Robert Saleh was responsible for five of the 15 consecutive games the Jets lost to the Patriots.
Bill Belichick is no longer coaching the Patriots.
Tom Brady has not been quarterback for the Patriots since 2019.
Aaron Rodgers, who returns to the scene and will receive a warm welcome when he makes his MetLife 2024 debut Thursday night against the Patriots, is Saleh’s quarterback.
The Jets can’t lose this game.
Saleh cannot afford to lose this game.
Not if you’re Aaron Rodgers’ coach. Not if you’re the coach with a 19-34 record. Not if you’re the coach of a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
He didn’t come here to kiss Jerod Mayo’s ring, did he?
Saleh can’t afford to be outdone by a rookie. Not now. Not here. He can’t afford for his team to not appear fully motivated. He can’t afford for his beloved defense to lose its edge without Jermaine Johnson (Achilles) and Haason Reddick continuing their overwhelming resilience.
The Bills have taken the AFC East from the Patriots for the past four years. While the GOAT coach and GOAT quarterback are currently on TV, the Patriots are rebuilding their team with a rookie head coach in Mayo and a veteran quarterback in Jacoby Brissett, while third-round draft pick and quarterback of the future Drake Maye is waiting in the wings.
That doesn’t make the Patriots fools, though. Mayo beat the Bengals in Week 1 before losing his first home game to the Seahawks in overtime. He looks like he’ll be a tough opponent. He’s got an old-school outfit: run the ball, defend, stay tight in the fourth quarter.
There is no better time than now, in this season of high expectations, for the Jets and for Saleh to build their own winning streak against the Patriots.
Saleh is 0-3 against the Patriots at MetLife with Zach Wilson (two touchdowns, seven interceptions) as quarterback.
There is no better time than the first home game for Rodgers to remind the Jets fans, who were already cheated out of his team’s visit last season by another stupid jet trick from the cruel football gods, what it is still all about after the Achilles tendon disease.
All those years, the Jets nearly fainted when Belichick played with his Patriots. Belichick won six Super Bowls with Brady while Joe Namath tweeted depressing thoughts. Remember that prime-time night when Sam Darnold saw ghosts?
Belichick reveled in every humiliation of the franchise he spurned as the “HC of the NYJ,” so naturally the Jets reveled in sending Belichick off the field as a loser in his final game as Patriots coach in the final game of the 2023 regular season.
“Whether he was here or not, it’s time. They had their fun with the hot number they had, so now it’s our turn to turn the tables,” said CJ Mosley.
Darnold is no longer the Jets’ quarterback. Wilson is no longer the Jets’ quarterback.
Aaron Rodgers is the quarterback of the Jets.
Saleh must be credited for extending his winning streak to two in a row against the Patriots.
“Last year we finished it, now it’s 1-0 in our favor. … We might as well keep going, right?” Tyler Conklin said. “I’m glad to not hear about that damn winning streak anymore, I can tell you that. I wasn’t there the whole time, but the last two years, every time Patriots week came around, it was just ‘winning streak, winning streak, winning streak.’ So I’m glad those questions are over.”
After two games away from his new home, Rodgers should have at least scratched off more than a little rust. While we wait for a Garrett Wilson explosion or a touchdown catch or the integration of WR Mike Williams and maybe Conklin, Breece Hall seems primed and ready to be this team’s Christian McCaffrey. Breece the Beast is an elite weapon to execute. And catches him and is rested by 240-pound rookie Braelon Allen.
It’s a divisional game and a rivalry between Boston and New York. Concerns about Rodgers getting hit and hurt have been put to rest behind his experienced offensive line. The Patriots rushed for 185 yards against the Seahawks and will try to keep Brissett from shooting the ball in the air and keep Rodgers off the field.
Rodgers and the Jets are not yet the finely tuned machine they once wanted to become.
“We’re really close, man,” said Alijah Vera-Tucker. “We want to get going soon.”
This will be the merciful end to three games in 11 nights for the Jets. Rodgers has an offensive line that has kept him from feeling like 40. Some younger teammates who are far from 40 might feel like 40. Saleh has told the media and his team that no one cares.
And he is right.
So no excuses.
No excuses and no Belichick and no Brady leaving New England before Saleh replaced Adam Gase in 2021. Remember how good the snow angels felt at Gillette Stadium last January. Let the Patriots start answering questions about their two-game losing streak to the Jets.
