For Aaron Rodgers, this is the beginning of the end

Both the 40-year-old QB and the New York Jets offense are broken. It's not going to get much better. Also inside: Coaching malpractice in Buffalo and Cincinnati. No. 1 & No. 2 picks shine.

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(Update: Less than 24 hours after this column was posted, the Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh.)

The next move is obvious. Privately, the quarterback will pine for Davante Adams. Publicly, he’ll drop aw-shucks hints. When asked about reuniting with his former Packers teammate, he’ll defer to people with more power. Maybe another playful sitdown interview is in order ahead of the New York Jets’ MNF game this week.

But anyone paying attention knows who pulls the strings. It’s Aaron Rodgers himself.

That’s been the case since these New York Jets begged and pleaded him to be their savior, since they delivered pals Nate Hackett, Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb on a silver platter. Adams would supply the Jets a temporary dopamine hit. The tabloids will be optimistic for a day or two. But we’ve now seen this creaky (and cranky) version of Rodgers play five full games. More than enough of a sample size to determine how a 40-year-old quarterback off a torn Achilles in 2023 and a bland performance in 2022 can keep pace in today’s NFL.

The answer is not pretty.  

The Aaron Rodgers mythologized in the mainstream has been gone for a long time.

Fact overwhelmed fiction in the Jets’ 23-17 loss to the Minnesota Vikings in London. Rodgers averaging a meager 4.5 yards per attempt, threw three interceptions and easily could’ve thrown two or three more. His vision’s fading. His legs are Jell-O. His arm will still make media minions faint from time to time. But it’s over. Turns out, this era isn’t that much different than any other for the Jets. As constructed, this is a team that’ll need to win in spite of their quarterback.

Not exactly the plan when Woody Johnson, Joe Douglas, Robert Saleh and Hackett all flew to Cali to woo the four-time MVP.

Better yet, let’s put the state of the affairs in terms this connoisseur of 90s hoops would appreciate. Throwing missiles at Lambeau Field, one decade ago, Rodgers was essentially Karl Malone with the Utah Jazz. He won MVPs. He put up Hall-of-Fame numbers. He was a footnote in contrast to the all-time great of his era. Now? We’re witnessing the Malone who averaged 13.2 points per game and labored up and down the court with the Los Angeles Lakers at the same age: 40.

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This is the beginning of the end. Painful scenes go viral each week.

There’s Rodgers, in a sad 10-9 loss to Denver, with a towel draped over his head.

There’s Rodgers, in the London loss, inching on all fours after getting sandwiched by purple bodies.

In a conversation with NFL Network’s Kyle Brandt before the Jets’ loss to Minnesota, the quarterback was surprisingly honest when it came to his age. Rodgers admitted his fight with “Father Time” is at a “stalemate.”

“We’re throwing body blows right now,” said Rodgers. “Stalemate.”

Unfortunately for Rodgers, Father Time never tires, never relents, never coils into that meek fetal position. He may win a few more rounds. He may even will the Jets to a win over the Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football to get the locals buzzing again. It’ll be nothing but a tease. He’s going to lose this fight by unanimous decision.

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The surprise is that anybody’s surprised at all. This was all terribly predictable. This is someone who told us he was 90 percent retired, locked himself in a cave for four days and emerged with the wonderful idea of becoming a Jet. Our nation’s quarterback wastelands. Hype has clouded reality from the moment Rodgers said New York’s Super Bowl III trophy looked “a little lonely.” This is the most violent team sport on earth. He has now started 250 games over 20 seasons. He showed obvious signs of deteriorating in ‘22. Honestly, that playoff defeat in ‘21 was a strong sign.

Superpowers were bound to wear off.

This is what happens to every quarterback not named Tom Brady.

Yes, there’s the stark difference between the play style of these two quarterbacks. Brady surgically dismantled NFL defenses from the pocket. His game aged well. Rodgers, in his prime, ditched whatever play Mike McCarthy sent in to And 1 mixtape outside of the pocket. This does not age well. But it’s Brady’s satanic competitive fire that always made him the freakish outlier. Rodgers narrates his fight vs. Father Time as more of a holistic odyssey of mind, body, spirit and ayahuasca. He calls this all a “beautiful journey,” and surely some of his oddball methods help. But he’s no Brady — never was, never will be — because Brady approached this fight as more of a unconscious killer. He didn’t skip mandatory minicamp to go on soul-searching trips to Egypt. He attended those practices. He threw to new teammates as much as possible. He was ruthless. He’s the epitome of a “cleaner,” a term coined by Tim Grover, the man who trained both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

In his exceptional bestseller “Relentless,” Grover divides competitors into three categories: Coolers, Closers, Cleaners. Methodology that applies to all fields.

Grover saw how Jordan and Kobe worked up close.

Brady possesses the same dark side. Rodgers merely goes on darkness retreats.

This quarterback, with this team, and this coordinator was always a recipe for 8-9. Watching Rodgers and Hackett struggle together vs. the Vikings, I kept thinking of one of the quarterback’s worst traits. Criticize him and you’re banished to the island, a topic discussed with the author of his biography, Ian O’Connor. There’s his personal life, of course. Rodgers is so determined to surround himself with enablers and yes-men that he completely cut family out of his life in 2014. This stubbornness has real consequences on the football field, too. In Green Bay, the quarterback developed an extremely close relationship with his offensive coordinator: Hackett. One teammate described their rapport as more of a “gooey, gah-gah” type of love in meetings.

The Broncos knew this, and hired Hackett to presumably lure Rodgers. It didn’t work. Green Bay hadn’t wised up by then yet.

The Jets knew this, too, and hired the failed Broncos head coach as their OC in an all-out pursuit of Rodgers.

Which would all be fine if Hackett was a smart offensive coach. He is not. We’re also seven years removed from the Jaguars playcaller leading Blake Bortles to an AFC Championship Game. The game has changed a lot since then.

Sunday cast a magnifying glass over a colossal coordinator mismatch. Brian Flores dominated Hackett.

To excel past the age of 40, Rodgers should’ve gotten comfortable with being uncomfortable. Link up with a true innovator who’ll solve problems play to play. Not a coach who oversaw one of the most embarrassing seasons of offensive football this century in the 2022 Denver Broncos. Many plays captured this failed experiment in London. For me, it was the quarterback’s body language after floating an end-zone pass to tight end Tyler Conklin into triple coverage. After the near-pick, it appeared that Hackett said something in Rodgers’ headset that disgusted the quarterback. Rodgers dismissively threw his hand toward the sideline.

If he’s unhappy, Assistant GM Rodgers only has himself to blame.

You wanted Hackett. You wanted Lazard.

Inept coach + old quarterback is a bad formula in 2024.

Strange, isn’t it? The aesthetics of this plodding Jets offense are eerily similar to that of Green Bay in 2018, you know, back when Rodgers got McCarthy fired. Bland, no imagination, no creativity, completely broken. This is a unit that has scored exactly as many points through five games (93) as they did through the first five last season with Zach Wilson.

When a 40-year-old not named Brady throws the ball 54 times, you’ll get a touch of everything. He can still throw with velocity over the middle. But there’s far too many red flags. On multiple dropbacks — similar to his final year in Green Bay — Rodgers flat-out didn’t see an open receiver. His accuracy is waning. He rarely throws it deep, as the weekly NextGen charts reveal. Worst of all, obviously, is his production vs. pressure. Once upon time, blitzing Rodgers was a death sentence. He’d easily waste a free runner, escape the pocket, flip his torso around and rifle a 45-yard bullet to Jordy Nelson.

Not anymore. Minnesota blitzed on 42.1 percent of dropbacks. On those 21 plays, Rodgers mustered only 82 yards. Naturally, his body’s getting more brittle. Injuries are a guarantee. He suffered a low ankle sprain on one of the Vikings’ 11 quarterback hits.

Of course, the worst play of them all was the pick-six thrown directly to linebacker Andrew Van Ginkel. He saw ghosts, a homage to Sam Darnold.

If only Rodgers could load this Jets defense into a time machine and travel back to his Packers days 10+ years ago. Unlike the offense, this Jets defense is built to win right now. Saleh has these 11 players humming. Here’s a not-so-crazy take: If Tyrod Taylor’s the QB this game, the Jets probably win. At least he’s not turning it over. They brought Darnold back to earth with a 14-of-31 outing and held Ty Chandler to 30 yards on 14 attempts. After coping with the worst starting quarterback in the NFL the last three seasons, players on this side of the ball are no doubt conditioned to expect nothing from the offense, but frustration will mount. Linebacker Quincy Williams started to say the quiet part out loud in the locker room after this defeat.

“I’m going to be honest,” Williams told SNY, “people get tired of hearing the same shit. People gotta start taking accountability from the top to the bottom. … People gotta start taking accountability. People get tired of hearing the same thing every week. I’m tired of saying the same thing every week.”

That’s about as close as anybody on the defensive side of the ball can get to publicly blasting the offense. For now.

More losing will lead to more anger. More honesty. Locker room schisms become inevitable. Rodgers can only gaslight everyone for so long. Last week, he claimed outside “forces” were trying to create a wedge between himself and head coach… all while everyone with functioning ears ‘n eyes saw the two sparring over the quarterback’s use of a hard count.

These desperate Jets made their bed in April 2023. They even did the Packers a solid by absorbing the rest of Rodgers’ terrible three-year, $150 million contract. Perhaps they’ll take another hacksaw to their finances and draft capital and do whatever’s necessary to acquire Adams. Right on cue, ESPN and NFLN will replay glory days past of the two connecting on deep bombs. We’ll see the Jets grace that coveted “In the Hunt” graphic on the TV screen. Flirting with the 44 Percent Club is an accomplishment for this trainwreck organization. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2010.

But the beauty of pro football is that the truth always reveals itself.

That’s been the case before with Rodgers.

Sadly for the Jets — at the most important position — the truth still hurts.

Coaching Malfunctions

Ten minutes apart in real time, two AFC contenders suffered equally disturbing losses.

First, the Buffalo Bills did the honors. Sean McDermott green-lit three passes from his own three-yard line with 32 seconds left. The all-or-nothing heaves fell incomplete. The Texans swiftly returned a punt 12 yards, completed a short pass for five yards, called timeout and won, 23-20, on a 59-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn. Running the ball would’ve forced the Texans to burn that valuable timeout and, no, this isn’t the first time the head coach has tightened up in such a moment.

The Bills became the only team in the last 45 years — be tied or leading in the final minute, inside their own 5 — to throw the ball on three straight passes, per ESPN.

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Moments later, in overtime, the Cincinnati Bengals possibly kissed their season goodbye with coaching malpractice of their own. After a fumble, they took over at the Ravens’ 38 and clammed up. Zac Taylor called three runs that produced a total of three yards and Evan McPherson’s 53-yard attempt misfired after a bobbled snap.

One team should’ve run the ball… and threw their way into a loss. Of note: Josh Allen’s nine completions on 30 attempts are the lowest number on that many throws in any game since 1992.

One team should’ve thrown the ball… and ran their way into a loss. Of note: Joe Burrow was en fuego vs. Baltimore, going 30 of 39 for 392 yards with five touchdowns. Arguably no quarterback has played better this season.

Both decisions are maddening.

The best coaches have a feel for that last-minute moment. When decisions must be made quickly, on pure instinct. That’s what separates someone like Kansas City’s Andy Reid from McDermott and Taylor.

Cincinnati squandered a perfect opportunity to launch itself back into the AFC North race with the Steelers falling to 3-2 and the Cleveland Browns self-destructing. The Bills are still in good shape at 3-2 in what’s suddenly a very weak AFC East. Still, McDermott’s bungling is disappointing. He did the right thing in empowering Joe Brady and Bobby Babich as playcalling coordinators. But the theory in doing so is that he’d have a better command of the big picture. Down in Houston, McDermott certainly did not. The Texans were intent on giving this game away, and the Bills proceeded to hand it right back.

The bigger problem in WNY is that the team’s “Everybody Eats” wide receivers aren’t getting separation.

Against inferior defenses, they feast. Against back-to-back contenders, they were nonexistent. Brandon Beane will need to work the phones.

No Huddle

• One Packers source told us that the coaches knew Jordan Love was special when the young QB was completely unfazed by a nightmarish start to his 2023 home opener against the New Orleans last season. Amnesia was Love’s greatest strength on Sunday again. In trying to throw the ball away, he threw a ghastly pick-six while falling down in his own end zone. Then, he shook it off. Love threw pair of touchdowns to tight end Tucker Kraft in a 24-19 win. Matt LaFleur took notice. “When you throw a pick-six, that’s never fun,” the Packers coach said. “But to be able to take us down there in the two-minute drive and get some critical points when points were really tough to come by, I just think that’s what he’s all about.”

• Joe Flacco is better than, what, 10 starting quarterbacks in the NFL? A dozen? The Indianapolis Colts lost to Jacksonville but — in watching the old man throw for 359 yards, three scores and no picks — you can only shake your head. Brutal that the Miami Dolphins failed to lock in Flacco behind Tua Tagovailoa knowing their own QB’s injury history and knowing they were about to pay him $55 million a year. Or what about the Las Vegas Raiders? Gardner Minshew has always been a backup. Here’s hoping the Colts do Flacco a solid and trade him to a contender somehow.

• The Washington Commanders continue to roll right along offensively, smashing the Cleveland Browns for 215 yards and three touchdowns on the ground. Jayden Daniels’ legs drive defenses mad, and he keeps on taking advantage of 1-on-1 opportunities through the air. He throws such a gorgeous, catchable deep ball. This 34-13 blowout featured the rookie’s finest throw to date. On the run, Daniels airmailed a 66-yard strike to Terry McLaurin.

• Somehow, Daniels’ throw wasn’t the best play of the day. Lamar Jackson’s thrilling touchdown pass to Isaiah Likely takes the cake. Who else can pull this off? Jackson drops the snap, picks it up and stiff-arms 6-foot-5, 265-pound Sam Hubbard to the turf. Let’s repeat that: Jackson stiff-arms a defensive end. The two-time MVP keeps rolling… rolling… and fires the ball across his body to Likely a split-second before getting hit on the sideline. The Bengals dared Jackson to win with his arm, and he did: 26 of 42 for 348 yards, four touchdowns and zero interceptions.

• Don’t look now, but the NFL game is slowing down for No. 1 overall pick Caleb Williams. He’s using the whole field. Six different Bears players caught at least two passes in the 36-10 win. What a sick, sick sight this must’ve been for the Carolina Panthers. Right there — tearing up their defense for 304 yards and two scores — was the quarterback they could’ve taken with the first pick. Williams manipulated the pocket, threw at different arm angles, escaped sacks, embarrassed Panther defenders 1 on 1 and supplied those long-tortured Bears fans real hope. Here’s his week-to-week passer rating: 55.7, 51.0, 80.8, 106.6, 126.2. Many throws to gush over, but two stand out here. At the end of the first half, Williams keeps his eyes downfield on third and 5 and goes deep to tight end Cole Kmet. Then, with 24 seconds to go, he rainbows a touchdown to D.J. Moore. The latter’s a flick of the wrist in stride. The NFC North keeps getting better.

• Brian Daboll’s gameplan without Malik Nabers and Devin Singletary was masterful. He’s got Daniel Jones playing the best football of his career. But the team’s overall level of compete is most impressive, and everything those Giants love about the head coach. Fresh off a crushing loss to Dallas, at home, the Giants flew across the country and physically took it to Seattle. It would’ve been easy for this team’s season to careen with an L in the Pacific Northwest. Credit to Daboll for getting the entire roster to regroup.

• The Browns thought they could piece together a winner with Deshaun Watson. The Browns were wrong. The more Kevin Stefanski stands by the failing quarterback, the more this is exposed as a shotgun wedding.

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