He’s no Jim Mora, but Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich offered a notable answer when asked about his team’s fleeting playoff chances following Sunday’s 31-6 loss to the Arizona Cardinals.
Sunday’s loss (their sixth in their last seven games) dropped the Jets to 3-7. New York is two games behind the Broncos, who currently occupy the seventh and final spot in the AFC playoff standings. The Jets would have to leapfrog three teams into the seventh playoff spot over the final seven weeks of the season.
“We’re going to keep fighting,” Ulbrich said of his team. “In all honesty, the playoffs should be the last thing on our minds right now. We just have to play better football.”
Ulbrich is right. While he’s not ruling anything out, Ulbrich wants his team to focus on themselves and what they can do to improve every day. There are certainly a lot of things Ulbrich’s team can work on between now and their next games against the Indianapolis Colts, who are one of three teams the Jets need to move up the standings.
Fresh off last Thursday’s win over the Texans, the Jets were unable to build on that momentum to put together a similar performance on Sunday on either side of the ball. The Jets defense allowed 28 first downs and allowed Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray to complete a franchise-record 17 consecutive passes.
On offense, the Jets gained a meager 206 total yards. Aaron Rodgers threw for just 151 yards and was sacked three times. He also lost a fumble in what was another forgettable performance from the future Hall of Fame quarterback.
“There’s certainly been a lot of emotions this year,” Rodgers said after Sunday’s loss. “I thought after a big win on Thursday night, a nice long week, we were going to come out with a lot of energy and win the game. We didn’t come out with a lot of energy on either side of the ball.”
Things certainly look bleak for the Jets, who entered the 2024 season with high expectations. Ulbrich, however, provided some cause for optimism for Jets fans who desperately need it.
“We’ll go game by game and see what happens,” he said. “The beauty of this locker room, though, is that we have some very proud men in there… We just have a few things we have to fix.”
Mora’s legendary rant in the 2001 playoffs foreshadowed a disastrous 6-10 season for the Colts. Barring a miraculous turnaround, the 2024 Jets will likely experience a similar fate.
