Gang Green Nation
As I am sure you are aware, the Jets lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers yesterday 29-27. The game frustrated me so much that I decided to sleep on it before I wrote the recap.
I was hoping maybe to wake up renewed with hope in the team. Well it didn’t happen.
I suppose I could write about how the team showed “fight” and “didn’t lay down” when far behind. I could do that. I’m just not sure when playing hard even when far behind became an exceptional trait in the National Football League. I would think the bare minimum expectation for professional football players would be to always play hard. This is the pinnacle of the sport. These guys are played well. Their job is to play hard. I don’t think doing your job deserves any special praise.
What I saw was a Jets team that was thoroughly outplayed. The offense was absolutely terrible until the Buccaneers defense took its foot off the gas in the fourth quarter and started conceding short passes. Tyrod Taylor checkdowns that produced minimal results in the first three quarters suddenly became productive plays.
The Jets scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but I’m not sure I see a repeatable formula to build upon. Two of them came against a prevent-ish type defense. Of those, one really shouldn’t have been a touchdown. Allen Lazard clearly appeared to drop the ball. The Jets caught a break when it wasn’t overturned on review. Nobody should apologize for the Jets actually being the team that catches a break on a blown call for once, but it was a fortunate break.
The third touchdown was even less repeatable. I don’t want to say it was lucky because it was a spectacular play by Will McDonald, who lept over the line to block what would have been a game-clinching field goal, recovered the ball, and ran it back to the end zone. But if we are talking about building on this performance…well I don’t think that’s going to be a staple play for the Jets going forward.
I have said since the start of the year that 2025 isn’t just about wins and losses. It’s about how we get to those wins and losses. The hope is that the Jets do good things that show signs of growth even when they lose. I hate to say it, but I didn’t see many in this one despite the comeback.
Evidently Aaron Glenn saw things differently.
I have seen Glenn get some criticism for this quote online. I don’t know that I agree with the criticism of Glenn. He’s coaching a young team that might have a fragile psyche. There hasn’t been a lot positive to happen so far in the first three games so he’s trying to motivate them by accentuating the good. As a general rule, you should never read too much into what a coach says at a press conference.
My hope is that Glenn understands this...
