Robert Saleh Cheered Up Jets Fans by Reminding Them That as Bad as Zach Wilson Was, He's Been Much, Much Worse
I've said it before and it's never been more true so I'll say it again. If the New York Jets didn't exist, I'd have to invent them. In good times and in bad for your team, they're the one thing you can always count on. The North Star that remains a fixed point in your sky to help you navigate through your own troubled waters. So when things aren't going your way, you can always turn to that one constant in this life to remind you that it can always be worse. Because while your good times might not last forever, for some the good times never happen at all.
As Opal Fleener told Norman Dale not long after he got to Hickory and the whole town turned its collective back on him, "The sun don't shine on the same dog's ass every day. But mister, you ain't seen a ray of light since you got here." That's the Jets. Except they've been here since that one Joe Namath game they can't shut up about and the closest thing they have to a Jimmy Chitwood had his knee shredded like string cheese on the opening drive of the season.
And last night was no ray of sunshine either. Their drives went:
- 3 & out punt
- Fumble
- Fumble
- 3 & out punt
- 3 & out punt
- Field goal
- Punt
- 3 & out punt
- Field goal
- Punt
- Punt
- Fumble
- Turnover on downs
And among those possession that included 1st downs but ended in punts were drives of 3, 10 and 5 total yards. Plus there were boatloads of this:
By no means was this display of utter nonfense (I term I just made up on the spot but I think I might be able to make it a thing) an outlier:
ESPN - The Jets (4-4) lost three fumbles, allowed eight sacks and continued their bad form on third down (3-of-17). They wasted another sterling performance by the defense, which recorded five sacks.
This has been the Jets' story for the past two seasons. The offense has scored only eight touchdowns in eight games. Four of those TDs were on one-play drives, including one in which the Philadelphia Eagles appeared to let them score in an end-game situation.
The offense-defense disparity, which undermined the previous campaign, could blow up another year. [Aaron] Rodgers, hoping to return late this season if the Jets remain in contention, might have to shift his sights to 2024.
Which brings us at long last to Zach Wilson. Because while his stat line of:
33-for-49, 263 yards, 5.4 YPA, 3 fumbles, 0 TDs, 8 sacks for 57 yards, 206 net passing yards
… most of which came in garbage time long after the Chargers had the game in hand and went into a deep shell on defense might give Jets fans reason to despair, Robert Saleh was there afterwards to offer hope in his own unique style:
Source - “It’s one of those bizarre games,” Saleh said after Monday night’s loss to the Chargers. “Every time we had momentum, just a self inflicted wound. Was it his best game? Obviously not. Was it his worst game? No, I’m not going to say it was even close to his worst game.”
That is leadership. That's the kind of adrenaline shot in the arm a long suffering fanbase needs after a night, a half season, a decade, generations of frustration. For the man in charge to stand up, look everyone in the eye and say, "Did my guy suck? I say he didn't suck. And believe me, I've seen him suck. You want to see suck? I'll show ya suck. I mean, did you see him against Dallas? Or New England? He sucked all the ass then. Miles of it. This was just average, run-of-the-mill Zach Wilson awfulness, I can assure you."
This is all I can ask of the Jets. That they be that steady, stalwart, unshakable example of how to lose and be ridiculous doing it. And once again, when it comes to letting their fans down, they didn't let me down. Even if they are two fucking games ahead of my crushingly pathetic, disappointing team, I can take some comfort in having this franchise to count on.
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