Where the 2024 NY Jets rank amongst other disappointing teams in franchise history

The NY Jets' loss to the New England Patriots represents the end of an era. The end to a very unique, baffling, surprising, unexpected, short, and ultimately sad era.

The Jets, a franchise utterly desperate for a taste of success in any capacity, brought in one of the single greatest players to ever grace the gridiron. They surrounded him with all of his friends and as much young talent as you can possibly dream of. They did everything humanly possible to guarantee even the slightest shred of success.

And on Sunday, the Aaron Rodgers chapter closed without a semblance of success. In fact, it feels like the franchise has only gone backward. Despite not even completing half of the 17-game schedule, the season is somehow already over.

There are a lot of adjectives to describe the emotions Jets fans are feeling right now. The simplest, easiest, and most accurate one though, is disappointed. Jets fans are disappointed...again.

Amongst a sea of depressing seasons, the Jets may have finally outdone themselves. So we'll look at other seasons that featured horrible letdowns, to see where this one stands in the Jets rich losing tradition.

5. 2016 New York Jets

Going into the 2015 season, the Jets were one big walking question mark. Largely because their starting quarterback, a young Geno Smith, had yet to show any type of consistency. Despite some talent surrounding him, it didn't seem like the Jets were going to make much noise that year.

Then, the infamous punch from defensive end IK Enemkpali directly to the jaw of Smith, would take the young QB out for multiple months. Journeyman backup Ryan Fitzpatrick stepped in and took the Jets to another level.

He finished the year with close to 4,000 yards passing and 31 touchdown passes. His connection with Brandon Marshall was outstanding. Marshall finished with 109 receptions and 1,502 yards receiving. Eric Decker proved to be as good a No. 2 receiver as you can hope for, finishing with 80 receptions and 1,027 yards.

Chris Ivory pitched in, rushing for over 1,000 yards. But despite all this and despite a great season, at 10-5, the Jets lost a "win and you're in" game in Buffalo, ending their season with a three-interception stinker by Fitzpatrick.

However, going into 2016, all signs were positive. The Jets were seemingly loaded. They had a 1,000-yard rusher, an elite receiving corps, and a QB who was coming off the best season of his career. Their defense was also stout, having just seen the return of the greatest defender in Jets history in 2015, cornerback Darrelle Revis (who also made the Pro Bowl that year).

The results were, in the most Jet-fashion possible, disastrous. It started with a holdout by Fitzpatrick and it ended with a 5-11 last-place finish. Everyone underperformed and everyone took a step back from the previous year.

Brandon Marshall's numbers plummeted, only finishing with 59 receptions and failing to eclipse even 800 yards. Erick Decker only got through three games before tearing his rotator cuff and ending his season. Neither Matt Forte nor Bilal Powell even came close to 1,000 yards rushing. The defense floundered too, finishing 28th in points allowed.

No one took a bigger step back than Ryan Fitzpatrick. This was a huge season for him, signing a $12 million deal in the offseason and getting his first real chance to be a franchise QB since he entered the league.

He would finish with less than 3,000 yards passing in only 11 games started. The Jets ultimately started three different QBs that year, also featuring four starts from Bryce Petty and one start from Geno Smith.

So after all the hope and all the hype, the Fitzpatrick era was over. Head coach Todd Bowles would stick around a little longer, but that iteration of the Jets which seemed so hopeful was an utter failure.

The 2016 team had all the talent and pedigree to at least make the playoffs. Instead, they fell flat on their face and broke Jets fans' hearts. We're all still waiting for that playoff run.

4. 2011 New York Jets

Never a dull moment under Rex Ryan, 2011 was another season filled with ups and downs. Ultimately, it was mostly just downs. Coming off their second consecutive AFC Championship run with Ryan and Mark Sanchez, fans were legitimately thinking Super Bowl.

They were returning largely the same roster from the previous season, and expectations were that they would even improve from where they were. This obviously did not happen. There were a lot of different factors that led to the Jets faultering this season.

For one, Mark Sanchez proved that he wasn't going to be the guy that everyone believed he was going to blossom into. He threw 18 costly interceptions by season's end and showed everyone that he was an average QB who can lead a team places, only if the situation around him is perfect. And this season it was not.

Shonn Greene took on a much bigger role in the run game, taking LaDainian Tomlinson's spot as RB1. Greene had a solid season, eclipsing 1,000 yards. Unfortunately, Tomlinson gave them next to nothing, finishing with a measly 280 yards. The run game was no longer unstoppable, the way it had been the previous two seasons.

The passing game was just plain bad. Their leading receiver was tight end Dustin Keller, who finished with just 815 yards. The offseason signing of Plaxico Burress proved pretty useless, and Santonio Holmes was abysmal. Neither reached 700 yards receiving.

Rex Ryan's defense wasn't awful. They finished fifth in yards allowed, but it wasn't enough to overcome a bad offense. The season is largely remembered for Victor Cruz's 99-yard touchdown against the Jets on Christmas eve.

It ended with captain Santonio Holmes quitting on the team during their loss to the Dolphins in Week 17, which ended their playoff chances. This was a very Jets ending to a very Jets season.

3. 2023 New York Jets

This season has been talked about ad nauseam. The Jets, with largely the same roster as this season, were viewed as a Super Bowl contender for the first time in over a decade.

They of course brought in Aaron Rodgers and provided him with his safety blanket in receiver Allen Lazard. Rodgers and Lazard joined an offense that already featured two of the brightest young stars in the NFL in running back Breece Hall and receiver Garrett Wilson.

On the other side of the ball, things looked awesome as well. With one of the more respected defensive minds in football as head coach and a roster that included superstar names such as Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams, and C.J. Mosley, the team's defense was expected to be as good as any in the league.

During the first drive of the season, Rodgers ruptured his Achilles tendon and effectively ended the Jets' season. They were forced to bring in Zach Wilson, who had been nothing but terrible since he was drafted by the franchise in 2021.

Though some optimism existed in Jets circles that Rodgers' influence would lead to improvement for Wilson, that didn't come close to happening.

In 11 starts, Wilson finished with 2,271 yards passing, eight touchdowns, and seven interceptions. The Jets also saw three starts from Trevor Siemian and two starts from Tim Boyle. They finished 7-10 and third in the AFC East, a far cry from the Super Bowl hopes entering the season.

2. 1999 New York Jets

One could argue that the 1999 Jets were the best team in all of football going into the season. The previous year they made it to the AFC Championship Game, falling short to John Elway's Denver Broncos despite a lead at halftime.

They were led by fan-favorite QB Vinny Testaverde, future Hall-of-Fame running back Curtis Martin, and one of the all-time greats at head coach in Bill Parcells.

In 1998, the Jets finished seventh in overall defense, and fourth in overall offense. They were evenly loaded on both sides of the ball. Fans had legitimate reason to believe they were the favorite to win it all.

Unlike passed Jets teams, this one had a proven leader running the show. Bill Parcells, a multi-time Super Bowl champion, brought a sense of urgency that the franchise desperately needed. It certainly didn't feel like the same old Jets.

To open the season, the Jets hosted division rival and Parcells' former team, the New England Patriots. Everything was going alright until the second quarter when Testaverde attempted to recover a Curtis Martin fumble. He ruptured his Achilles tendon (sound familiar?), and the season was over right then and there...sort of.

After starting the season 2-6, the Jets went on a 6-2 run to end the season. They were arguably the hottest team in the league by season's end. Unfortunately, 8-8 was not enough to get them in the dance that year.

The shame of it was that the team never really got a chance to run it back. Testaverde's injury was essentially the final nail in the coffin for that group of Jets — yet another heartbreak for Jets fans.

1. 2024 New York Jets

All of these letdowns lead us to the biggest disappointment in Jets history. Call it recency bias, call it overreacting, call it whatever you want — I can't look at the optimism going into 2024 and the "darkness" that they have found themselves in, and say that any season was more disappointing. I'm sorry.

As mentioned in the beginning, it was like the Jets did everything that a team can do to ensure that they will be, at the very least, good.

They brought in a Hall of Fame QB. They built an offense that rivaled any in football in terms of pure talent. They constructed a defense that many felt was the best in all of football. The culture seemed to have taken a turn and the worst-case scenario looked like maybe 10-7 or 9-8.

But against all odds and all prior logic, this team is absolutely horrible. The defense has let everyone down, the offense has let everyone down, the head coach didn't even make it through half of the season, and now we are all looking around wondering just what exactly happened.

This season is worse than last year because the roster was actually improved from 2023. They beefed up the offensive line, they beefed up the receiving corpse, and they brought in one of the best pass rushers in the league.

Well, the offensive line stinks, the receiving is terrible outside of Garrett Wilson, and Haason Reddick held out all year up until last week — too little too late.

Then during the season, as the ship began to stray from the direction they wanted to be headed in, they did whatever possible to turn around the momentum.

They brought in Davante Adams in the middle of the year. They promoted their defensive coordinator to head coach and demoted their offensive coordinator from play-calling. They did everything that was available to them to have any success, but quite literally nothing worked.

I am talking in the past tense as if the season is already over. But that's because it basically is. At this point, they either need to win out or finish 8-1 to even have a shot at the playoffs. It's shocking how early they have removed themselves from contention.

Even in fans' worst nightmares, they could never have expected the season to be over before week nine. But that is where we are.

With so many horrible teams to pick from, the 2024 Jets are my pick for the most disappointing team. They win. This is a sad time for everyone in Jets land, but on the bright side, at least they get to win something this year.

More NY Jets news and analysis: