The New York Jets offense this season has been about as bad as could possibly be after starting their third quarterback of the season and only scoring six points offensively against the Atlanta Falcons. Freshly started quarterback Tim Boyle looked just as helpless as frustrated youngster Zac Wilson did previously and the Jets simply cannot score this season. While a lot of people blamed Zac Wilson, it should now be fairly obvious who the real culprit is.
New York Jets Offensive Coordinator SHOULD be on his last leg
When the Jets brought in Aaron Rodgers, they arguably gave him far too much power in the decision making process than they should have. Wide Receiver Allen Lazard has turned in a multitude of poor performances leading to his benching earlier this season and the team looks now like it could use that truckload of receiver talent that it let walk out the door this offseason. The biggest mistake that the Jets did on behalf of Aaron Rodgers however was the hiring of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett.
Drama with the Broncos
Lets start with a history lesson: Hackett was hired by the Denver Broncos last season in an attempt to lure Rodgers away from Green Bay. When Rodgers declined, they decided to bring in elite quarterback Russell Wilson instead. With Russell Wilson and a treasure trove of talent at wide receiver, Hackett finished the season with the 20th ranked offense in the NFL.
Fast forward to this season when New Orleans Saints legend Sean Payton is hired as head coach of the Denver Broncos. Upon arrival and assessment of the talent available in Denver, Payton made a strong indictment of his predecessor.
“Oh, man. There’s so much dirt around that. There’s 20 dirty hands, for what was allowed, tolerated in the fricking training rooms, the meeting rooms. The offense. I don’t know Hackett. A lot of people had dirt on their hands. It wasn’t just Russell. He didn’t just flip. He still has it. This B.S. that he hit a wall? Shoot, they couldn’t get a play in. They were 29th in the league in pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball.”
Clearly Sean Payton laid the blame solely on Hackett and based on Russell Wilson being sixth in the NFL in quarterback rating with a respectful value of 99.0, it seems pretty apparent that Payton was right.
New York Jets nightmare offense
Now lets switch over to the New York Jets. Obviously this would be a different team with an improvising quarterback like Aaron Rodgers but with Hackett in charge, this offense has looked pathetic. Not just Wilson but from the offensive line to the wide receivers, this team has underperformed across the board. Last year the Jets were at least able to run the football and now, they simply can’t buy a yard on the offensive front.
Regardless of statistics, just watching the offense of the Jets shows why Hackett simply cannot cut it as an offensive coordinator. The offense runs the exact same series of plays regardless of the defensive front and there appears to be little coordination behind the offense. Hackett may be one of Aaron Rodgers “buddies from the glory days” but he is clearly outside his depth as a play caller. The New York Jets should move on from him and bring in an offensive coordinator with some capability (insert Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks coach David Girardi or Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson).