Over the last several weeks, we have seen the classic unraveling of a Jets season. The faces change, but the results always seem to stay the same.
Entering Week 7, the Jets faced a two game homestand against beatable opponents. Victories against both the Dolphins and the Raiders would get the team to .500 through eight games and give this team real momentum heading into a tough stretch facing the Chiefs and Bills back-to-back.
Of course, the Jets handed the previously winless Dolphins their first victory
and then lost to the Raiders, dropping their record to 2-6. Not even at the halfway point, the season was over.
It is normal for the competitive portion of the season to end early for Jets fans. It feels like an annual tradition in November to be discussing NFL Draft position above all else.
The only thing the Jets still had going for them is it felt like the team was still united. Players were fighting for each other.
Things changed in the Week 9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Jets looked like an imploding team. Fans could see it in obvious ways like Minkah Fitzpatrick making a couple of business decisions when he had opportunities to make plays. Armand Membou threw his helmet in frustration in an emotional outburst after allow a second half sack. Geno Smith was demonstrative in his frustration frequently as the game slipped away.
These are symptoms of a season that is slipping away and a team that is in a spiral.
Through each offseason NFL fans of all 32 teams convince themselves that their team has made all of the right moves, and their roster is improved. That’s part of being a fan.
At this time of year, Jets fans frequently are forced to confront the reality that the team made bad moves in the previous offseason, and that has a lot to do with the team’s struggles.
The Jets might not have gotten everything wrong in the 2026 offseason. David Bailey increasingly looks like a budding star. If the two pass catchers the Jets took in the first round of the NFL Draft after Bailey aren’t dominating, they at least look promising.
Still, at this point I think the obvious is staring Jets fans in the face. This remains a bottom tier roster, and many of the offseason moves that provided hope in March were poor decisions in hindsight, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
And on offense, the internal improvements fans hoped for just haven’t been as big as fans wanted. Adonai Mitchell has grown into a starting receiver capable of throwing up a big game now and then, but he consistently leaves plays on the field and leaves fans wanting more. Armand Membou and Olu Fashanu remain competent starting tackles, but at this point they don’t look like the elite bookends fans dream of when their team makes back-to-back first round picks at the position.
Of course, no discussion on a Jets loss would be complete without discussing Aaron Glenn, Frank Reich, and the Jets coaching staff.
The typical criticism this crew gets on a weekly basis mostly applies so I’d like to turn my attention elsewhere.
Despite getting blown out in the second half, a strong case can be made that the Jets played better than Kansas City in the first half. The Chiefs came out flat. They were making mistakes, and the Jets forced a couple of turnovers. Despite outgaining Kansas City, the Jets still trailed at halftime.
Why was this? There are no simple answers, but one thing stuck out to me about the way the Jets coaching staff approached the game.
They didn’t seem to be interested in making big plays and scoring touchdowns. It felt like their objective was ball control, playing keep away, even if it came at the expense of offensive efficiency.
In theory, that sounds great. With the right mix of players, it could even work. But this undermanned Jets team was not going into Arrowhead Stadium and winning the game with field goals. The defense just isn’t good enough to hold Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs down, even if they were successful in keeping the ball from them for a quarter or two.
This was a game the Jets needed to play from ahead. Put some pressure on the Chiefs. Maybe they don’t react to it well. Maybe David Bailey can fire upfield and make a big play that changes the game.
It felt like the conservative offensive gameplan the Jets chose was implemented to reduce the odds of being blown out, not the maximize the odds of winning the game. The Jets aren’t going to beat a team like the Chiefs playing like that. Once this team went to the locker room behind despite arguably being the strong first half team, the game was probably over. And you somewhat counterintuitively actually maximize the odds of being blown out.
Add all this to the typical sloppy Jets football with no communication on defense and untimely penalty after untimely penalty, and you have a recipe for a 23 point blowout loss.
Unfortunately for the Jets, there is no end in sight. Next week this team has to figure out a way to deal with Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. If you’ve got any confidence that game will go differently, I’d love to hear why.
