Three Reasons Why You Should Still Root For The Jets To Win
New York has been officially eliminated from the playoffs after failing to show up in their second matchup against the Miami Dolphins last week. That now makes 13 seasons since this team has had a playoff appearance.
Three games remain on the schedule and while losses help the draft, here are a few reasons as to why winning football games means more to this organization right now than a high draft pick.
The Jets Have A Quarterback
Despite being unable to play this season, Aaron Rodgers continued to show his commitment to the Jets by contributing in other ways. Rodgers made sure to be present on the sidelines as well as even practicing with the team as soon as he was healthy enough to do so. Although he recently ruled out the possibility of a return, Rodgers made sure to let Jets fans know that things will get back on track in 2024.
The only reason why fans root for their teams to lose late in the season is the hopes of bumping up their draft stock. The only position of need that warrants rooting for your team to lose, in my opinion, is the quarterback. Rodgers even mentioned on the Pat McAfee Show that he wanted to give the Jets at least two seasons and that he’s refusing to count this lost year as one of them.
That said, even though we were robbed of the experience, Gang Green has their QB1 on the roster. New York has drafted a quarterback with a Top 5 pick twice in the last six years, so fans should know the difference between those Jets teams compared to the one that's currently put together.
This Coaching Staff Is Likely Not Changing
Whether you like it or not, the people in charge of this disastrous season will probably have an extended shelf-life into next year. Joe Douglas, Robert Saleh, and Nathaniel Hackett have all made their mistakes this season which resulted in New York’s elimination from the playoffs in Week 15.
The Jets willingly sat through a third season of Zach Wilson due to their inability to make a change once Rodgers went down. Rodgers is the lifeline keeping this staff together. If he wasn’t in the equation and New York ran it back with their second overall pick, then I wouldn’t see any future in which this staff returns in 2024.
Since there will likely be no changes, then rooting for wins becomes that much easier for me. I’m already hanging on by the smallest thread possible when it comes to this staff, so seeing any sort of success that this team can potentially build off of isn't a bad thing.
Culture Matters
This brings me to my last point, culture. The moment Aaron Rodgers arrived at One Jets Drive we saw a change in this team. While it meant nothing during that point in the season, it’s a shame that we never got the chance to see it develop. With Rodgers gone, that blame falls on the coaching staff.
Rooting for losses at any point during the season, no matter the situation directly affects the culture and only showcases the bad within an organization. At this point, I’m just flat-out sick of the failure. We’ve spent too many years as Jets fans rooting for this team to lose with the hopes of finally drafting a franchise quarterback.
Well, for as long as Aaron Rodgers is on this roster, those days are done. Selecting a quarterback in the first round of this year’s draft isn’t out of the realm of possibilities, but I don’t see the Jets being that bold when other areas of the roster need improving.
Don't get me wrong, there are definitely some benefits to the Jets losing their remaining three games, but in my opinion, that outcome is secondary and should only be viewed as a silver lining when talking about how we want this awful season to end.
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