Getty New York Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett reacting in the middle of an NFL game.
The New York Jets will not be making a change at offensive play caller, despite some more struggles in Week 9 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Head coach Robert Saleh made that abundantly clear after the 27-6 loss on Sunday November 6.
Connor Hughes of SNY asked him if he’d consider switching play callers and Saleh bluntly responded, “No.”
.@Connor_J_Hughes asked #Jets HC Robert Saleh if he would consider a change at offensive play caller?
‘No’ 😳
Nathaniel Hackett’s role remains unchanged.
The Nathaniel Hackett led offense went 0-for-2 in the red zone, was 3-for-17 on third down, and only put up six points [two field goals].
Jets Have a Historically Inept Offense in 2023
Through the first eight games of the season, the Jets have only scored eight touchdowns. Rich Cimini of ESPN said half of those came on “one-play drives” and that includes a score against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 6 where they “appeared to let them score in an end-game situation.”
Cimini shared how bad that is with some historical context. The eight offensive touchdowns in eight games are the third fewest total in a season in franchise history.
The only other seasons in which it was worse is 1976 and 2020 [seven touchdowns].
The Jets have scored 8 offensive TD this season, tied for their 3rd fewest in their first 8 games of a season in franchise history. The only seasons where they had fewer offensive TD through 8 games were in 1976 and 2020 (7 in both seasons). #Jets
It goes beyond a lack of scoring for the Jets offense, they are struggling to convert on third downs.
Cimini pointed out the historic ineptitude in a Sunday column on November 5.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Jets are the worst offensive third down conversion team in more than 45 years. The Jets prior to the Chargers game had a 23 percent conversion rate which is slightly lower than the next team on the list the San Francisco 49ers from 2005 [24 percent].
Jets Offense Was in Complete Disarray Against the Chargers
The American game of football is played with an oblong shape and sometimes it bounces your way and sometimes it doesn’t.
In Week 9 it certainly did not bounce the way of the Jets.
The green and white fumbled the ball on three different occasions. A special teams unit that was heralded heading into the game gave up a key punt return for a touchdown against the Chargers.
Every time the Jets got some sort of momentum going offensively, they shot themselves in the foot. New York finished the game with eight penalties for 40 yards.
At 4-4 the Jets are staring at a fork in the road that could very well determine the outcome of its season.
The question is where do the Jets go from here? Saleh already confirmed that he won’t even consider a change at offensive coordinator. However, that was somewhat obvious.
Hackett is one of the main reasons Aaron Rodgers even decided that he wanted to play for the Jets.
What about a quarterback change? The QB’s job is to put up points on the board and the Jets have been unable to do that on any consistent basis all season. The other options are uninspiring with Trevor Siemian and Tim Boyle waiting in the bullpen.
A player’s only meeting? Maybe a lineup change? Everything has to be on the table for the Jets ahead of its Week 10 Sunday Night Football matchup with the Las Vegas Raiders.
Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.