Hello darkness my old friend.

In what was supposed to be a night of celebration and joy. High energy. Higher expectations. Everything came crashing down after only four plays. It’s a line that is used a lot in European soccer and made famous on the show Ted Lasso, but “it’s the hope that kills you.” And man, did the Jets have hope.

All offseason I have been saying that Rodgers’ age and the Jets offensive tackles were the Achilles heel of this team. I just didn’t know how right I was.

The Jets confirmed the worst-case scenario today that their 39-year-old prize acquisition quarterback tore his Achilles on the Jets fourth offensive play of the season. Robert Saleh’s face said it all when he watched Rodgers carted off and Zach Wilson enter the game.

It’s hard to put into words the crashing feeling Jets fans are going through. Speaking from my own personal experience I had prepared myself for a lot of scenarios. What if Rodgers fell off the proverbial cliff and was only slightly better than Wilson? I prepared for that. I told myself, it was the right move to make and if it fails, at least they tried something.

What if the Jets had lost guys like Quinnen Williams for the year or Garrett Wilson for an extended period? The rest of the team was good enough to pick up the slack.

What if the AFC was just too good and the Jets found themselves on the outside looking in on the playoffs? Tough pill to swallow, but that’s football.

What if Rodgers never throws a single pass for the Jets in 2023? Hadn’t occurred to me. There is no backup plan for this. There is no plan b. There is only Zach Wilson.

Frankly, part of the reason myself and many other Jets fans are as upset as we are is not only the fact that our Super Bowl hopes are all but gone, but the team won’t even be fun to watch on offense. There is a different kind of energy when any score your team gives up could be all they need to win the game.

There is very little that is fun about watching 17 games of “3 yards and a cloud of dust” and hope that the defense can carry you. Don’t get it wrong, this defense can carry the team, but that’s not the point. One slip on a route, one missed tackle, one blown assignment and suddenly your team is staring a loss in the face.

That’s what the Jets are looking at with Zach Wilson. He isn’t meant for this league, and he certainly isn’t meant for this offense. Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett run a complicated system full of checks at the line and Wilson simply can’t do it.

Now Hackett will have to get creative in a different way. He will need to find a way to control the ball while giving Wilson simple reads and hope that he does them correctly. Hackett will have to get creative in the run game and find ways to get the ball into Garrett Wilson’s hands.

Garrett Wilson only had 440 yard receiving last year in the nine games that Zach Wilson was under center. It’s almost as if Zach doesn’t trust Garrett.

I drafted Garrett Wilson in my fantasy teams thinking he was going to be some version of Davante Adams with Rodgers.  Now?  I'm not sure he is worth my starting lineup.

The rest of the season will be like last year for the Jets. They will be in every game simply because their defense is that good. Playoffs are a possibility, but instead of fighting for the division, they will be fighting for that final wild card spot.

It’s only been 12 years without the playoffs, what’s one more?

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The dark cloud that hung over the Jets sideline during the first half seemed to threaten not just the season that was more hyped than any in the last few decades, but also the opening game against a divisional rival. Aaron Rodgers injury will be spoken about at length for the next few weeks including […]

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