Jets Start 2024 1-0

Edition #553

Good morning ☕

If you wanted to send Bill Belichick off with a loss, you're feeling pretty good this morning. If you were sick of that 15-game losing streak, you're feeling chirpy. If you wanted a shot at a higher draft pick, you're pretty devastated right now.

Let's get into it all as the curtain falls on another season without playoff football.

🗞️ Quick Recap: The snow was falling so the Jets fed Breece Hall, the Patriots knew they were feeding Breece Hall but they could do nothing to stop it. Plenty of running, plenty of field goals and then Hall broke one for a score. If you missed the game, you missed very little. The Patriots looked as though they were already on holiday and the Jet’s defence ate the New England line alive. 17-3 and the Jets were ready to celebrate, finishing the season 7-10.

👿 Bill Belichick refused to be drawn on his future, stating that he would sit down with Patriots owner Robert Kraft like he always does. But he did admit “It’s a disappointing year for all of us. Players, coaches, staff, the entire organisation and not anything that any of us are in any way content with. But it is what it is” - There has been far too much smoke for there to be nothing in it.

🫵 Not only did the Jets snap a 15-game losing streak against the Patriots, they also snapped a 12-game losing streak at Gillette Stadium and an 11-game losing streak in divisional road games. If we had to hurt our draft stock, it’s nice to stop some bad streaks before the new season.

📈 The Patriots are now slated to have the #3 pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, chances are they’ll do all they can to draft either Drake Maye or Caleb Williams, although sitting at three there are no guarantees. If they don’t get one of those guys, chances are they get a difference-maker like Marvin Harrison Jr. There are never any guarantees in football, my hope is that they take Maye and he flops. But I won’t be losing too much sleep over them having the #3 pick. We need to worry about our own house before being concerned with the neighbours.

😂 New England generated just 119 total yards, and Breece Hall had 190 yards on his own.

💰 Bryce Huff was asked if he would be open to giving the Jets a hometown discount, and he said that’s not an option. He believes he’s earned his payday, and it’s hard to argue considering he’s coming off a season where he generated 10.5 sacks, despite not being a full-time starter. I hope he’s back, but you fear that he may be playing his football elsewhere in 2024.

🤕 Joe Tippmann left the game with an ankle injury and was seen wearing a boot after the game. He has plenty of time to recover, but you feel bad for any player who picks up an injury in week 18.

🔙 Breece Hall went over 1,5000 All-Purpose yards, the first Jet to do it since Thomas Jones. It’s still absolutely shocking to me that Nathaniel Hackett was unaware of Breece’s potential as a receiver until around week 8. It’s also shocking that Breece has put in that kind of performance considering his injury last year. If the Jets do it right, 2024 could be a huge year for Hall.

😬 Robert Saleh believed that Hall turned a corner against Atlanta, but Hall didn’t agree. He stated he’s been at this kind of level all season, the only difference is he’s getting the ball more. In the first 14 games, Hall got over 20 rushing attempts once…in the win over Denver, he had 10 or fewer attempts on 10 occasions. Call it the Dalvin Cook effect, call it the Hackett effect, but it’s pretty mind-boggling.

📊 This little bit of info courtesy of Rich Cimini: Breece Hall because the first Jets player in history to have 35+ rushes and 170+ yards in the same game. He’s the first player in the NFL to do it since Le’Veon Bell in 2016…when he was good.

😬 Damian “Snacks” Harrison dropped a little nugget of information yesterday. You’ll remember that he left for the Giants in 2016. Apparently, he wanted to be a Jet, but Woody Johnson missed his call. He tweeted or X’d “Was one missed call by Woody away from staying too. Giants told me I needed to make a decision ASAP and I tried to wait for him but I had to take the deal before they (Giants) moved on”

🗳️ The Jets will now have the 10th pick in the draft. So the win cost them 2 spots. Sitting at 10th you can probably presume that the top two QBs in Williams and Maye are gone, as are the top two tackles in Alt and Fashanu, and Marvin Williams Jr is certainly gone. Is this a spot to take Brock Bowers? We're going to have a preliminary look at the options tomorrow.

So there we have it, another season, another losing record and another year watching other teams compete in the playoffs.

The Jets brass have been handed a mulligan, based on the Jets losing their star Quarterback in week one.

While Aaron certainly would have helped, I’m not overly convinced that with this offensive line, he would be taking us to the promised land, so Robert Saleh, Joe Douglas and especially Nathaniel Hackett can count their lucky chickens.

As we reflect on the season, and I don’t plan to reflect on the season for too long…it’s hard to feel confident going into 2024.

We’re expecting to get Aaron back, but if you rely on a 40-year-old QB who’s coming off a big injury, and he gets injured and you don’t have a plan B capable of getting you to the post-season, you deserve to lose your job.

It’s another year that probably presented more questions than answers.

We know that Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson are legit, we also know that we have a great defensive line. But does this defence look as good without Bryce Huff? I don’t think so, and if that’s the case can you afford to keep him?

Outside of Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall and Tyler Conklin…this offence needs so much help. Lazard has been a disaster, but we’re stuck with him. Cobb can disappear and while I like some of the UDFA’s like Gipson and Brownlee, they haven’t shown enough to make you feel confident of them making a considerable impact.

We don’t have QB2 on the roster, and outside of Joe Tippmann, do you feel good about any of the offensive linemen?

Becton is a free agent and is coming off a season where he was rated as one of the worst free agents in the NFL. Duane Brown is a free agent and barely played all year. Laken Tomlinson had a better year, but he’s still been a disappointment when you look at his overall game and compare it to his salary. We didn’t really see a ton of Carter Warren, and Max Mitchell was disappointing. We know the kind of player Alijah Vera-Tucker can be, but another injury-plagued season makes it hard to rely on him.

All of this before we get to the coaching staff and front office.

How much faith do you have in Joe Douglas to sign the right free-agent class considering what we saw last season?

How much faith do you have in Joe Douglas to evaluate offensive line talent and sign the right players? Based on his signings and draft picks?

How much faith do you have in Robert Saleh actually leading a complete team instead of just a good defence?

Will Jeff Ulbrich even be here next season? The Jet’s defence was asked to do a lot, and he did a fine job, I expect he’ll get some HC interviews this off-season, although ultimately I don’t expect him to leave.

The less said about Nathaniel Hackett the better. He’s lucky Aaron Rodgers likes him, as in no universe should he still have a job. Better coordinators with better results are out of work. Hackett has a friend, so he has a job.

This isn’t to be all doom and gloom. We’re Jets fans, which means that between elimination and opening day, we talk ourselves into believing this is our year. My wife laughs at me as I say “This year will be different” every single September, and of course, it rarely is. The last time the Jets were in the playoffs I was a young man who had no thoughts of settling down, now I’m a married man with 2 kids. That says it all.

So while I will miss football, I have my Rangers to keep me company and soon the Mets will be back in action. We can then concentrate on building this team or at least previewing how we’d go about building this team. Over the coming weeks and months, we’re going to go heavy with the draft and free agency profiles, going back to the in-depth detail.

It’s the off-season, which means it’s Jets season. Let’s roll.