Jaw dropping Aaron Rodgers truth shows why the jets have been so absurdly bad in 2024

   

The New York Jets have a quarterback problem. And while fans of this team have been saying that for years, it was all supposed to be over (or they were at least supposed to have a short reprieve) when Aaron Rodgers decided to force his way to New York. But two short years and 12 starts later, the Jets have the same problem.

Jaw dropping Aaron Rodgers truth shows why the jets have been so absurdly bad in 2024

This season has not gone the way the New York Jets, their players, or their fans hoped it would. They currently sit at an abysmal 3-8 after another embarrassing loss, this time to the Indianapolis Colts. In the game Rodgers was a mediocre 22 for 29 for 184 yards and two touchdowns. Those almost sound like decent numbers until you put them all together. 22 completions for only 184 yards? That’s only 6.3 yards per completion.

In fact, at one point, Rodgers was 8 for 10 for a paltry 10 measly yards. He simply isn’t throwing the ball down the field. Even with Garrett Wilson and his bff Davante Adams, the ball isn’t traveling more than an arm’s length or two down the field before it is either caught or falls incomplete. According to Next Gen Stats, Rodgers is only throwing for 4.2 yards in the air per pass attempt.

Rodgers will not challenge defenses down the field. In fact, against the Colts he threw one pass 20 yards in the air, an incomplete ball to Garrett Wilson in the first series of the game.

Last week against the Cardinals it wasn’t much better. He only tried to throw the ball over 20 yards down the field twice, completing neither. And those two attempts came late in the second half when the Jets were already down 31-6. In fact, it was so bad against Arizona that he averaged only 2.5 yards in the air per completion. That means he was only throwing the ball seven and a half feet down field on average.

Okay, okay. 20 yards is a big play, I guess. So, he must own the intermediate throws, right? He must be peppering the ball anywhere from 10-19 yards at a clip, right? Nope. In fact, Rodgers only attempted six passes 10-19 yards in the last two games. That makes eight total passes over 10 yards in two games. In of those eight, he completed one.

What’s even more disturbing about the above video is the fact that in two of the three plays shown, he had a bigger play wide open and didn’t even try to throw it. You can see in the first play Davante Adams has his hand up as he roams the corner route all alone in busted coverage. Instead he throws well behind Wilson almost getting picked off despite a clean pocket.

In the third play, the one he actually completed, Garrett Wilson is wide open when he breaks to the corner and might easily take a good pass to the house. Instead, Rodgers throws it just far enough to the sideline to Xavier Gipson to get the first down.

He is playing like the Jets are trying to protect a lead that they never seem to have. The Jets are a 3-8 football team and yet are still playing scared of losing.  Even when the game was all but over in the last :23 seconds needing to get in field goal range against the Colts, Rodgers checked the ball down to Breece Hall for a short gain with no timeouts.

Is Rodgers unwilling to throw the ball down the field, or is he unable to throw the ball down the field?  I'm not sure which of those scenarios is worse.  

I asked former NFL QB Chris Simms about Rodgers on the God Bless Football podcast about Rodgers and he was adamant that this is Rodgers’ offense. He only wants to throw high percentage throws close to the line of scrimmage and that simply doesn’t work anymore in the NFL.

If Rodgers is going to return next season, and as of now, that appears to be the case, it will have to be under the condition that the offense evolve into something that fits the weapons the Jets have at their disposal and something fitting a 2024 NFL offense. Rodgers completing most of his passes for less yards than a backyard football game isn’t going to win much in the NFL.