The NFL tempted fate by making the New York Jets its primetime darlings for a second season in a row. And it’s already backfiring.
The league is getting exactly what it asked for when it doubled down on a soon-to-be 41-year-old Aaron Rodgers and a supposedly top-5 NFL roster riddled with holes. A certain amount of optimism came with the roster that general manager Joe Douglas, who entered Tuesday with a 29-60 record across six seasons, was able to build this offseason.
But a lot of things had to go right for the Jets, most of which haven’t yet. There were injury concerns, but those didn’t acknowledge the fact that Tyron Smith would look every bit his age (33) and that Mike Williams would look extremely rusty coming off yet another knee injury.
Presumably, if Gang Green could stay healthy, it would be fine. But here the Jets are at 2-4, having fired their head coach in Robert Saleh, demoting Nathaniel Hackett to his lone position of telling Rodgers funny jokes about Austin Powers, and, oh yeah, Haason Reddick still hasn’t shown up yet.
In the 23-20 loss to the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football , Rodgers proved again why he’s box office. Despite being well past his prime, he can still sling it around the yard — and he put himself in further unheralded territory with yet another Hail Mary touchdown.
So, for a second, the Jets were a “must-watch,” but they nearly became impossible to watch as they unraveled down the stretch. Love or hate Rodgers — and the NFL clearly loves him — people are going to watch. That’s what the NFL was banking on when it leaned into him (and the Jets) when making the schedule for the 2023-24 NFL season.
It’s not like we’re seeing Tim Boyle, Trevor Siemian or Zach Wilson in primetime, but there’s nothing pleasant about watching a 2-4 team unravel on primetime. I write this as a Jets fan who’d rather get these games out of the way at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday — and perhaps there are fans of other teams who feel the same way. And love or hate the Jets, there’s just little to no way that even those who despise Rodgers the most want to continue to hate-watch him under the bright lights, with the rest of the team — him included — an absolute eyesore to watch.
So, after the Jets were on MNF in Week 1, TNF in Week 3, an a.m. London game in Week 5 and MNF in Week 6, they’ll be on Sunday Night Football in Week 7 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Perhaps NBC wishes it could flex Sunday night’s game — although likely not now that the Jets have Davante Adams in tow.
If anything, it strengthens the argument for keeping the Jets on primetime now that they have a true No. 1 wide receiver in Adams opposite Garrett Wilson. Getting the 2022 Green Bay Packers back together hasn’t worked thus far, but the Jets will keep doing anything to snap the longest playoff drought in North American professional sports.
And the league will keep putting them in primetime.
The relentless schedule continues with another matchup against the New England Patriots before a quick turnaround for Thursday Night Football against the Houston Texans in Week 9. Week 11 brings another Sunday Night Football showdown against the Indianapolis Colts, with a trip to Arizona sandwiched in between.
If you were wondering, for flexing purposes, the only one the Jets can be flexed out of, technically speaking, is Week 11. For SNF on NBC, the flex option may be used up to twice between Weeks 5-10 and at the NFL’s discretion during Weeks 11-17.
We’ll see if the Jets are still a primetime darling come Nov. 17.
As the season drags on, the NFL may regret placing so many chips on the Jets, especially with Rodgers no longer providing the fireworks that the league banked on. Sure, adding Adams offers a flicker of hope, but for how long?
Even the most loyal fans are growing tired of the primetime spotlight showcasing mediocrity.
By November, the NFL may seriously reconsider whether the Jets are worth keeping in these marquee matchups — or if it’s finally time to hit the flex button and spare the national audience another painful unraveling.
The post The NFL got exactly what it asked for making Jets primetime darlings, again appeared first on Awful Announcing .
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