New York Jets: Long Live the Roller Coaster

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We all signed up for this, but that doesn’t make the New York Jets roller coaster any less scary. It’s like we kept climbing higher and higher, yet somehow forgot how far down we had to come.

(Photo Credit: Seth Wenig)

 

Roller coasters are supposed to be fun, especially since we all willingly board the ride. This New York Jets roller coaster is a ride we fans immediately re-board after the grand finale finish where our car explodes in a mess of fired coaches and career ending decisions. But that’s all in the past! Currently we find ourselves on a brand new roller coaster, one whose ride just began with the hiring of coach Robert Saleh. Long live the roller coaster.

For many NFL teams, their roller coaster is confined to the season. But for special teams like the New York Jets, our ride spans all year. The current coaster is “All Gas, No Brakes” and has lived up to its name. We started very very low, probably as close to hell as one can dig without literally meeting Satan. That means our new coaster was going to climb higher and higher for a really long time. Our climb began with the hiring of Coach Saleh and kept going until week one of the 2021 NFL season. It was a glorious climb full of shiny stars, bright smiles, and hope. Lots and lots of hope.

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When the roller coaster is really good, you never see the fall coming. Everyone knows its inevitable, but you still are shocked and screaming when it happens. This was week one for our New York Jets in 2021. All of that glorious climbing led to a truly special plunge that kept us screaming for three straight games and a full month of the season. There were a few slight inclines over those first three games, but mostly falling. Call them growing pains, or just part of the process, but our Jets roller coaster lived up to the hype. It fell hard.

 

 

Thankfully, once a roller coaster falls, it must climb up again. Most coasters never reach their peak, being a Super Bowl title in the case of our NFL analogy. For the New York Jets, our coaster climbed fast and hard with a victory over the Tennessee Titans. Then it fell down again over a bumpy course with an unknown destination after losing to the Atlanta Falcons. Will the ride keep falling, or is it about to go up again? How many ups and downs must we endure before New York’s ride starts climbing for good?

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Talk about loaded questions. Good thing the answer is simple and the goal of this season clear. The New York Jets must get better this season and truth be told, despite their record, the Jets are a better football team. Instead of a laundry list of shortcomings and denial about their identity, these New York Jets stand tall amongst their baggage. Their identity is well defined and their weaknesses are crystal clear, meaning they can actually work to fix them. These Jets make halftime adjustments and are insanely better in the 3rd and 4th quarters of games. They suck hard in quarter number one, no excuses, so there’s plenty of work to do. But the main positive about this roller coaster is how the team is sticking together behind its leader, its quarterback and head coach. This is critical.

Expect more hard climbs and fast falls this season, but don’t expect disaster. We need better production from our high draft picks, but more importantly, we need to further see our offense and defense galvanize into consistently competitive units. The defense is right there, but the offense is currently schizophrenic. Lucky for the New York Jets, their schedule provides ample opportunity to climb. This roller coaster is about to reach new heights rarely seen in New York, but whether it can eclipse the past peak set by coach Rex Ryan remains to be seen. That team had a clear identity, a catch phrase, and a confident quarterback. We have all of those things on our current roller coaster ride too. Long live the New York Jets roller coaster.

 

Meet our Writer:

Dan Salem is Lead Editor, Writer, and Co-owner of BuzzChomp. He’s a published author, as well as an award winning Actor, Director and Producer. Visit M Square Productions for his film work, or get lost in his old-school comedy on Pillow Talk TV. You can follow him on X and Instagram.

New York Jets photo credits: AJC.com and Forbes.com

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