PITTSBURGH — Apparently this wasn’t Robert Saleh’s fault after all.
Two weeks ago, Woody Johnson fired his head coach, believing that was going to “spark’’ his Dead Team Walking.
Last week, the Jets owner pulled the trigger and acquired star receiver Davante Adams — a.k.a. best friend of quarterback Aaron Rodgers — and crowed about how Adams’ presence was going to “open things up’’ for the offense and that the Jets were now ready to “kick’’ some you-know-what.
Well, you know what?
None of it has worked, and Johnson is out of magic buttons to push.
This was in full nationally televised view on Sunday night in the Jets’ disgusting and potentially destructive 37-15 loss to the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium, where Pittsburgh scored 31 points in the game after the Jets had built a 15-6 lead.
Here’s the kicker to it all:
Johnson wanted to create a “spark’’ with the firing of Saleh. And Rodgers, after the loss, said the team was noticeably “flat’’ before the game and at halftime.
Can’t make this stuff up.
It was right before the half when Rodgers threw a momentum-shattering interception that gave the Steelers life and left the Jets for dead the rest of the night … and possibly the rest of the season.
Leading 15-6 and driving, Rodgers threw a pass intended for receiver Garrett Wilson into traffic in the middle of the field that was picked off by Pittsburgh cornerback Beanie Bishop Jr. with 1:15 remaining in the half.
The killer turnover — Rodgers’ sixth INT in seven games this season — led directly to a Steelers touchdown — an 11-yard Russell Wilson scoring pass to George Pickens, who the Jets couldn’t cover all night regardless of which player was on him.
That cut the Jets’ lead to 15-13, and it seemed to cut off their oxygen supply.
The Steelers would proceed to score the final 31 points in the game.
“A bad throw,’’ Rodgers said later of the interception intended for Wilson. “I should have just dumped it underneath. For whatever reason, just changed the entire energy; it changed the game.’’
Momentum is such a precious thing in sports. It must be handled with extreme care. And the Jets’ most important player gave it away.
“In these games, you can’t give up those plays because it’s just this huge shift in momentum,’’ Ulbrich said. “And, if you do make them, you’ve got to fight your ass off to f–king fix it — excuse my language. We didn’t do that well enough today. So, this has got to be an opportunity to grow from and become capable of overcoming because that was absolutely not good enough.’’
Ulbrich kept repeating that the product the Jets put on the field Sunday night “is not who we are.’’
But what if this is who the Jets are, at 2-5 and on a four-game losing streak with their season of promise on the brink of the entire operation being blown up?
“If we accept that,’’ Ulbrich said, “then the season is lost. So, we’re not going there at all. We have high-character room. We have the pieces capable of getting done.’’
Rodgers called the four-game losing steak “a rough stretch,’’ adding, “We’ve lost each of those four in different ways. But we’ve got to figure it out. Obviously, we added two big-time players to the locker room. One’s here (receiver Davante Adams, who made his Jets debut Sunday), one’s coming Monday (edge rusher Haason Reddick, who finally ended his contract holdout Sunday).
“So, everything’s still right in front of us. We’ve got to somehow keep the belief in the locker room and start a run. Can’t win 10 in a row unless you win the first one.’’
Now what?
That was the Jets’ rallying cry motto last season. The phrase was painted on walls and printed on team T-shirts.
Now, that phrase takes on a completely different tone.
Johnson is out of phone-a-friend options.
He’s on record touting the Jets’ current roster as the greatest collection of players he’s had on his team in his 24 years as its owner.
He fired Saleh to “spark’’ the team.
And his Hall of Fame quarterback, the most important figure in the franchise, said the team was flat on Sunday night with its season on the line.
What a mess.
