Ben Kuchipudi ‘25
Sports Editor
If you told me in April that the Jets would be starting Zach Wilson at quarterback yet again, I would have assumed you were insane. Well, fast forward to now, Wilson is once again the starting quarterback for the New York Jets. Why, you ask? Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles four plays into his Jets career. He didn’t even complete a pass before the MetLife turf claimed another victim, and now Gang Green is back to where they were last year: talented playmakers on offense and a Super Bowl caliber defense led by one of the worst quarterbacks in football. It seemed like things were finally going to be different this year, but of course, Jets fans can never have anything nice. Before I talk about how the Jets can possibly recover from this, I want to go on a little rant about this franchise. Bear with me, it’s a lot.
I truly believe that Joe Namath sold his soul to win Super Bowl III. Ever since that fateful day in February where the Jets beat the then Baltimore Colts to win their only championship in franchise history, nothing has gone right for them. They have only been to the playoffs 13 times since that Super Bowl, and have only won the division four times. After Super Bowl III, the Jets were a consistently bad team for the next three decades before breaking through in 1998 to win 12 games, a record that still stands to this day. That year they made it to the AFC Championship before losing to the eventual champion Denver Broncos.
In 2002, the Jets would win the division for the last time, finishing 9-7 before losing to the Oakland Raiders. They stayed a relatively competitive franchise throughout the 2000s, but they never made any noise until 2009, when they hired Rex Ryan to be their head coach and drafted Mark Sanchez to be their franchise quarterback. New York finished 9-7 and grabbed the fifth seed in the AFC, but they had no expectations considering Ryan claimed their season was over after a Week 15 loss. Much to Rex’s surprise, the Jets made a run all the way to the AFC Championship before losing to the eventual champion Indianapolis Colts. It was a heartbreaking loss, but the Jets showed that they were for real.
Led by the best defense in the league and an offense that was boring but efficient, the Jets looked to win their first ring since 1969 in 2010. They finished 11-5 and were once again a wild card team, but they got revenge on Peyton Manning and the Colts and even knocked off the top seeded Patriots in the divisional round, arguably their most emotional and meaningful win since the Super Bowl. Unfortunately, they ran out of gas against the Pittsburgh Steelers and once again missed the big game. In 2011, the Jets again had big expectations, but little did the team and fans know it would be the beginning of the largest playoff drought in American sports.
I could go on for hours about the horrors of the 2010s, but I only have so much space to write, so I’ll just go over the highlights: The Butt Fumble in 2012. The 2014 draft class, infamously known as the Idzik Twelve. Week 17 against Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills, where Ryan Fitzpatrick imploded and they lost to miss the playoffs. Sam Darnold seeing ghosts in 2019. The Jets starting 0-13 in 2020 before beating the Rams to lose out on Trevor Lawrence. Zach Wilson losing the entire locker room after failing to take accountability against the Patriots in Week 11 in 2022. You get the point. There’s a lot.
Now let’s talk about the state of the team now. In 2022, the Jets started 7-4 and were in contention for the division despite horrible quarterback play, but they ended up losing their next six to finish last in the division. It was clear New York was a quarterback away from contention, and they got that guy in Aaron Rodgers, until he tore his Achilles. The question is now, how can the Jets still contend in an uber-competitive AFC?
To be blunt, there’s no chance the Jets can compete for a championship this year, that’s going to have to wait until 2024. However, they can very well make the playoffs and potentially make some noise. They were 7-4 and in the thick of the playoff race last year before the wheels came off. It all starts with Zach Wilson. If he can game manage properly and not commit backbreaking turnovers, the team should be good. As we saw in Week 1, this defense is good enough to win games for the Jets. They just can’t shoot themselves in the foot with turnovers.
This may be a lot to ask considering Zach Wilson’s the quarterback, but things could be different this year. He has experienced voices in his ear with Nathaniel Hackett as his offensive coordinator as well as the rest of his teammates, but most importantly, Aaron Rodgers will still be coaching him. Even though he isn’t on the field, the impact Rodgers makes on Wilson will dictate this season. This team is very similar to the Jets teams of 2009 and 2010, and if Mark Sanchez can quarterback the team to back to back AFC Championships, there’s no reason why Wilson can’t. The Jets are currently 1-1, so there’s still a lot of season left, and Jets fans like myself are hoping Wilson can finally prove himself and show us why he was the second overall pick in 2021.
Featured image courtesy of New York Jets Twitter
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