The 2023 season was the New York Jets' 54th season in the National Football League (NFL), their 64th overall, their fifth under general managerJoe Douglas and their third under head coachRobert Saleh. The season, which was entered with Super Bowl aspirations, was a major disappointment for the team, finishing at 7–10 for the second consecutive season, and failing to improve on their record from 2022. It was also the Jets' fourth consecutive season with at least ten losses.
With the acquisition of quarterback Aaron Rodgers in an offseason trade with the Green Bay Packers, expectations were high, but a multitude of key injuries (most notably, Rodgers suffering a season-ending torn Achilles tendon in Week 1 after only 4 snaps) and subsequent poor quarterback play from Zach Wilson and Tim Boyle led to a disappointing season. While the team started out 4–3, they then suffered a five-game losing streak before going 3–2 in their final five games. As result, the Jets missed the playoffs for the thirteenth consecutive season, extending the longest active postseason drought in the NFL. They also finished below .500 for the eighth consecutive season.
The preseason was documented on the HBO television show Hard Knocks.
The Jets traded their 2023 sixth-round selection to Jacksonville in exchange for running back James Robinson.[1]
The Houston Texans traded their 2023 sixth-round selection to New York in exchange for linebacker Blake Cashman.[2]
The Jets traded their 2023 seventh-round selection and nose tackle Steve McLendon to Tampa Bay in exchange for a 2022 sixth-round selection.[3]
The Jets traded their 2023 first-round selection, a 2023 second-round selection (#42 overall), their 2023 sixth-round selection, and a conditional 2024 second-round selection to Green Bay for quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay's 2023 first-round selection, and Green Bay's 2023 fifth-round selection.[4]
The Jets are scheduled to become the second NFL team to play ten regular season games in their home stadium, nine home games as an AFC team in an odd-numbered year plus an away game against the Giants, who share their stadium with the Jets. The first such team was the Los Angeles Rams, who played ten games the previous season at SoFi Stadium under similar circumstances.[citation needed]
Just hours before kickoff, there was heavy rain and severe thunderstorm warnings around the Meadowlands. As a result, media coverage and personnel were not permitted to step on the field.[5] It was rumored that the game would have been delayed, or postponed given the severity of the weather warnings. The game, nevertheless, ended up being played on time.
New quarterback Aaron Rodgers was injured and carted off the field after being sacked by Bills edge rusher Leonard Floyd on just his fourth snap, and Buffalo attained a 13–3 halftime lead.[6] However, a strong performance by the Jets defense, which forced Bills quarterback Josh Allen to turn the ball over four times, allowed the Jets offense, now led by backup Zach Wilson, to have short fields and take the lead after the two-minute warning, though Allen and the Bills forced overtime with a late field goal. The Jets won off a punt return touchdown by Xavier Gipson after the Bills went three-and-out on the opening possession of the extra period.[7]
With the win, New York opened the season at 1–0, though the victory was marred by Rodgers' injury, which was revealed to be a ruptured Achilles tendon, ending his season.[8] Head coach Robert Saleh named Wilson the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season.[9]
The game broke the record for the most-watched NFL game in ESPN's history, though that was later overtaken by the Philadelphia Eagles–Kansas City Chiefs game on November 20.[10]
The Cowboys opened the game with a long 12-play touchdown drive, ending with Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott's first touchdown pass of the 2023 season to tight end Jake Ferguson. Dallas later added to their lead with a 13-play, 75-yard field goal drive in the 2nd quarter. After the teams traded punts, the New York Jets fought back with a quick 68-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Zach Wilson to standout wide receiver Garrett Wilson. Dallas quickly responded with a long touchdown drive of their own, which was capped off with a short Dak Prescott touchdown pass to tight end Luke Schoonmaker. The Jets replied with a field goal from backup kicker Austin Seibert to keep the score within one possession at the end of the half.
The third quarter, however, would prove to be the turning point in the game as the Jets were only able to muster a measly 68 yards of offense in the second half while also giving up a fumble and three interceptions. On the other hand, the Dallas Cowboys were able to produce four field goal drives to end the game with a 30–10 victory.[11]
This was the first time the Cowboys defeated the New York Jets since 2007[12] and is also the first time the New York Jets defense has given up 30 or more points since Week 2 of the 2022 NFL Season.[13]
The loss to their division rival was the team's 15th straight against them. The Jets fell to 1–2 as a result. The Jets last beat the Patriots in Week 16 of the 2015 NFL season.[14]
In New York's first Sunday Night Football appearance in 12 years,[15] the Jets overcame a 17–0 first quarter deficit, tying the game at 20 in the third quarter and limiting reigning Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes to a 63.6 passer rating. However, the Chiefs regained the lead late, and a crucial fumble from Zach Wilson, who otherwise had one of the best performances in his career, allowed Kansas City to close out the game.[16]
The Jets returned home to face the undefeated Philadelphia Eagles, whom they had an 0–12 lifetime record against. After facing a 14–3 deficit in the second quarter, the Jets managed to silence Philadelphia's offense the remainder of the way, and simultaneously chip away at the deficit, pulling within two points by the third quarter. Right after the two minute warning, Tony Adams intercepted Jalen Hurts — the third interception forced by the Jets defense — and returned the ball 45 yards to set New York up inside the Eagles' 10 yard line. On the very next play, Breece Hall scored the go-ahead touchdown for the Jets. The defense then made one final stop on the ensuing Philadelphia drive to preserve the Jets' upset win. With this win, their first ever in thirteen meetings with the Eagles, the Jets improved to 3–3.[18]
Despite the Giants leading 10–7 and the Jets having no timeouts remaining, a missed field goal from Graham Gano with 24 seconds left set the Jets up on a game tying drive, with Zach Wilson throwing two 29-yard passes to kick the game tying field goal. In overtime, the Jets forced the Giants to punt before the Jets kicked a game winning field goal in overtime to improve to 4–3.[19]
The Jets scored their first touchdown in 13 quarters of gameplay dating back to their win over the Giants. However, the team otherwise struggled on offense, netting just 155 total yards and turning the ball over three times, leading to Zach Wilson being benched for Tim Boyle in the third quarter. In addition, Buffalo, which had just fired offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey the week before, performed much more effectively on offense as compared to week 1, putting up the most points allowed by the Jets defense at this point of the season and surrendering just one turnover on a Hail Mary attempt at the end of the first half. Notably, the Bills scored 10 points off Jets turnovers, with their first field goal coming off a fumbled opening kickoff return from Xavier Gipson, who had scored the game-winning punt return touchdown in week 1.[20] New York fell to 4–6 with the blowout loss to the Bills.
The New York Jets matched up with the Miami Dolphins for the first ever NFL game played on Black Friday. With Tim Boyle starting at quarterback, the Jets' offensive struggles continued as Miami cruised to a 34–13 victory despite New York's defense intercepting Tua Tagovailoa twice, including once for a pick-six. Notably, after Tagovailoa's second interception, the Jets had a chance to take the lead going into halftime, but Boyle's Hail Mary pass attempt was intercepted by Dolphins safety Jevon Holland, who returned the pass 99 yards for a touchdown to add insult to injury.[21] The embarrassing play, which some fans later nicknamed the "Hell Mary", happened nearly 11 years to the date of the Butt Fumble, which also took place around the Thanksgiving holiday.[22]
While the Jets took an early 2–0 lead due to a safety, the Falcons quickly scored a touchdown to make it 7–2 and never gave up the lead from there.[23] Despite only allowing 194 yards to the Falcons, the Jet's were held to 8 points in the loss. With the loss, the Jets were eliminated from AFC East contention.[citation needed]
WAS – Chris Rodriguez Jr. – 10 rushes, 58 yards, 2 TD
NYJ – Breece Hall – 20 rushes, 95 yards, 2 TD
Top receivers
WAS – Logan Thomas – 5 receptions, 36 yards, TD
NYJ – Breece Hall – 12 receptions, 96 yards
Although the Jets raced out to a 27–7 lead, the Commanders scored 21 unanswered points to take a 28–27 lead. However, Greg Zuerlein kicked a game winning field goal with 5 seconds left to preserve the Jets win.[26]
The Jets finally ended a 15-game losing streak to the Patriots with their win, also finishing the season at 7–10 for the second consecutive season.[27] More significantly, they won what turned out to be their last match ever against the Bill Belichick-led Patriots, as Belichick would part ways with the Patriots just four days later.
^ abBuffalo finished ahead of Kansas City based on head-to-head victory.
^ abBuffalo finished ahead of Miami based on head-to-head sweep.
^ abCleveland finished ahead of Miami based on conference record.
^ abCincinnati finished ahead of Jacksonville based on head-to-head victory. Division tie break was initially used to eliminate Indianapolis (see below).
^ abJacksonville finished ahead of Indianapolis based on head-to-head sweep.
^ abLas Vegas finished ahead of Denver based on head-to-head sweep.
^When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest ranked remaining team from each division.
