The Jets return to MetLife Stadium for the final time this season on Sunday to take on the Dolphins.
It feels like three years ago, but it was just a little more than three months ago that the Jets experienced the climax of the 2024 season on Sept. 19 against MetLife.
The team defeated the Patriots 24-3 on “Thursday Night Football.”
Everything seemed to be going well that night. The offense scored 400 points. The defense allowed only field goals.
The Jets won their second straight game to improve to 2 wins and 1 loss, and it looked like they were about to take off.
Center Joe Tippman said this week: “It just felt like it was clicking and things were going well. This is going to carry us through the rest of the season.” . “That’s where I was.”
Since then, the Jets have won just two games and are 4-12 entering Sunday's game.
Head coach Robert Saleh was fired less than two weeks after Thursday night's win.
General manager Joe Douglas was fired two months after the game.
The Jets are entering an offseason of change after a promising game against the Patriots and a failed season.
After the Jets beat the Patriots, they suffered a shocking 10-9 loss to the Broncos, infuriating owner Woody Johnson.
A week later, they lost to the Vikings in London, with Saleh sidelined.
The Jets would lose five straight before recording their third win of the season.
“It's pretty cool,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said this week. “If we lose a game or something happens, you just wonder if you could have played better against Denver or if you made a long field goal, how that would change things. I think obviously the Buffalo game was an even bigger crux. [coaching] Just got back from a long trip to Minnesota and played really well Monday night. [against the Bills]”
Rodgers said if he had found a way to win that night, things could have played out very differently.
“If we win that game, we’re 3-3,” Rodgers said. “We're tied for first in the division, but I think this team looks a lot different in terms of confidence. Part of this is the confidence our players have every week. Most of the chances we had and , in most of the other games where they had the ball late in the game, they didn't, or could have turned it around. That momentum would have made a difference for a playoff spot. Do you know if you'll be playing?
