Aaron Rodgers has delivered quite a few questionable performances in his short time as a New York Jet but his first-half production on TNF against the Texans takes the prize. He was 7-14 for 32 yards and no TDs. A-Rod himself called it the worst football of his life.
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But Green Gang and their star QB turned things around in the 2nd half, playing the best football of their season. So what happened at half-time that motivated them to reverse their fortunes suddenly? Well, for one thing, it all started with Woody Johnson, with JJ Watt catching a lot of strays.
Rodgers was back on the Pat McAfee Show, revealing the secrets to their sudden turnaround. He stated that there were a lot of motivational words, anguish, and chest-pounding in the locker room during half-time. JJ Watt became their common enemy for his pre-match words about the Jets. But it all started with owner Woody Johnson turning into Rocky Balboa and coming in hot.
” Lot of speeches, lot of yelling, a lot of chest-pounding. Guys were passing around the JJ Watt video where he said that we shouldn’t be favored. It started with Woody. Woody was holding it up above his head there like a Rocky Montage song from Rocky 3 Survivor was going on.”
The Jets’ offense finally delivered a solid performance, thanks to a sudden shift in the locker room attitude. Throughout the season, the locker room had seemed disjointed, but after just one half of poor play and mounting criticism, the team found the motivation to turn things around.
While attitude was one thing that needed a shift, what did Rodger and the offense do on the pitch to rectify the first-half situation?
Aaron Rodgers explained what they did differently in the 2nd half
During his conversation with Pat McAfee, A-Rod revealed that the entire O-Line calmed down in the 2nd half even though a couple of the guys were playing out of the position. This helped their ground game after the break, with Breece Hall putting in a good performance.
He pointed out that his performance improved in the 2nd half, gaining rhythm, connecting with his wideouts, and making good throws. Rodgers credited Wilson for his scintillating display, making two stunning catches, with Davante Adams finishing the great half with a TD.
” Not really. We had 4 tackles and a Center playing line. I think those guys just settled down in the second half. We ran the ball pretty well. We also opened up some good holes. At some point, you just kind of knew I wasn’t going to suck for the entire game. I was going to make a couple of throws.”
A-Rod was 15-18 for 179 yards along with 3 TDs. Wilson also delivered in the second half, recording nine catches for 81 yards and 2 TDs and even Adams had the best game in short-stint as a Jet. Haason Reddick finally came back, getting his first sack of the season.
They are now 3-6 for the season. But if want to keep their hopes of making the playoffs alive, they need at least 7 wins in the next matches. This seems like a herculean task even for such a talented roster.
