At some point between Sunday's despicable 38-33 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, and when the season officially ends in mid-January with a trip up to Orchard Park, Jets owner Woody Johnson has got to make a decision.
His football team is floundering at 2-6; worse, even his franchise's depleting fan base is getting out numbered in home games as Vegas Raiders fans stormed the lower bowl of MetLife Stadium, and were so loud in the fourth quarter that the Raiders players were waving towels and cheering them on until Jets' tackle Olu Fasanu committed a false start.
That was one of many downright putrid moments from Sunday's game where Gang Green blew leads of 23-14 and 30-21 only to watch the Raiders storm back to end their own four-game skid.
And this was a Raiders team that has one of the worst defenses in football. A Raiders team that the Jets ran roughshod on all afternoon to the tune of 439 yards of offense. Braelon Allen enjoyed a career day, rushing for 147 yards; wide receiver AD Mitchell recorded a 142-yard day receiving, also a personal best.
The Jets scored on six consecutive possessions; something they haven't done in almost two decades, when they rolled the then-St. Louis Rams 47-3 at old Giants Stadium. Brett Favre was under center that day.
The Jets scored 30 points on Sunday, something they haven't done since October 26 of last year when they squeaked by Joe Flacco and the Cincinnati Bengals, 39-38 for Head Coach Aaron Glenn's first win as a head coach.
He's still looking for win number six.
And at this rate, he might never get there.
That's because Glenn's Jets continue to make the same bone-headed mistakes that they have been making since last season. No team beats the New York Jets better than the New York Jets, themselves. The Jets defense which was supposed to be Glenn's superpower as a play-caller was so putrid on Sunday against the Raiders that it was embarrassing to watch.
The Raiders outscored the Jets 24-10 in the second half, and rolled New York for 263 yards of offense. While you can criticize the play-calling of Glenn which is more than fair, the fact is Ashton Jeanty who stated earlier in the week that the Jets have players who don't like to tackle, proved his point on Sunday.
While he only ran for nine yards on two carries, he made his presence felt in the fourth quarter when he took a screen pass from Kirk Cousins and went down the sideline untouched for 45 yards to help set up the game sealing field goal.
Let's not forget the fact that New York still has only one lowly interception this season. It's like this secondary is afraid of the football. And that is an indictment on all involved, especially Glenn who was a master at picking off passes when he was a player.
No better example of the Jets inability to attack the football than the fact that tight ends Brock Bowers (seven catches for 92 yards) and Michael Mayer (five catches for 53 yards) were unstoppable. Even Glenn was seen arguing with linebacker Jamien Sherwood for not stepping up to make a play on the ball when Bowers took a short pass from Cousins and scored on a third and goal in the third quarter.
Offensively, the Jets put up huge numbers, yes. But it was also an afternoon full of curiosities. Garrett Wilson who complained about not getting the ball last week vs. Miami, was targeted 12 times, making only six catches.
A lot of the passes that went Wilson's way felt forced as Geno Smith threw into double coverage. No better example was the ridiculous end of game Hail Mary where Smith just tossed the rock toward the end zone hoping Wilson would get it, but the ball landed in the hands of Landry Chinn, who kept both feet in-bounds.
While Wilson got targets, Omar Cooper Jr. had zero targets. Blame it on the Jets having a lot of weapons, or blame it on Smith and Offensive Coordinator Frank Reich for not doing the right thing and spreading the ball around.
HOW MUCH LONGER!!
The question remains how much longer will Johnson allow this to continue. It's clear that Glenn's losing this thing. The fact that cornerback Minkah Fitzpatrick mumbled something to the press that many interpreted as him saying "Jets being Jets," is an example.
The Jets face the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills over the next two weeks. In three weeks that face a Chargers team that - at the moment - is 0-7, and is too talented to be winless this long. This is going to get ugly, and it will get ugly fast.
Perhaps Johnson doesn't want to duplicate his decision to fire a coach in-season like his hasty decision to fire Robert Saleh after five games in 2024. But, this is different. Everyone knows Glenn's goose is cooked in New York. His 5-20 record is at Kotite levels.
If anything Johnson, who reportedly has a strong bond with Glenn, would be doing him a favor.
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