The Jets reached a grim milestone on Sunday, clinching their 10th straight losing season with a loss to Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. Soon, they’ll be eliminated from the playoffs for the 15th consecutive season, extending the longest active postseason drought in the four major American sports leagues.
It’s the worst stretch in Jets history, which is saying something for a team that has been defined by coming up short – often in spectacularly dramatic fashion – for most of its nearly 70-year existence.
And Jets fans who have lived through this recent stretch, might find themselves rolling their eyes when first-year coach Aaron Glenn – who has lost nine of his first 11 games – now tells them, on repeat, that better days are ahead.
“We don’t want to be 2-9,” Glenn said in Baltimore after Sunday’s loss. “But I do understand: There’s some things we’re doing, some underlying things we’re doing, some foundational things we’re doing, that I am excited about.”
It’s still too early to know if the Jets are building that foundation. We won’t find out until next September, when the wins and losses matter again. Only then can the Jets prove that they are making true progress. And only then will we start to know if they made the right moves with the bounty of draft capital they acquired when they traded away cornerback Sauce Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams at the deadline earlier this month.
But we are seeing some real concrete things on the field in recent weeks that give us hope for the future.
**Glenn is improving**
The first 11 games of Glenn’s coaching tenure has included some concerning game management decisions at times – we’ll never be able to explain or defend the way he used the clock at the end of the first half in consecutive losses to the Cowboys, Broncos, and Panthers dropped the Jets to 0-7.
Those decisions were concerning and his explanations didn’t help. But to his credit, he has bounced back from that nadir and showed major improvement.
The Jets ran the two-minute drill to perfection at the end of the first half at Cincinnati, helping them win their first game of the season. And Glenn has been better about keeping his offense on the field to go for it on fourth down since then, too. Even if the results haven’t been in his favor.
Glenn faced some criticism Sunday after he went for it on fourth-and-2 early in the second half from his own 42. The conversion failed and the Ravens converted their great field position into a touchdown, essentially sealing the game. But even that decision gave the Jets a slightly better chance of winning than punting would have, per NFL Next Gen Stats.
So while you can disagree with the timing of the decision within the context of the game – after dominating the first half the Jets were suddenly on their heels down 10-7 and when Baltimore made it a 10-point game they had successfully taken back all the momentum – it wasn’t some egregious, indefensible mistake. It was an aggressive call that backfired. But it’s a call that if Glenn keeps making, is likely to help this team more than hurt it over time. And that’s what you want from your coach.
**All set on the edge**
Late in the second quarter Jackson was trying to lead the Ravens into the end zone and completely neutralize the Jets early advantage going into the locker room. But the Ravens had to settle for a field goal, and a 7-3 halftime deficit, thanks to a phenomenal play by edge rusher Jermaine Johnson.
On third down in the final minute, Jackson tried to dart out of the pocket to the right as he felt the pressure coming, but Johnson shed his blocker and took away that lane. Jackson then sprinted back to his left and started moving up the field, but he couldn’t cut back to his right – into the open space for a likely touchdown – because Johnson had changed direction as quickly as the speedy quarterback who now had nowhere to go but into the arms of linebacker Jamien Sherwood. It was a phenomenal play by Johnson, who looks to be getting back to 100% after all but two games of last season with a torn Achilles.
And between Johnson and edge rusher Will McDonald, the Jets have proven their defensive line can still be disruptive even without Quinnen Williams. And that will only make things easier as Glenn and GM Darren Mougey fill out the rest of the defense this winter.
**More of this**
Speaking of Glenn and Mougey, the Jets’ previous regime was never able to add a player in season who made a meaningful contribution. Remarkably, last year’s too little, too late Davante Adams addition was the only only notable midseason pickup former GM Joe Douglas ever made. (The only other skill player added midseason by Douglas was running back James Robinson in 2022, a day after running back Breece Hall tore his ACL.)
But the Jets have already shown a willingness to add players on the fly, getting receiver Adonai Mitchell from the Colts in the Gardner deal, defensive tackle Mazi Smith from the Cowboys in the Williams trade, and receiver John Metchie when they traded cornerback Michael Carter II to the Eagles.
Metchie had a touchdown in each of his first two games with the Jets, and has already picked up 110 yards on nine catches. It shows that the Jets are willing to adjust on the fly and know their system and how talent will fit into it. And that can only be a good thing for the future, especially four first round picks in the next two years.