Just a handful of weeks ago, the New York Jets had a 4-3 record after being the first (and only) team to defeat the Philadelphia Eagles this season. They had recovered from a slow start to the season and were even threatening first place in the AFC East for a short time, but it seems that the mid-season success was a flash in the pan. Robert Saleh’s team has now lost four straight games to drop to 4-7, and their playoff hopes are essentially gone after falling to the Miami Dolphins on Black Friday.
Jets Playoff Hopes Are Pretty Much Gone After Week 12
The #Jets have less than a 1 percent chance of making the playoffs after their loss to the #Dolphins, says @RichCimini
Should Aaron Rodgers sit out the rest of the year if New York gets eliminated? pic.twitter.com/Gd133ZOzwt
— JPAFootball (@jasrifootball) November 24, 2023
Aaron Rodgers has of course been one of the big stories as the Jets struggle. This was of course supposed to be his team to lead through the 2023 NFL season, but his unfortunate Achilles injury has sidelined him for the entirety. One of the weekly stories around the league is Rodgers’ progress and how he hopes to return this season, with a mid-December target date that the quarterback was shooting for.
While it is questionable exactly what Rodgers hopes to accomplish by coming back with 2 or 3 games remaining on the schedule, there have been reports that have confirmed that he will attempt to return this year regardless of where the Jets stand with their record and playoff possibilities.
Rodgers Won’t Have Much To Play For If He Returns
#Jets QB Aaron Rodgers will reportedly return to play regardless if the team is still in playoff contention or not… but should he? why he do that if it’s not for the team?
The Jets have less than % chance of making the playoffs after losing to the #Dolphins
The team already… https://t.co/cJtft1tqr1 pic.twitter.com/PS0cPKLRJ4
— Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 24, 2023
If he does come back, he’ll be joining a team with essentially nothing to play for. After the first round of games in Week 12, the Jets now have a less than 1% chance of qualifying for the postseason, and would essentially need to win each of their final six games to have a shot. They currently have the third-worst record in the AFC, and the 7th and final playoff team could be 3 full games up on New York after the conclusion of the weekend.
The issues across the field were apparent for the Jets in their game against the Dolphins. Backup-turned-starting-quarterback Tim Boyle showed no marked improvement over Zach Wilson after the team finally made a change at the position, and the top-rated defense gave up just shy of 400 total yards to Miami’s offense.
Robert Saleh is now 15-30 through his first 45 games as the head coach of the Jets, and his job could be in serious jeopardy if the team doesn’t pick up some wins headed down the stretch.
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