Disappointment in New York: The Jets and the Giants

Adrianna Mckinney '26

The Giants are known for their lackluster offense and defense, but the Jets are a bigger disappointment this year due to their pre-season potential. For the Giants, this 2024 season was kind of expected since they won only six games in their last season. However, with the Jets, this outcome was kind of unforeseen. The Jets came out with a talented roster and a very promising future quarterback. Having had the 10th-best odds of getting to the Superbowl, what happened?

First, their promising quarterback became quite mediocre. The quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, had come from the Green Bay Packers. They had won a Superbowl rather recently in 2010 and Rodgers got multiple Most Valuable Player Awards.

The Jets usually had a lack of hope due to their inconsistent past. The Jets have not had a winning season since 2015 and haven’t made it to the playoffs in over 10 years. Most of the time their losses were predicted. With this new player, Rodgers, things were looking up.

Obviously, things didn’t go as one would want it to. Aaron Rodgers during the fourth play of his first game with the Jets last year, tore his Achilles tendon, which made him miss practically the entire 2023 season. When the Jets entered their 2024 season, Rodgers was healed for the most part and played mediocre on the field.

Rodgers also seems to be running the team off the field with him. Rodgers appeared to have pushed Robert Saleh, the then-head coach of the Jets. Two weeks later he was fired. To make matters even worse, the Jets also fired Joe Douglas, their then-general manager.

The Giants, different from the Jets, weren't expected to do good this season at all. However, similarly to the Jets, the Giants had a disappointing future with a quarterback. Their quarterback Daniel Jones, who's never been anything special at that position, signed a four-year contract for $160 million.

The Giants in their 2023 season have the lowest points per game average of 15.6 in the NFL and it was only slightly higher in 2024 with 16.1. Whenever Jones was benched, which was more often than not, Tommy Devito came in as backup. Devito was originally from New Jersey and sooner than later he was eventually benched as well.

The Giants are expected to have a terrible season next year, as well. Though the Giants lost the majority of their games, they ended up winning their last game. This made them gain the 3rd pick of the draft for this upcoming season whereas the Jets aren’t far behind at 7th for draft picking. So both teams aren’t predicted for Super Bowls in 2026.