Halloween night at MetLife Stadium, and with apologies to Robert Saleh, the mantra of the 2-6 New York Jets has devolved into:
ALL TRICK NO TREAT.
The Jets were granted six prime-time games because of Aaron Rodgers and the star power that accompanied him. They’re 1-3 in prime time heading into Thursday night’s game against the Texans at MetLife Stadium.
It is time for all of their stars to play like stars.
“The goal is New Orleans,” Rodgers said in the summer.
Super Bowl 2025 in New Orleans is in the distance right now. The goal is 3-6 right now.
Woody Johnson would love to make the argument that the Jets have the talent to make a Super Bowl run. Plenty of people who don’t own the Jets were making that argument before the season.
This ALL TRICK NO TREAT season.
The least they could do is give these poor fans that expected and deserved so much better a TREAT:
You, Mr. Rodgers, you go win the game in the fourth quarter with a two-minute drive if your team asks you for one.
You, Davante Adams, you remind us of the rare telepathy you have with Rodgers.
Stream the game live on Thursday night on Amazon Prime Video
You, Garrett Wilson, you have it in you to wreck the game with Adams’ presence getting you a lot more single coverage.
You, Breece Hall, be the dual-threat Beast you should be every single week now that play-caller Todd Downing seems interested in balancing out the offense.
You, Tyron Smith, you quiet the calls for first-round pick Olu Fashanu to replace you and start reminding people why you will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, if you can.
You, Haason Reddick, you start making a better case for that elusive big-ticket contract than you did in your Jets debut against the Patriots.
You, Quinnen Williams, you be the dominating force you were against the Patriots (1.5 sacks) and get your tackle numbers (18 on the season) up where they belong.
You, Sauce Gardner, you improve your tackling and get your first interception since Nov. 6, 2022, against Josh Allen.
You, D.J. Reed, you get your first interception since Nov. 24, 2023, against Tua Tagovailoa.
The Jets defense is 25th in takeaways.
“Our mindset hasn’t really been all about the ball as well as it needs to be,” cornerback Isaiah Oliver told The Post.
Jeff Ulbrich continues as interim HC and defensive play-caller.
“The biggest message was finishing, that was something that he challenged us with to be better at this week coming off of last week,” Oliver said. “Being more detailed, bringing more focus late in the games especially. Not only starting fast, ’cause that’s something that you always want to do, but finishing strong, more emphasis on that more so than starting fast. Obviously you want to do both all the time, but you definitely can’t win a game unless you finish the right way.”
C.J. Mosley weighed in with a similar message.
The Jets schedule is forgiving. For the Jets fan still clinging to hope, that oppressive 13-year playoff drought isn’t 14 just yet. Anybody can beat anybody and anybody can lose to anybody in this league. For now, the goal isn’t New Orleans. The goal is 3-6.
“Focus on doing your job and don’t try to be a superhero,” was the gist of Rodgers’ postgame message to his team Sunday.
C.J. Stroud won’t get to throw to Nico Collins or Stefon Diggs. Sometimes it’s not who you play, but when you play them.
ALL TREAT NO TRICK on this Halloween night.
