Wow, was I ever wrong about Aaron Rodgers when I wrote last summer he would make the Jets a worthwhile team to watch and lead them into playoff contention this season.
Union-Tribune readers were right to wonder if I took one too many hits to the keyboard.
Rodgers responded with a mediocre season at best. He did flash an occasional remnant of his Super Bowl MVP form of 14 years ago and the flair of his recent MVP seasons in 2020 and 2021. But he never got on a roll.
The Jets were Jets-y, falling apart long before Thanksgiving, when the real teams begin to take control.
The Jets punished football lovers who dared to expect them to play well. If you decided to watch Rodgers and Co. instead of enjoying San Diego’s many gifts, I apologize.
What doomed my forecast?
In a word, age. In four words, age and the Jets.
Rodgers, who turned 41 this month, showed reduced mobility from his better late-career seasons. He showed a typical old QB’s strong aversion to taking hits. As a result, the ing game was shortened.
My belief that the Jets would assist Rodgers with a decent ground game never materialized. The offensive line had another bad year, despite adding a pair of promising tackles.
Rodgers wasn’t blameless there. He seemed impatient with attempting to establish a run game.
I didn’t anticipate that owner Woody Johnson would fire head coach Robert Saleh after just five games. At the time, the Jets stood 2-3.
My error. Johnson had shown himself incompetent for years. Why assume better from him? Under Saleh’s replacement, defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, the Jets have gone 2-7.
Correct calls
Elsewhere, the Chargers and Rams indeed beat their betting line number on season victories, affirming my stated faith in Jim Harbaugh and Sean McVay.
Sounding like Harbaugh’s press agent, I wrote the coach would transform the Chargers from pretenders into an actual NFL franchise that should be taken seriously.
I labeled Mr. Khaki Pants the most capable head coach to lead the Chargers.
Pretty rich, huh?
After all, Sid Gillman and Don Coryell were Hall of Famers. Marty Schottenheimer’s victory total stands eighth in NFL annals. Bobby Ross took the Chargers to a Super Bowl.
Two games into this season, when sweeping conclusions should be avoided, I wrote Harbaugh had established the foundational style and habits that would lead to success.
The Chargers can win their 11th game Sunday in Las Vegas. That would double their season total last year under Brandon Staley and his interim replacements.
If Harbaugh takes a reasonably healthy team to Houston for a wild-card game, L.A. will beat the Texans.
McVay matched Harbaugh. He led the Rams out of a 1-4 start influenced by numerous injuries. Calling offensive plays, he had a big game again the favorite Bills, leading to an entertaining victory. The NFC West champion Rams can earn their 11th victory this week.
Both L.A. coaches effect much-needed gains in physicality. The Rams invested heavily in interior blockers, adopted more of a power-blocking offense and went large in the NFL draft on defensive linemen who’ve become borderline stars.
The Broncos and coach Sean Payton, on the other hand, laughed at my projection.
I regarded Denver’s roster as below average on both offense and defense, writing that the team would land a top draft slot by finishing among the bottom 10 in the NFL. I pegged them for no more than five victories.
I was wrong by a mile (high).
The Broncos have won nine of 16 games. A victory over the Chiefs would assure them a playoff berth.
What I learned is that Payton still has his fastball, a year after he and Russell Wilson struggled together. Also, the college football’s new rules are creating ultra-experienced NFL rookies who can adapt faster.
Matured by a 61-game college career split between Auburn and Oregon, quarterback Bo Nix had a very nice rookie season.
Receiver Devaughn Vele, a rookie who turned 27 this season, acclimated fast, too. The Utah alum has gone for 23 first downs and two touchdowns, providing a much-needed complementary alternative to No. 1 receiver Courtland Sutton.
Younger Broncos rookies have helped out, too. Under impressive coordinator Vance Joseph, the defense has received five sacks from Jonah Elliss, a 21-year-old linebacker and Utah alum drafted in the third round. Providing good depth, running back Audric Estime, 21, has averaged 4.3 yards per carry. He went in the fifth round out of Notre Dame.
My October flower-bouquet toss toward Bears coaches, praising the improvement of rookie QB Caleb Williams, ended up in the trash can.
The Bears blew a road game against the Commanders soon thereafter, then, on Thanksgiving Day at Detroit, botched another finish, leading to the dismissal of head coach Matt Eberflus. By then offensive coordinator Shane Waldron had been dismissed amid much heaping of scorn.
I’d still argue Waldron wasn’t bad at his job.
The Bears lacked sufficient blocking talent, as Bill Belichick noted entering the season (while also questioning the organization’s failure to build a solid ground game in of Williams).
Also, given the improvisational style he relied upon at USC, largely out of necessity, Williams was bound to have an uneven rookie season.
Eberflus did provide the rookie QB with an above-average defense. As the season unfolded, though, the coach’s game-management struggles, compounded by alarming comments from Bears players about the team’s preparedness, led to a defensible dismissal.
