EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ – Aaron Rodgers approached his head coach with a message and a thought.
“A two-point lead,” he told Robert Saleh as the New York Jets went up 14-0 against the New England Patriots.
Then he pushed his coach.
Consider it a non-negotiable.
Rodgers and Saleh were consistent in their message – about the importance of a two-point lead for the team’s game plan, and the importance of this dominant period on their way to what would be a 24-3 victory in Thursday Night Football.
But their celebratory gestures contradicted each other. So when Rodgers went in for a push and a hug with Saleh, the attraction pulled them apart instead of bringing them together. They underestimated the time when the internet looked bad.
“There was no problem at all,” Rodgers said. “He doesn’t often hug, so I didn’t know he would hug. He likes to push his chest with both hands again. But he talks a lot about the first two points.
So I nudged him and said, ‘two point series.’
An explanation consistent with early lip-reading attempts, but either way there was reason for confusion: The two scoring divisions have been few and far between for the Jets in recent years . The reasons for the celebrations, of course, are there.
The Jets will need time to learn to celebrate, just as they needed time to get in shape with the four-time MVP leading the way.
But when the Jets snapped a 15-year streak against the Patriots, the big-time crowd saw more than just a change in division records.
For the first time in his tenure with the Jets, Rodgers looked strong. The Jets looked pretty good. And a different kind of football returned to the Jets after a long vacation.
The game spoke volumes about what and how the Jets could be this season. It also gave warning to the Patriarchs without the loss of their record.
Rodgers returns to lead the rejuvenated Jets
Allen Lazard was stunned for a long time before visiting the final destinations.
The veteran receiver who spent all seven seasons of his career on the same roster as Rodgers had seen this magic before.
But did Rodgers really escape the pocket, make a pass and go for a 5-yard gain on the second play of the game?
Was the 40-year-old quarterback who tore his Achilles 374 days earlier really going to throw the stage hard, so soon?
“I mean, that herbal medicine must really work,” Lazard told Yahoo Sports after catching three passes for 48 yards and the first touchdown of the game. “I might have to try it here soon, hopefully I’ll be playing when I’m 40.”
The Jets’ first game against the Patriots showed more of Rodgers’ football acumen than physical prowess. The quarterback calculated his chances of success if he split Lazard to the left, Rodgers releasing the ball immediately after the snap as Lazard caught his defender flat.
Lazard suddenly stopped and started again en route to a 10-yard score. It was the Jets’ first hit of the night but not their last.
“Our biggest challenge was trying to cover them in the second half and everything,” Lazard said. “That’s what good teams do. We want to be a great team. “
The Jets’ backcourt was responsible for the No. 1 score. 2, closer Breece Hall also had a challenge that gave the Jets a much-anticipated two-point lead.
Now the Jets’ defense can completely confuse Patriots quarterback Jacoby Brissett, more than likely making a pass as a second-chance pass rusher.
But Rodgers wasn’t done. He knew that in three weeks, opposing defenses had sold out to shut down receiver Garrett Wilson, covering defensive ends twice as often as Wilson had against top cornerbacks on the 49ers’ Charvarius. Ward, Tennessee Titans’ L’Jarius Sneed and now. Christian Gonzalez of New England.
But with 6:24 to play in the third quarter, the Jets were 2 yards from home after Rodgers found Wilson for an 8. Wilson told his quarterback in the huddle. to hit him again and Rodgers was happy to oblige with a run-pass option. .
Rodgers threw in the air and Wilson caught it on the fly. “For a mortal, the catch is very difficult,” said Rodgers, “but [Wilson] it made it look easy.”
That’s how many of the Jets viewed Rodgers’ home game for the Jets more broadly, as he completed 27-of-35 passes for 281 yards, two touchdowns and scores of 118.8.
Lazard thought back to the time they had in the weight room before the start of the season, when Lazard walked in and saw Rodgers swinging. He thinks he saw four plates and a 25-pounder, but maybe it was three plates and a 25, he thinks. Whether it was 325 pounds or 425 pounds, Lazard knew this was not the standard for Rodgers’ age and life.
“It was more than any 40-year-old should be able to handle,” Lazard said. “And for him to leave Achilles…it’s amazing.”
Will the Patriots heed the tough lessons from the Jets QB?
The magic of Rodgers’ evening was in stark contrast to the Patriots quarterback situation.
After upsetting the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 and taking the Seattle Seahawks to overtime before losing in Week 2, New England has yet to put up a real fight in the quarterfinals. .
Brissett completed 12-of-18 passes for 98 yards and an 80.3 passer rating, after throwing for 149 yards and a touchdown in Week 1 and now yards of 121 in Week 2. But Brissett’s limited production wasn’t New England’s main problem. The inability of the quarterback and offensive line to handle the Jets’ pass rush was.
After picking up three sacks against the Bengals and just one against the Seahawks, the Jets sacked the Patriots seven times and hit their quarterback 15 times. Brissett go through 50-plus minutes of hitting before the Patriots give Drake Maye’s 2024 third-round pick the series finale.
Brissett was pressured 13 times, the highest 56.5% pressure rate he has faced in any game with at least 10 attempts, according to Next Gen Stats.
Maye completed 4-of-8 attempts for 22 yards and a 56.2 passer rating, and rushed twice for a total of 12 yards. What should have been clear to the Patriots: Quarterback may not be the only problem in their offense, but he is not their solution.
Maye’s eight passing attempts moved him to half of the four-time MVP’s total on the opposite side of the field his rookie year.
Rodgers started zero games in his first three years after the Packers drafted him in the first round in 2005, attempting more than 28 passes in any of those campaigns.
10 Pro Bowls, a regular playoff championship and a Super Bowl championship that have produced far from guaranteed results simply because teams rest their quarterbacks. But on Thursday, a long-suffering Jets team showed the Patriots what’s possible when the team assembled a talent around the quarterback before asking him to lift the team. The Jets showed New England what a quarterback game can look like when the gun has the right time to grow physically and mentally.
Rodgers’ ability to control the offense, avoid three-and-out at night, and avoid turnovers while running the Jets down the field repeatedly, represents a different end of the quarterback game than nothing. which led to the Carolina Panthers’ arrival. Bench 2023 first overall pick Bryce Young is only two games into this season.
The Patriots have had examples this week alone of the risk and reward they face in May’s development.
They should pay attention to them.
Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo declined to confirm whether he would substitute Maye for Brissett as the starter, saying “I don’t know” about the quarterback change but the staff will “see where it goes” as the players compete. every week.
The Jets, across the field, breathed a sigh of relief that for the first time in a while the quarterback question was gone. theirs problem – and as they continue to learn not only how to get on the same page in the field but also their celebrations.
“If the expectation is successful, we will celebrate it, but we should expect to win,” said Rodgers. “The next step is to look forward to governing.”
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