The LOL Jets returned and they’re just as bad as ever. The New York Jets started the season 0-1, and lost for the fifth time in their last six season openers. For a franchise that’s become meme fodder and the laughingstock of the league, the Jets didn’t help themselves after dropping Week 1’s matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
In a divisional matchup, the Bills won 27-17. The Bills took their first step toward a division crown and usurping the New England Patriots stranglehold on the AFC East.
The Bills hosted the Jets without fans at Orchard Park. Heck, even the parking lots were empty, which meant no tailgating hijinks or table-crashing videos from the Bills Mafia.
The Jets finished last season 6-2 once a healthy and mono-free Sam Darnold returned to the lineup. They come into this season with low expectations. Oddsmakers set the Jets’ win total at over/under 6.5 games.
The best day of the season for a Jets fan is opening day. For a fleeting moment, you feel optimistic and radiate positivity that this could be the year that the Jets turn it around. It takes one special season for a franchise to turn around their misfortune. Jets fans go into every season with a sincere hope that the team has turned the corner, shed its losing ways, and is committed to building a perennial contender.
Jets fans woke up on Sunday morning praying that this time will be different until … the LOL Jets did it again.
Another 0-1 Start
The LOL Jets haven’t been in the postseason since they lost the in the AFC Championship in back-to-back seasons under Rex ‘Let’s Get a F-in Snack!’ Ryan in 2009 and 2010. The Jets spent the last decade in a postseason drought.
At the onset of the 2010s, the Jets started their season on a positive note. Between 2011 and 2015, the Jets were 5-0 in Week 1. In 2015, the Jets went 10-6 and failed to advance to the postseason when they bubbled. That’s the closest the Jets came to seeing a playoff berth in the 2010s.
In the last half of the 2010s, the Jets began the season with a loss four times in the last five seasons. The last time the Jets won in their season-opener was in 2018 when they defeated the Detroit Lions in Week 1. They then lost the next three games in a row.
It’s a new year and new decade, and yet, another 0-1 start from the LOL Jets.
Someone on Twitter sought out sad stories in five words or less. I quickly responded with the saddest tale of all.
21-0 Hole
The Jets couldn’t stop Josh Allen. The Bills QB threw two short touchdown passes and rushed for another. Maybe trading Jamal Adams wasn’t a good idea after all.
The Jets offense also sputtered with a trio of three-and-outs to start the game. Midway through the second quarter, the Jets tallied more than twice as many penalties as total yardage (23 yards and 55 yards in penalties).
“I’ve got to be better and we’ve got to execute better,” said QB Sam Darnold. “It’s as simple as that.”
Once the Jets fell behind 21-0, the hive mind in Jets’ nation collectively groaned and flushed the season down the toilet. I know it sounds petty to give up on a team in the first half of the first game of the season, but as a life-long Jets fan, we’ve been down this road before. Many times. Too many times to count.
“It was about as bad of a start offensively as we could’ve had,” said head coach Adam Gase. “We just really did not play well. It’s disappointing in the aspect that, just watching the guys work all week and the excitement level coming into this game.”
If you turned off the Jets/Bills game at 21-0 and started your halftime party early, then you missed the Jets scoring their first points of the season. Sam Ficken hit a glorious 31-year field goal as the second quarter expired. Thanks to Ficken’s bombastic leg, the Jets avoided total humiliation and a shutout.
The Jets lost their high-priced running back, Le’Veon Bell, to a hamstring injury. He limped off the field in the second quarter. He tried to make a go of it in the second half, but was ineffective. Bell finished the game with six carries and 14 yards. Frank Gore, Bell’s back up, played the remainder of the game.
The only positive take away from this game: Tom Brady (two picks in his debut in Tampa Bay) threw twice as many interceptions as Sam Darnold in Week 1.
Defense Woke Up Late
The Jets looked halfway decent in the second half, outscoring the Bills 14-6.
Gang Green finally scored their first touchdown of the season midway through the third quarter. Darnold connected on a 69-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Jamison Crowder and cut the score 21-10.
The Jets defense allowed three touchdowns in the first 1.5 quarters of the game. After they settled down, they held the Bills to two FGs in the rest of the game. But the damage had been done.
The Jets scored a meaningless garbage-time touchdown with a minute to go, but the Bills held on to the victory.
“The Bills are decent,” said Myke Menio, long-time fan and member of the Bills Mafia. “But the Jets are awful.”
With the New England Patriots beating the Miami Dolphins, the Bills and Pats share first place in the AFC East. The Jets and Dolphins are battling for the basement once again.
Different year, same result. Welcome to another season of discontent with the LOL Jets.
Operation Fade the Jets
When I lived in Las Vegas, I often bet against the Jets as an emotional hedge. If my team lost, then at least I cashed a winning ticket. These days, the Jets are so bad that it would be foolish not to fade them.
Last season the Jets were 7-9 ATS. In the last two seasons, the Jets were 12-19-1 ATS.
Now, it’s time to blindly fade the Jets every weekend until they play better and unleash a winning streak. If the Jets are going to suck, then let’s try to profit off their ineptitude.
| FADE THE JETS |
- Week 1: Buffalo Bills 27, NY Jets 17
- Point Spread: BUF -6.5
- Jets Record: 0-1 SU, 0-1 ATS
- Fade the Jets Record: 1-0
The Jets were underdogs by almost a touchdown in Week 1. The Bills covered the 6.5-point spread, even with the garbage-time score from the Jets.
In Week 2, the Jets host the Super Bowl runner-up. The San Francisco 49ers are favorites by a touchdown, according to the Circa Sports Book in Las Vegas. The Jets are a home dog, as per usual, but we’ll fade them anyway in Week 2.