I can’t believe I am saying this: the 2025 Jets are worse than the teams that Rich Kotite coached in 1995 and 1996 (4-28). I never thought the Jets would revisit that era, but here we are … again.
I mean, it was never going to get worse than that, right? However, the 2025 Jets are 0-5 after Sunday’s 37-22 home loss to the Dallas Cowboys; Glenn is now the first Jets head coach in franchise history to start 0-5.
For good measure, the Jets are now the only winless NFL team after the Tennessee Titans and New Orleans Saints notched their first wins of the season on Sunday. (The Saints against the Giants, I need to add.)
Here’s what’s discouraging about all this: Glenn played on those two Kotite teams. He of all people should have known he couldn’t afford to have the Jets be in that position.
Sunday’s performance was even worse than last Monday night’s loss to the Miami Dolphins. How so? The Jets gave up yesterday, and that’s an indictment of Glenn. Indeed, Dallas played without ⅘ of their starting offensive lineman and also without CeeDee Lamb. Yet, they had their way against Gang Green the entire game. It was like a scrimmage where the varsity owned the junior varsity.
While the Cowboys came into this game allowing 297.3 passing yards per game, the Jets had only 43 net passing yards in the first half. Playing against the NFL’s worst defense (33 PPG), the Jets scored only three points in the first half, while surrendering 292 yards. Once Breece Hall fumbled the ball, preventing the Jets from tying the game at 10, things went sideways. Of course, it does. This is the Jets.
Glenn was supposed to change all that when he took over. He talked a great game about how this team is built for this (profanity). He mentioned accountability is here. He made it a point to take shots at the previous coaching staff about how undisciplined and disorganized the Jets were during training camp. However, the reality suggests that this team is worse than it was under Robert Saleh and Adam Gase.
Bottom line? Fair or not, New York’s ills are at the head coach’s doorstep. As Glenn’s mentor, Bill Parcells, likes to say, you are what your record says you are, and the Jets head coach knows that full well.
Look, no one thought the Jets were a Super Bowl contender or a playoff team, but the hope was that the Jets would translate “moral victories” (vs. Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay) into wins, meaning they’d prevail over the Dolphins and Cowboys. But neither happened.
Now, fans are discouraged about the Jets more than ever. An X follower of mine left the game at halftime, and he rarely leaves the Jets game. It’s that bad.
Given Woody Johnson’s track record of hiring solid coaches, even if he fires Glenn after Year 1, there’s no assurance that he will (or even could, given the team’s reputation) find a reasonable replacement. That’s a big reason why Glenn has to find a way to make this work.
For starters, he should fire DC Steve Wilks and take control of the defense. Proof came yesterday. Did you see how easy it was for Jake Ferguson to score in the end zone? Javonte Williams easily ran for 66-yards down to the Jets’ one-yard line.
Glenn needs to be coaching for his job, and while nobody’s quibbling about what he said in his post-game presser (“this will take time”), it’s not asking too much of coaches to coach well, and that isn’t happening.
It’s hard to believe that after five games of his first season, Glenn is on the brink. Now or never is right now, and next Sunday’s game is a tall order, playing well against the champion-beating Broncos in London.
