FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — It’s finally over.
Both the Jets’ 15-game losing streak to the Patriots and their dismal 2023 season came to an end Sunday afternoon in a 17-3 win over New England in a game played through heavy snow.
Bill Belichick’s historic run as Patriots coach also likely came to a close.
There has been rampant speculation that Belichick will be out as coach this week.
Jets players admitted after the game that sending Belichick out with a loss was on their minds.
“This might be Bill’s last game,” Jets cornerback D.J. Reed said. “I’d be lying if I said we didn’t talk about sending him out with an L. That would mean something to us, especially to this organization. I was glad we were able to get the dub.
“It goes down in history. That’s Bill Belichick. He’s a legendary coach, arguably one of the best football coaches ever. To send him out with an L, that’s a cool thing to do. It’s part of history.”
If this was indeed it for Belichick, it was a tough way for him to go out. The game felt like a JV game with two teams that were eliminated from playoff contention long ago squaring off with nothing on the line except poorer draft position for the winner.
As if the two teams were not bad enough on offense, the weather further hindered any production. The Patriots had minus-7 yards in the first quarter and the teams traded punts quite often all day.
The Jets got the win with another strong game by their defense, three Greg Zuerlein field goals and a 50-yard touchdown from Breece Hall to ice the game.
The Jets leaned on Hall all day as he had career highs in carries (37) and yards (178) and broke the long touchdown with 1:47 left to seal it.
Hall finished the season just shy of 1,000 yards rushing, finishing the year with 994 yards in his return from ACL surgery. He had 1,585 total yards from scrimmage.
“I really wasn’t upset ’cause everybody in the league that watches me knows that I have the potential to be probably the best back in the NFL,” Hall said of falling short of 1,000. “If not, I’m top two, top three.”
The victory was not completely meaningless for the Jets.
It was the first time the team has beaten the Patriots since 2015, snapping a 15-game losing streak to their AFC East foes.
The Jets were tired of hearing about the losing streak every time they faced the Patriots and now that storyline is buried.
“It feels really good. Now, I don’t have to hear about it next year,” tight end Tyler Conklin said. “That’s the first thing I thought about. Yeah, the season didn’t go how we wanted. Everybody is going to be draft picks or wins, Tankathon and all that stuff we see on social media. But now we don’t have to go into the first Patriots game next year talking about that damn streak. I’m happy about that.”
There was plenty of debate among fans before this game whether it would be better for the Jets to lose.
The Patriots (4-13) end up with the No. 3 pick in the draft thanks to this loss. That could enable them to draft a franchise quarterback who could torture the Jets for years to come.
The victory means the Jets end the season 7-10, the same record they had in 2022.
A season that began with massive expectations due to the trade for quarterback Aaron Rodgers ended up being a slog with Rodgers suffering a torn left Achilles four plays into the season.
The Jets never truly recovered from losing Rodgers.
They had a three-game winning streak in October that gave false hope but injuries along the offensive line mounted and the offense went into a slumber that led to a five-game losing streak and ended any hopes of making the playoffs.
The Jets did win three of their final five games to end up with seven wins.
The Jets started four different quarterbacks this season, their most since 1989. Zach Wilson, Tim Boyle and Trevor Siemian all took turns trying to replace Rodgers. Wilson, the 2021 No. 2 overall pick, is expected to be traded or released this offseason, ending his forgettable three-year run with the Jets.
Owner Woody Johnson said on Christmas Eve that head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas would return for 2024, ending any speculation about their jobs.
Saleh and Douglas will enter the 2024 season with immense pressure to end the 13-year playoff drought. Rodgers has said he will be back next season. If the Jets can improve on the offensive line and add a No. 2 wide receiver to pair with Garrett Wilson, they should be a playoff contender.
“It may seem like we’re really far away from the outside world, but we all know what we have and we all know how close we are,” Saleh said.
The Jets’ defense had another strong year and ended the season with a dominant performance Sunday against Bailey Zappe and the Patriots, intercepting him twice in the fourth quarter. The Patriots only had 119 yards, their lowest total since Belichick began coaching them.
