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If seems like we are living in a world where common sense is in short supply.
This idea that the Jets might be on the fence about whether Aaron Rodgers is coming back is absurd.
Did you see him today? 4 TDS and a 112.5 QB rating? On the season 28 TDs to 11 interceptions? When was the last time a Jets QB had a line like that?
Look, he’s been far from perfect this year, but he was the least of the Jets’ problems.
Who are they going to get that is better next year?
This is ridiculous. Forget whether you like his worldview or not, the guy is still a very good quarterback.
While the decision is a no-brainer to me about bringing back Rodgers, I don’t run the Jets, but honestly the men the run the Jets should not make this decision either.
After the game, Rodgers said he needs to talk to Woody and Christopher Johnson and Hymie Elhai the next few days about the future.
With all due respect to those men, they should not make the decision on whether Rodgers comes back.
In a top-shelf football operation, this decision should be made by the GM and head coach, the guys lording over the football operation, especially with new gentlemen coming in to handle those jobs.
If the Jets want to turn this thing around, it would be best for football people to make football decisions, not businessmen.
And according to a source, they are leaning towards letting the new GM and coach decide Rodgers’ future.
And that is the way it should be.
After the first 19 minutes of the game, the Dolphins were up 6-0 after two field goal drives, and the Jets offense was stuck in the mud, but then the momentum totally flipped, when the Jets went on an 8 play, 79-yard drive, punctuated by a Aaron Rodgers TD pass to tight end Tyler Conklin.
Early in this drive, a score flashed on the MetLife Scoreboard – Denver 21, Kansas City 0.
In order to make the playoffs, Miami had to beat the Jets, coupled with a Denver loss.
It just seemed when that scored flashed on the scoreboard, and Miami’s hope of getting help from KC seemingly out the window, the air came out of the Dolphins.
A few minutes later, the Jets scored another touchdown to make it 15-6 and never looked back.
The Dolphins player said they weren’t going to scoreboard watch, but that is easier said than done.
And when it was clear Kansas City was phoning it today, the Dolphins lost a little juice.
The Chiefs’ brass will never admit this publicly, but do you think they really wanted to help Cincinnati get into the playoffs with the hottest QB in the NFL – Joe Burrow?
Forget about the Dolphins making it, the Bengals also needed a KC win for a shot at the playoffs, and you know darn well that the Broncos didn’t want Cincinnati in the playoffs.
KC tanked today. There is no way around it . . .
If Tua played today, there is a good chance the Dolphins would have won.
It is a big dropoff from Tua to Tyler Huntley, who doesn’t seem to be an elite processor. He is very much like Zach Wilson, if the first read isn’t open, he reverts to the street-yard ball.
The Dolphins made an enormous mistake cutting Mike White in August and going with Skyler Thompson as their backup, and now Huntley.
A very well run player personnel department in Buffalo, where White spent this past year bouncing between the regular roster and practice squad, just gave White a one-year contract extension.
We will have more on what happened with White in Miami in the next issue of Jets Confidential, but if White had been the backup with the Dolphins all year, perhaps they would not have needed a win today, combined with a Denver loss, to make the playoffs.
No way around it, the Dolphins mishandled their backup QB situation in a big way, and it likely cost them the playoffs.
January 5, 2025
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