Youâll have to excuse Jets fans if they ađre being a little annoying this week.
Surely, you have someone who wears green and white in your life who has not stopped đŚŠtalking aboutđ the Jets since Thursday night. Maybe it is a co-worker or someone at school or the guy at the local deli.
Please forgive Jets fans. Theyâre a littleđĽ bit excited and understandably so.
You may look at it and say the Jets are just 2-1 and they beat a bad Patriots teađ°m 24-3 on Thursday night. But if đyou are saying that, you have not sat through Jets games for most of the last decade-plus.
There is a saying in football that a player looks like he is running uphill. Well, there have been too many times the Jets have looked like their entire team has been âplaying uphill â like an đĽEverest-sized hill.
So, seeing Aaron Rodgers in complete control at MetLife Stadium last Thursday has Jets fans a little giddy. It was not that Rodgers put up jaw-dropping stats. He did not even throw for 300 yards. It was how Rodgers looked. He looked like a quarterback that was in total control of the game. The term âgame managerâ has become a negative for NFL quarterbacks but I mean it in the most flattering of ways for Rodgers. He managed this game beautifully. It was likđ°e watching a conductor in front of a symphony orchestra with how he dissectęŚed the Patriots defense.
Rodgers has now thrown for two touchdown passes in each of the past two games. Again, you say big deal. Well, Zach Wilson threw for two touchdown passes a đtotal of seven tiđŚmes in 34 games and only two of those came last season.
The Jets lead the NFL iđ˛n third-down perđcentage at a 56.76 conversion rate. This one may be tough to convey just how stunning that is for a Jets fan to see. Last year, the Jets converted 25.96 percent of their third downs.
It felt so hopeless on third down that Jets fans wanted to adopt Canadian rulesጠand just punt on thirdđ down.
Then, there is the red zone. The Jets are third in the NFL in touchdown percentage in the red zone at 75 percent. They were dead last âin 2023 at 32.43 percent.
Look, all of this may not hold up for the entire season. Jets fans are realistic. I donât think anyone believes this team is going to rival the Greatest Show on Turf, but this just feels so different than anything Jets fans hęŚave had to watđch in a long, long time.
It feels like this is Jets Bizarro World. Up is down. Down is𤪠up. The Jetđs can push the ball downfield.
In a tie game in the fourth quarter at Tennessee, it felt like the Jets were going to win the game. Whđen is the last time you could say that? It just felt like Rodgeꊲrs would be able to move the ball down the field while the Titans would make a mistake.
It was Will Levis â the other teamâs quarterback â who made a stupid fumble, not the quarterback of the Jets. After the Patriots game, it was Jerod Mayo, not Robert Saleh, answering questions about who his stâ¨arting quarterback was going tođ´ be next week. The Dolphins are now the team dealing with injuries at quarterback and turninđĽg to Tim Boyle. Jets fađns have seen how that movie ends.
It is a strange time in the Jets universe. There is legitimate hope around here. Jets fans being Jets fans, there surely is some degree of worry in đ¤Ąthe back of their minds that something dark is lurking around the corner.
But that is a worry for another day.
These Jets look like contenders with Rodgers at theꌏ controls, a strong supporting cast on offense and a đdefense that seems to have found its footing over the past six quarters.
Get the insider's view on Gang Green
Sign up for Inside the Jets by đBrian Costello, ađ weekly Sports+ exclusive.
Thank you
Now, Rodgers and the Jets have to steal a page from Tom Brady and the old Patriots and continue to improve as the season moves on. Those Paŕźştriots always had hiccups early before rounding into form around Halloween and then cruięŚsing to the playoffs.
The Jets have sođme issues still to work out, but unlike previous years they have a quarterback who is giving them reason to believe they will.
Get used to that annoying Jets fan in your lifđŹe. I donât think theyâre going to be quiet for a while.