The New York Jets Are a Playoff Team Again, Soon
As a Jets fan myself, the last decade has been absolutely brutal, but our time is coming soon. New York Jets now have the longest playoff drought in the NFL, dating back to the 2010 season where they lost in the AFC Championship game for the 2nd season in a row to the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Cleveland Browns and Tampa Bay Buccaneers both had longer droughts than the Jets, but when those two teams made the playoffs last season, we finally took the lead.
Since the infamous “Butt Fumble” on Thanksgiving 2012, the Jets have gone downhill from then. They have only posted one winning season since then, back in 2015. But, as we have sadly seen, that was a fluke year apparently.
Rex Ryan Era
A very typical New York Jets head coach, starting off strong and ending up being a bust. Rex Ryan decided to change his game plan up and made the offense rely more on the passing game, rather than the run game. This was obviously not the right move as following an 11-5 season they went 8-8 and started the drought. Ryan was able to finish out his career with the Jets on a 4-12 season and was fired immediately after that. But he wasn’t done with the Jets just yet..
Todd Bowles Era
Todd Bowles was hired almost immediately after Rex Ryan was fired, and we all thought that he would be the guy. A defensive-minded coach that won Assistant Coach of the Year in Arizona the year before was sure to make his mark on Gang Green.
His first year the Jets had their best season since 2010, winning 10 games but falling short of making the playoffs. I say Rex Ryan wasn’t done with the Jets because he was actually the Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills that season and prevented us from making the playoffs.
Ryan Fitzpatrick had a career season that year but threw the game away in Week 17 as he coughed up the ball 4 times in the 4th quarter, essentially ruining our chances of making the playoffs.
After that season it was all downhill yet again as they failed to produce a winning season. The Jets won a combined 14 games in three years and never made it past 4th place in the division. It was only until after the 4-12 season that the Jets decided to move on from Todd Bowles and hire someone else.
Adam Gase Era
What on earth were they thinking with this hire?! Adam Gase as the interim and official head coach for the Miami Dolphins was atrocious and the Jets decided to give him another chance at coaching. It literally did not take long for any of us to realize that this was a bad higher as he went 7-9 in the first season and then proceeded to lose our best player in Jamal Adams and then go 2-14, the worst record since 1996.
New York Jets | All Gas No Brakes
We are now in the Robert Saleh Era, and his motto “All Gas No Brakes” describes this team to a tee. GM Joe Douglas had an absolute masterclass in the 2021 NFL Draft, selecting offensive weapons like Zach Wilson and Elijah Moore, who have already opened eyes in training camp.
He did not stop there as he was able to get great pieces in free agency. He signed WR Corey Davis and Keelan Cole to help the lackluster WR core that was there for Darnold. Douglas also brought in DT Sheldon Rankins to help Quinnen Williams on the defensive side.
There is a lot to like about this very young and exciting Jets squad, they might not make the playoffs this year, but in a couple of years, this team will definitely be competing for a playoff spot and might actually win the AFC East division over the Bills, Dolphins, and Pats.
