Two quarters after Jets coach Aaron Glenn chastised a reporter for daring to ask him about changing quarterbacks, Glenn changed quarterbacks in another punchless and wholly unremarkable loss that dragged the team to 0–7.
That backup quarterback, Tyrod Taylor, went on to continually target the Panthers’ Jaycee Horn, one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL, to the tune of two interceptions, and he underthrew three balls that could have led to scores. On the bench, we could see Justin Fields staring off into the middle distance, probably wondering whether the emperor (in this case, his coach) really does have new clothes.
I assume that those who are still holding onto hope will note the strength of the defense in back-to-back performances against the Broncos, who came into this week 20th in EPA per play, and the Panthers, who went into this week 13th, though that followed stops against the white-flagged Dolphins and the defense-optional Cowboys (always good for the old yards per game average). I hope that this loss will finally distance us from the absolutely laughable and completely unfathomable idea that the Jets are following a similar path to Glenn’s former team, the Lions, and that Glenn is orchestrating a similar breakdown to build up transformation, the likes of which this franchise has not seen since 2009.
I do not understand why we continue to associate a coach’s past as an assistant with his current place of employment. Dozens—possibly thousands—of Bill Belichick lackeys have come and gone through NFL head coaching jobs performing Do Your Job cosplay, only to get waxed by teams with coaches who had to grind out wins sans Tom Brady. I do not mean to take anything away from Dan Campbell and the Lions. Still, having Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Jameson Williams, Sam LaPorta and Aidan Hutchinson really helps get a message across.
Even without Garrett Wilson, the Jets started an offense Sunday that included two first-round picks at offensive tackle, a guard in John Simpson who was arguably top 10 at his position last season, a second-round pick in Joe Tippmann, who, again, was arguably one of the top 10 to 15 players at his position a last season, a second-round pick at tight end, a running back in Breece Hall who logged well over 1,200 all-purpose yards each of the past two seasons, a former defensive rookie of the year (Sauce Gardner) a three-time Pro Bowler and first-team All-Pro (Quinnen Williams) and 2022 and 2023 first-round picks Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald IV, each of whom have had good to very good seasons in the NFL before.
This team won five games a year ago, along with narrow losses to the Bills and Broncos, despite the owner unceremoniously firing the head coach after a handful of weeks, rippling earthquake-level shockwaves through the entire roster. I can say with certainty that people in the building after the team’s 2–2 start last year legitimately believed this team was playoff-bound.
I’m having a hard time comparing that to a Lions offense in 2021, digging for quality snaps from Quintez Cephus, Matt Nelson and Trinity Benson.
Let’s get this out of the way: The Jets should not fire Aaron Glenn, and I highly doubt that they would. I think firing any coach seven games into a tenure is almost as ridiculous as firing a head coach five weeks into the season after a narrow loss in a foreign country to a team that would go on to win 14 games.
However, what the team should do is drop the pretenses that this is some nascent stage of a massive rebuild when there are multiple talented cornerstone players on the roster.
Which brings us back to the whole quarterback thing. I think you excuse the righteous indignation followed by American politician level flip-flopping at the position if the coach is someone who doesn’t have much of a choice; when you’re staring out at a completely battered landscape and have to find a way to design an offense for a mixture of Trevor Siemian and Chris Streveler (which Glenn’s predecessor actually had to do!).
I think it’s less digestible when this team has options—wildly, even with a historically bad game against Denver, Justin Fields is still on pace to set career highs in passing success rate and quarterback rating per game—but continues to put them in odd positions. Each of the past two weeks, for example, Glenn refused to attempt a Hail Mary at midfield and let the clock run out with timeouts in the holster.
During his postgame press conference on Sunday, Glenn said he derives hope from the energy he sees at practices every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I interviewed many of Glenn’s former players in Detroit about the Lions’ turnaround. They said the secret was embracing the absolutely dismal nature of lacing up only to get trounced and physically demolished on a week-to-week basis, combined with Campbell’s almost relentless profession of belief in everyone, including a quarterback (in Jared Goff) whom everyone assumed was a salary dump. Campbell fostered that mentality by taking all the blame, standing behind most of his coaches and players—save for Aubrey Pleasant and Anthony Lynn—and getting it right when he had to sit a player down, making it look like precision instead of a decision being made with one’s back against the wall.
Glenn has now made his first big coaching maneuver in search of what he called a spark, benching the quarterback he selected instead of Aaron Rodgers. He’d better hope he finds it, or else that familiar practice enthusiasm that he hinges his hopes on will start to wane. And, at that point, people will realize the Lions aren’t showing up.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Latest Jets Loss Proves a Key Point About Lions Comparisons.