-4.
Then the bottom fell off. The Jets lost six straight games, ending the season with a dismal 11-6 loss to the Dolphins on Sunday.
Johnson and the Jets will be home again for the playoffs. He stood by the door and shook hands with every player and manager as they walked off the pitch for the last time in the 2022 season. The search for answers to what happened and how they could improve in 2023 starts now.
Jets coach Robert Saleh apologized to Johnson in his postgame press conference after the 7-10 scoreline.
“I say sorry to everyone, Woody, Christopher [Johnson]Saleh said before naming a few other team executives, “all the players, all the coaches, all the fans.
“Because I know it’s been a long, long road not to be in the playoffs and I know it was right between our fingers and we’re not going. But at the same time, I know we have come a long way in two years and I’m thrilled with what we have ahead of us So, you know, it’s just, like I said, it stings right now but when all that dust settles and as we reflect on the season, we’ll be excited about what we have to offer and kick off this offseason the right way and get ourselves in that position where we have a chance to clinch and get into the playoffs.
The Jets can point to many things that went wrong this season. Injuries to star running back Breece Hall and top offensive lineman Alijah Vera-Tucker have unsettled the Jets. Poor play by second-year quarterback Zach Wilson crippled them. When Wilson’s replacement Mike White broke his ribs in Buffalo in December, the team was finished.
The Jets finished the season on a six-game losing streak for the first time since 1996. They failed to score a touchdown in the final three games. The Jets’ offensive incompetence is astounding. They’ve scored just four touchdowns in their last six games. They only scored two touchdowns in the first quarter of the season.
“It doesn’t feel real,” tight end Tyler Conklin said. How do you have a meltdown like that? I do not know.”
The Jets have reason to be encouraged. Their rookie class seems to be a base for years. Cornerback Sauce Gardner and wide receiver Garrett Wilson could win Defensive and Offensive Rookie of the Year, respectively. Hall was poised to have a great rookie season before tearing his ACL. The defense was one of the best in the NFL. The Jets have won seven games, one more than they have won in the past two seasons combined.
“I know what kind of team we have, and I understand, I get outside noise and all that,” Saleh said. “I get the disappointment of a six-game losing streak, but honestly the silver lining is we’ve got an amazing group of guys and I’m really excited for this offseason, really excited to see them take off, and we’re going to again have this opportunity and we have to go finish.
The key questions now for the Jets are will offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur be back after presiding over this offensive mess and who will their quarterback be? The Jets have said they are committed to Wilson, but they cannot enter the 2023 season with him as a starter. White is a free agent. The Jets will surely consider signing a veteran, maybe Jimmy Garoppolo or Derek Carr.
After Sunday’s loss, the Jets were already talking about next year and trying to end the playoff drought that is now old enough to hit puberty.
“We want to win, so it’s extremely frustrating,” Gardner said. Now it’s to the point where we can’t dwell on the past. We just have to attack this off-season. This time next year we will be in the playoffs.
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