Antwan Staley: Woody Johnson decision to fire Robert Saleh ended Jets season

NEW YORK — On Oct. 8, Jets owner Woody Johnson fired coach Robert Saleh and made defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich interim coach following a 2-3 start to the season.

That single decision effectively sunk the Jets’ season.

The latest example came during the Jets' embarrassing 31-6 loss to Cardinals, which dropped the team to 3-7 with seven games remaining.

Since Ulbrich replaced Saleh, the Jets are 1-4.

Gang Green’s biggest strength was once its defense, which ranked in the top five for the last two-plus seasons. But since Saleh’s departure, the Jets defense has looked anything but one of the best units in the NFL.

During the first five weeks of the 2024 season, the Jets’ defense allowed 17 points and 256 yards per game. During that span, they also forced six turnovers.

However, the Jets’ defensive numbers have fallen dramatically, with Ulbrich serving as both the defensive coordinator and the interim coach. The Jets are allowing nearly 26 points and 350 yards per game. Also, they have only forced one turnover in the last five weeks.

Tackling, or the lack thereof has also been an issue with the Jets’ defense. Against the Cardinals, the Jets missed 20 tackles, which is tied for the most by any team in a game this season, according to Next Gen Stats.

“We didn’t cover well and we didn’t tackle well and that was a collective effort,” Ulbrich said on Monday morning following the game. “Whenever you get beaten coverage, that’s always an element of rush that goes into that, whether you affect the quarterback or not.

“But it wasn’t good enough and an egregious criminal amount of missed tackles not good enough. I’m so disappointed in myself that I didn’t get these guys prepared for this tackling game.

“We knew that was a point in emphasis and we thought we drilled it. Obviously didn’t drill it well enough and got to keep finding ways to help these guys be successful.”

Ulbrich is a class act for taking the heat for Johnson. After Saleh was fired, Ulbrich was put in the most challenging situation in the league.

The Jets entered the season with enormous expectations after Aaron Rodgers returned from his season-ending Achilles tear. With that return came championship expectations. The Jets were not only the betting favorites to win the AFC East, but some pundits thought they could dethrone the Chiefs and win the Super Bowl.

Obviously, that hasn’t happened for a multitude of reasons. In addition to the defense, the Jets offense is one of the worst in the league. They currently rank 26th in yards (298.5) and points per game (17.7).

Rodgers, 40, looks a shell of his former NFL MVP self and has consistently struggled with accuracy and his limited mobility following the Achilles tear. A week after firing Saleh, Gang Green acquired Davante Adams in a trade with the Raiders, hoping it would ignite a spark.

Ulbrich also changed offensive play-callers, replacing offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett with passing-game coordinator Todd Downing. But the results have remained the same.

Not only has that spark not materialized, but Adams, who has been with the team for only a short time, criticized the team for lacking energy after an Oct. 20 loss to the Steelers and again cited a lack of energy during the loss against the Cardinals.

“I don’t think we have the energy we had the last two weeks,” Adams said. “But that’s not really what it came down to. We just have to finish drives better and score a lot of points.”

It’s damning the Jets lacked energy in a game they needed to win. Gang Green came into Sunday’s game 10th in the AFC standings and basically needed to win all of its remaining games to have a shot at the playoffs.

Saleh certainly had his struggles during his three-plus seasons as Jets coach. He finished with a 20-36 record in 56 games, zero winning seasons and playoff appearances.

But by firing Saleh, the Jets football team lost its CEO, and now it misses his leadership inside and outside the locker room.

“It’s frustrating because they were doing a good job, and they make it look easy,” Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson said. “All of a sudden, they’re just dialing it up. We got to find a way to finish and score touchdowns.

“I think that people get caught up in the wrong things. You’re having long drives and stuff like that, but at the end of the day, this game is about scoring points, scoring touchdowns. I know, personally, I’m not taking any moral victories from having elongated drives or anything like that.

“That’s how I feel about it. We had to match it at the end of the day. I feel like if defense isn’t getting stops, it’s our job to go (get) points and make them feel a little better about that. Have some motivation to go out there and get a stop, and we didn’t give them any of that today.”

Last offseason, the Jets pushed all their chips into the middle of the table to win a championship. Along with trading for Adams during the season, the Jets acquired left tackle Tyron Smith and right tackle Morgan Moses, hoping the offense would improve.

Now, with seven games left, the Jets need a miracle to make the playoffs for the first time since 2010. Rodgers told reporters after Sunday’s loss, “There is a lot still in front of us.”

Although Rodgers may genuinely believe that, it is more likely the Jets will have a top 10 pick in the 2025 NFL draft than it is for them to taste the postseason.

“There’s always going to be some type of negativity,” Jets linebacker Jamien Sherwood said. “And as a man, you have to find the good within all the bad.

“It’s going to be about still being the leader, still trying to bring positivity to everybody in the room, everybody in the building. As long as you have that mindset to go out there and do your best and, you know, try to turn things around, you know, again, you never know what can happen.”