Standing on the patio of a luxury Florida hotel in March, Jets general manager Joe Douglas sets a baseline for expectations for the 2022 season. Did.
"We need to play meaningful games in December," Douglassaid at his NFL meeting.
Douglas is right. . This Jets season will be defined by whether this team can make it to his race in the December playoffs. This has been foreign territory for the Jets since 2015. But before the Jets can play his December all-important game, they need to win a game in September.
One of the most staggering parts of the Jets' recent incompetence is his 12-game losing streak in September. The final win of the month was the 2018 season opener against the Lions. you remember that, right? Sam Darnold's debut. The Jets went 48-17 in Detroit Monday night and looked as if they were on their way before falling apart for another 4-12 season. rice field.
Since that game, the Jets have had two new heads his coaches, a new his GM, six different starting his quarterbacks, and countless personnel changes. There are only two players left on the roster that played in that game: defensive tackle Nathan Shepard and long snapper Thomas Hennessey.
September was a horror show. With the loss, the Jets' season felt like it was over before it even started. A 0-3 start is tough to overcome, and it's a record for the Jets in each of the past three seasons.
This year, head coach Robert Salley's crew has to change that. This is a young team that needs an early confidence boost. These weren't the Tom Brady Patriots, a team that always seemed to start late, but they knew they would settle by November. The Chiefs and Beerus may have a slower start this year, but I'm still confident he'll win 12 games.
Jets?
If they start 0-3, they talk about April's draft location and whether Alabama star Will, his linebacker, can get Anderson.
The schedulers did the Jets no favors. The Ravens, Browns and Bengals are his September opponents. All three are playoff contenders. The Jets now likely have to play some of those games without starting quarterback Zach Wilsonadding to the challenge. 8-3 before ruining the season with many close matches. Even without Deshawn Watson, the Browns are a strong team. The Bengals are looking for revenge against his AFC defending champions and Jets his team that upset them last year.
One of the biggest challenges Saleh and Douglas face is getting rid of the losing spirit within the Jets. This organization has been beaten over the past decade. Even if the players change, the feeling of losing doesn't change. A veteran player told me a few years ago that as soon as the team hit adversity, there was a sense of 'again'.
And this is the jet. There is adversity.
His September story in recent years about losing. It's also about seeing not one, but two of his top-three drafted quarterbacks lose home openers, throwing cold water on the hopes they provided. Adam Gase's Dolphins returned Darnold to Earth in his Week 2 of 2018, and Wilson had his 4th interception by the Patriots in Week 2 of last year. The 49ers and Colts suffered heavy losses in 2020 and the Broncos last year. There was Darnold's 2019 Mono match, whereLuke Faulk started the match. On Thursday night in 2018, Baker his Mayfield off the Browns' bench and on Monday night of the following season, Cleveland's Miles his Garrett beat Trevor his Simian in half.
Nobody expects the 2022 Jets to make it to the Super Bowl, but the season won't be over by Halloween, as it has been for the past three years.
Ultimately, the 2022 Jets will depend on whether they're still racing in December and whether they're playing the "meaningful" game Douglas mentioned this past March. Judged... but there are still a few more pages in the calendar to get there.
The Jets can make his December dreams more real as his September memories.
