Well, it's safe to say Robert Saleh wasn't the problem with the 2024 New York Jets.
The Jets canned Saleh after their Week 5 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London. At the time, New York was 2-3 and coming off back-to-back losses, including an ugly 10-9 home loss to the Denver Broncos the week before.
By ditching Saleh and replacing him with interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich, the Jets hoped to give their season a spark and save it before it was too late.
Instead, firing Saleh has backfired spectacularly. New York has lost all three of its games without him, including games where it was favored against the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots -- the latter of whom Saleh dominated 24-3 in Week 3.
After going 2-3 with a plus-8 point differential under Saleh, the Jets are 0-3 with a minus-28 point differential under Ulbrich despite trading for Davante Adams and getting Haason Reddick back.
The Jets find themselves in "the darkness."
"Well, I hate to say it Jets but you created this darkness by letting go of your coach and changing horses in the middle of the stream." - Tony Dungy
"Robert Saleh, he didn't deserve to get fired." - Rodney Harrison pic.twitter.com/Mt0toXoDQ7— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) October 28, 2024
While the offense has improved since Nathaniel Hackett was stripped of his play-calling duties, the defense has regressed without Saleh. A unit that was allowing just 17 points and 255.8 yards per game under Saleh has been torched for 28.3 points and 338.3 points per game without him despite facing a pair of lackluster defenses.
At the time, Woody Johnson's shocking dismissal of Saleh seemed wildly premature and unfair. All three of New York's losses under Saleh this year came against quality opponents who may reach the playoffs, and two of those losses were by a combined seven points.
But Saleh and Aaron Rodgers were not getting along, and since the Jets are fully committed to Rodgers, Saleh had to go.
Now, New Yorkers can only wonder how this season might be different if the 45-year-old had kept his job. It's hard to imagine his defense surrendering 37 points to the Steelers in Week 7 or losing to Jacoby Brissett and the Patriots in Week 8.
The Jets should have been more patient with Saleh. But they did him dirty, and now they're paying the price.
