When the Jets traveled West to play the 49ers on "Monday Night Football" to close out Week 1, there were real questions about whether we were seeing a Super Bowl preview. After a hot start by Aaron Rodgers & Co., the San Francisco offense took over and pulled away for a comfortable victory.
Subscribe: 'The Bill Barnwell Show'
Now, after five weeks, it feels like both of these teams are lost. The Jets traveled to London and became the latest in a series of teams to fall behind early to the Vikings, allowing defensive coordinator Brian Flores to put on his mad genius hat and torment Rodgers. The 49ers were able to ride a kick return to the end zone for a score and a lead at home against Arizona. Again, though, they weren't able to seal the game and hold off the Cardinals, who scored 14 unanswered points in the second half to win.
Let's evaluate these disappointing 2-3 teams. Could we have seen their struggles coming? What has gone wrong, and can these issues be fixed? I'll start with the morning game, where the Jets looked bereft of ideas in a loss that only poured more fuel on the Davante Adams fire:
Jump to a section:
Jets | 49ers
New York Jets
Week 5 result: Lost 23-17 to the Minnesota Vikings
For Jets fans, the best-case scenario of the dream they held in the spring of 2023 is gone. The idea that adding Rodgers to a dominant defense would immediately elevate New York into the ranks of football's elite teams, a dream deferred for a year by the veteran quarterback's torn Achilles last season, is not happening. At 2-3, the Jets have the same record after five games that they had in 2023 with Zach Wilson under center. They were 3-2 with Wilson and Joe Flacco through five games in 2022. The relief and certainty that Rodgers was supposed to provide has not appeared. They're just frustrating in different ways.
The Jets' offense has been built to Rodgers' specifications. Before the team officially traded for him, it hired Nathaniel Hackett, Rodgers' former coach from Green Bay, to serve as offensive coordinator. A year ago, it signed Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard to take over as supplementary wide receivers behind Garrett Wilson and added fellow former Packers quarterback Tim Boyle to be the No. 3.
Boyle and Cobb are gone, and Lazard has been fine in a regular role after falling off the active roster at times last season, but Hackett -- and the scheme Rodgers wanted his former coordinator to install -- remains. The Jets' problems start there. It's impossible to completely separate Hackett's scheme and philosophy from what Rodgers wants to run on a week-to-week basis, but figuring out who to blame doesn't really matter. What does is the result: They have an offense that looks and feels behind the times.