Update: Aaron Rodgers’ season is over after an MRI confirmed he tore his Achilles, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Look, Jets fans, I don’t want to sugarcoat this Aaron Rodgers situation. It’s bad.
While we haven’t received official word on the nature of his injury, it sounds like he’ll be missing a chunk of the season at minimum. Zach Wilson is going to be thrusted back into a starting role and, well, we’ve seen that movie before.
As a result, those incredible Super Bowl odds that jumped up the minute rumors started swirling of a Rodgers trade have taken a steep dive over the last few hours — even after the Jets won their season-opener over another contender and division rival, the Buffalo Bills. Never what you want to see.
At BetMGM, they’ve gone from +1800 and tied for fourth in the AFC before Week 1 to +5000 and ninth in the AFC today. Again, that’s AFTER WINNING.
Super Bowl line movement (Week 1 ➡️ Now) at @BetMGM
📉
Chiefs +600 to +650
Bills +900 to +1000
Bengals +1100 to +1300
Jets +1800 to +5000
Seahawks +3500 to +5000
Vikings +4000 to +5000
Broncos +4500 to +6600
Giants +6600 to +8000
Bears +6000 to +10000— John Ewing (@johnewing) September 12, 2023
But I have to say, the Jets looked even better than advertised in Monday’s game. Breece Hall looked awesome in his return from injury. Their top-five defense from a year ago was still very much elite. They intercepted Josh Allen three times and forced two fumbles, recovering one. They beat the Bills and didn’t even need Rodgers to do it.
So, I ask, are we sure this team is cooked?
Yes, I know, there’s still that whole Zach Wilson thing. They won in spite of him Monday. He didn’t look good, even with Garrett Wilson gifting him a touchdown with an early catch-of-the-year candidate. But the Jets were 7-4 through Week 12 of last season with a combination of Wilson and other below average quarterbacks under center, and they demonstrated Monday they’re still very much capable of dragging him across the finish line of close games.
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All I’m saying is maybe don’t rule this team out of the playoff discussion yet. What if there’s something to all the chatter we heard this summer of Wilson’s growth under the tutelage of Rodgers and he blossoms into the quarterback they thought he could be when they drafted him in the first round? Or they sign a free agent better-suited to save their season? Or better, what if Rodgers’ injury isn’t season-ending and he can return later in the year? New York’s diminished Super Bowl odds hold incredible value if any of those scenarios play out.
Of course, these are still the Jets, so it’s hard to believe this season will end in anything but heartbreak. But for now, I see a roster too good to be completely written off.
