The New York Jets have been masters of finding ways to lose football games since they came into existence in 1960.
The joke has always been that this is a losing franchise wandering the deserts of mediocrity without a compass—a team so rotten that the decision-makers placed in charge simply cannot overcome decades of dysfunction.
It appears as though the full weight of that realization hit third-year wide receiver Garrett Wilson like a ton of bricks following the Jets’ 32-26 overtime loss to the Miami Dolphins.
The result was the third straight game in which the Jets entered the fourth quarter with a lead but ultimately went on to fumble it away.
“When you’re up in the fourth quarter, all of a sudden, it starts to feel like we have a losing problem, like a gene or some s—t,” Wilson said. “It’s not like we’re going out there and getting our butt beat from start to finish. No, we have a chance to win the game. We’re supposed to win the game; the odds are in our favor, and we find a way to lose.”
To quote the great Baseball Hall of Famer Frank Robinson, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” The Jets’ three straight fourth-quarter losses have poured gasoline on the fire that is a 10-game stretch that has featured nine defeats.
Not only did a Week 13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks guarantee a ninth-straight losing season, but Sunday’s loss in Miami eliminated the 3-10 Jets from playoff contention. Gang Green has not made the playoffs since the 2010 season.
This season, however, might have provided the highest levels of disappointment. The Jets entered 2024 as legitimate playoff contenders with an elite defense and an offense paced by future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Neither has lived up to expectations.
“How shocking is it? If you had told me that in training camp, I would’ve been shocked,” Wilson said. “As far as how the season’s went and stuff like that, I ain’t that shocked. If you had told me that in training camp after the way we prepped, the way we practiced, the way we handled business when we had the other teams come in, I would’ve been like, ‘Yeah, you’re lying. Hell no.’
“We put it together, but one of my takeaways from this is we gotta win when the season comes. Winning in the offseason is winning in the offseason. Winning in training camp is winning in training camp. Let’s win when it matters.”
