Sunday started with so much hope for the Jets, who earned the right to that hope by playing far better than anyone expected them to in their Week 1 loss to the Steelers.
But it ended with frustration and exasperation. And as Aaron Glenn stood at a lectern deep in the belly of MetLife Stadium, trying to explain the unexplainable – how all that hope turned into a humiliating, 30-10 loss to the Bills – it felt as if the first-year coach had already experienced a lifetime of highs and lows in his first two games leading the team.
And that’s just at the quarterback position alone.
Consider this: less than a week ago, Glenn was criticizing those who doubted Justin Fields ahead of the quarterback’s stellar debut against the Steelers. And it was a stellar debut, even in a loss.
Now, after the Jets fell to 0-2 on Sunday, he was glaring at a reporter asking him for his “view” of the passing game on a day the Jets gained only 54 total yards through the air, with Fields responsible for only eight of those yards.
“What’s my view of it?” Glenn said, unable to hide his annoyance with being asked a question with such an obvious answer. “It wasn’t good.”
No, it certainly was not good. And perhaps there’s no logical explanation for how a thing like this can happen. But in this case, perhaps a more mystical explanation is appropriate … as in, sometimes the Jets are going to Jets. And it’s going to be cruel and unusual. And there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it.
But before we get to the bottom of this mystery, and where Fields’ wild start to this season ranks among the that’s-so-Jets moments in Jets history, let’s take a quick look back at the most notable, this-could-only-happen-to-the-Jets quarterback debuts of the last decade.
∗In 2018, No. 3 overall draft pick Sam Darnold threw a pick-6 on his first career pass against the Lions, only to bounce back, lead the Jets to a 48-17 win. Ten days later, after a strong showing in a Week 2 loss, Darnold and the Jets led the Browns 14-0 late in the first half when Cleveland quarterback Tyrod Taylor got hurt, making way for No. 2 pick Baker Mayfield to make his NFL debut, and promptly outplay Darnold on the way to Cleveland winning its first game in 635 days.
∗In 2021, backup Mike White’s first career start ended with his Jets jersey in the Pro Football Hall of Fame after he set the NFL record for most completions in a first start (37-of-45 for 405 yards and three touchdowns) and became just the second quarterback since 1950 to throw for more than 400 yards in his starting debut. Four days later he started with another touchdown drive against the Colts, but suffered a fluke injury to his throwing hand on the touchdown pass and couldn’t finish the game. White never got back to those heights, but his strong play sparked a quarterback controversy through Wilson’s only two seasons as the starter.
∗And then, of course, there’s 2023, when Aaron Rodgers requested a trade from Green Bay to Florham Park, giving the Jets and their fans the validation of feeling wanted by one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Rodgers spent that entire Jets offseason hyping up his new team as championship contenders. And the fans believed him, judging from their deafening, emotional roar when on Sept. 11 Rodgers emerged from the tunnel carrying a large American flag for his Jets debut. It was a magical moment, but less than 10 minutes later it was silent after Rodgers tore his Achilles four plays into his Jets debut before he could even complete a pass.
OK, this seems like an open-and-shut case: How can anything compete with that Rodgers debut as the most Jets moment of all the Jets moments? Going from the highest of hopes to disastrous silence in a matter of minutes? Because the hope never really turned into ambiguity until more than a year later, once Rodgers was healthy and it was clear, at nearly 41, he was no longer the same Rodgers.
But even all the tumult of the Rodgers era can’t compare to the pure-grade Jets contained within the first two games of Fields’ tenure.
Let’s break down the rollercoaster ride of the last eight days:
Wide-spread doubt: Fields struggled to find rhythm in the passing game through all of training camp and the preseason. So when he arrived in East Rutherford for his Jets debut on Sept. 7 against the Steelers, the expectations for Fields were so low that some wondered if the Jets offense might function by only throwing the ball as a last resort.
Making the doubters look stupid: He not only had the best debut for a Jets quarterback since the turn of the century, Fields played the best game of his five-year NFL career – completing 16-of-22 passes for 217 yards, a touchdown, and adding 12 carries for 48 yards and two touchdowns on the ground. He capitalized on the easy throws by hitting his targets, stepped confidently into tougher passes that needed to fit into tighter windows, and showed great judgement on when to stay in the pocket to make a throw, and when to bolt. He led the team on scoring drives on six of the first nine drives of the season, and helped them build a nine-point third-quarter lead. And even though they blew that game in the end, it was hard to pin any of that on Fields, who even led a 12-play touchdown drive immediately after the Jets gave up their lead to the Steelers.
Is there anything more Jets than making those with opinions about the Jets look stupid? Well, as a matter of fact, there is one thing…
Over-the-top hype: Suddenly, even the most pessimistic Jets fan couldn’t completely rule out the idea of a future with Fields as the quarterback – after all, there was nothing unsustainable about his performance against the Steelers. Fields, only 26, led the Jets to 32 points by simply making the throws that were there for him to make, and letting the run game do the rest. If he could keep doing that, not only could the Jets continue to thrive, but Fields’ two-year, $40 million contract was starting to look like a steal.
Fields and the Jets earned almost universal praise, winning over even the analysts who seem to love to hate on the Jets. And Glenn made sure to let everyone know that they were wrong to doubt Fields.
“Well guys, that’s who he is,” Glenn said to the writers who regularly cover the team less than 24 hours after the Week 1 loss to the Steelers. “I mean I think each one of you guys were dogging him all during preseason about what he can’t do, and I think he just showed what he can do.”
True believers: By Sunday afternoon, Jets fans had reason to believe as they arrived at the Meadowlands for the Week 2 matchup against the Bills. Fields and the Jets had proven their run-first identity could help them move the ball and score. And the Bills, despite their dramatic comeback win against the Ravens Week 1, looked extremely vulnerable after allowing 238 rushing yards on just 29 Baltimore attempts.
This was a chance for the Jets to show they could learn from a tough loss and grow from their mistakes. It was a chance to go against the best team in the AFC East, the team favored by many sportsbooks to win the AFC and Super Bowl, and prove the Jets can hang with anyone.
It makes sense on paper. But until proven otherwise, mixing belief and the Jets can lead to extremely painful side effects.
Making the believers look stupid: And then, on the third play of the game, Fields spotted Garrett Wilson running a deep slant, with plenty of separation from his nearest defenders, and fired a pass directly over his head. The Jets had to punt. And when they got the ball back, Fields fumbled it away inside his own 25 on first down.
That was the reward for those who bought into all the good Fields did in his first Jets game.
Not only did Fields not back it up in Week 2, he turned in one of the worst performances of his career instead turning in the worst performance of his career. And it wasn’t just the worst of Fields’ career, it was among the worst starts in recent history.
According to NFL Next Gen Stats: Fields’ -41.6% completion percentage over expected was the NFL’s lowest for any quarterback with at least 10 attempts since at least 2016.
Buying into your new quarterback after the best game of his career, only for him to immediately follow it up with the worst game of his career? It doesn’t get much more Jets than that. Well, unless you consider that Jets fans also had to watch old friend Elijah Moore find the end zone for his first touchdown with his latest team, giving Buffalo a 30-3 lead early in the fourth quarter, and adding another dash of misery to an already miserable day.
And suddenly, we find ourselves right back where we started: In a world full of Justin Fields doubters, where no one can say for sure if the best game of Fields’ career in Week 1, or the worst game of his career in Week 2, just set the tone for his entire Jets career.
In a normal world, Sunday’s upcoming game against the Bucs in Tampa would give Fields the chance to write the next line of his narrative.
But in the Jets’ world, where chaos is the only constant, there’s no guarantee Fields will even get see that field this weekend. That’s because, with the Jets down 27 points with 14 minutes left, Bills edge rusher Joey Bosa sacked Fields, who suffered a concussion when his head smacked the turf.
What will happen next? That’s hard to say. But if Tyrod Taylor leads the Jets to their first win of the Aaron Glenn era, after the Jets decided to name Fields the starter rather than let Taylor compete for the job with him? Well, that would be just another in a very long line of very Jets moments.
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