PITTSBURGH — As it turns out, this isn't Robert Saleh's fault.
Two weeks ago, Woody Johnson fired his head coach, believing it would “ignite” his dead team walk.
Last week, the Jets' owner pulled the trigger to acquire star receiver Davante Adams (also known as quarterback Aaron Rodgers' best friend) and explained how Adams' presence “opens things up” for the offense. He said out loud that he was ready. As you know, to “kick” something.
Well, did you know?
Nothing worked, and Johnson was left with no magic button to push.
It was Sunday night's potentially disastrous 37-15 loss to the Steelers by the Jets at Acrizier Stadium, a game that was broadcast on full national television. Pittsburgh scored 31 points in the game after the Jets built a 15-6 lead.
Here are all the keys:
Mr Johnson wanted to create a “spark'' by firing Mr Saleh. And Rodgers said his team was noticeably “flat” before the game and at halftime after the loss.
You can't make this up.
It was just before the first half that Rodgers threw a momentum-shaking interception that gave life to the Steelers and killed the Jets for the night, and maybe the rest of the season.
Driving with a 15-6 lead, Rodgers threw a pass into traffic in the middle of the field to receiver Garrett Wilson, which was picked off by Pittsburgh cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. with 1:15 left in the first half. Ta.
Rodgers' killer turnover (his sixth INT in seven games this season) led directly to a Steelers touchdown, an 11-yard Russell Wilson scoring pass to George Pickens, but the Jets didn't know which player Even if they were on our side, we couldn't cover them all night.
The Jets' lead was now 15-13, and it seemed like the Jets were running out of oxygen.
The Steelers would score the final 31 points of the game.
“It was a bad throw,” Rodgers later said of the interception aimed at Wilson. “I should have dumped it downstairs. For some reason, it just changed the whole energy. It changed the game.”
Momentum is very valuable in sports. It must be handled with extreme care. And the Jets' most important player gave it to them.
“In these games, you can't give up on plays because the momentum changes so much,” Ulbrich said. “And if you make it, you have to fight like hell to fix it — pardon my words, we didn’t do enough of that today, so this one definitely wasn’t good enough. , it has to be an opportunity to grow and be able to overcome.”
Ulbrich reiterated that the product the Jets put on the field Sunday night was “not who we are.”
But what happens when the Jets are 2-5 and on a four-game losing streak, with a promising season on the brink of collapsing their entire plan?
“If we accept that, the season will be lost,” Ulbrich said. So we don't go there at all. We have high character rooms available. We have the elements that we can pull off. ”
Rodgers called the four-game losing streak a “tough development,” adding: “We've lost each of those four games in different ways.” But you need to understand it. Obviously, we added two big-time players to our locker room. One is here (receiver Davante Adams, who made his Jets debut on Sunday), and the other is coming on Monday (edge rusher Haason Reddick, who finally ended his contract hold on Sunday).
“So it's all still in front of us. We've got to keep the faith in the locker room somehow and run with it. We can't win 10 in a row unless we get that first win.”
Well, what is it?
That was the Jets' battle cry last season. The phrase was painted on walls and printed on team T-shirts.
Now, this phrase takes on a completely different tone.
Johnson doesn't have the option of calling a friend.
He is on record touting the Jets' current roster as the best collection of players he has had on the team in his 24 years as owner.
He fired Saleh to “inspire” the team.
And the franchise's most important man, the Hall of Fame quarterback, said Sunday night that the team was flat for the season.
What a mess.
