What forward progress? Jets fall to 3-10, show little improvement

Robert Saleh’s first year with the Jets will end just like so many of those coaches before him: without a playoff game.

The Jets were officially eliminated from postseason contention with their 30-9 loss to New Orleans on Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

Saleh has promised that he will lead the Jets to Super Bowls, plural. Ending the longest current NFL playoff drought needs to come first. It’s the 11th straight year that the Jets won’t play in the postseason, but Saleh continues to tell their frustrated fan base that better days are coming.

"Does it suck right now? Sure," he said. "But I feel you. Nobody in this locker room wants to lose football games. At the same time, the path is crystal clear on where this organization needs to go and the things that we need to address.

"It’s going to flip. It’s going to flip. And this crappy part is part of the process. At the same time, it’s not discouraging in any sense of the imagination because there’s a lot of young guys getting a lot of good playing time. I promise you they’re learning from all of this."

It hard to see it right now, and Saleh became annoyed when he was asked where the progress is.

The Jets fell to 3-10, marking the fifth time in six years that they’ve had double-digit losses. The way they lost this game was hardly a sign of things going in the right direction.

The final 75 seconds of the game epitomized the Jets — not just this year’s team but the franchise as a whole. They gave up a 44-yard touchdown run by quarterback Taysom Hill with 1:07 to go. It looked as if the Jets expected Hill to just dive or take a knee, but he got outside and raced down the sideline.

When the Jets got the ball back, Zach Wilson drove them down the field. The game ended with Wilson running for the end zone and getting tackled at the 1.

The Jets were missing key players on offense — Corey Davis, Elijah Moore, Michael Carter and Tevin Coleman — and it showed. Simply put, the offense was terrible. Wilson took a step backward and led no touchdown drives. The defense gave up 205 rushing yards.

"We have been getting better," Saleh said. "It’s just a matter of sticking to our guns and sticking to the philosophy of what we’re trying to get done. We got a lot to look forward to."

The Jets have four games to go in a season in which the main objective was to build a foundation and develop the young guys, particularly Wilson.

It was a rough afternoon for the rookie quarterback. He completed 19 of 42 passes for 202 yards and no touchdowns and had a passer rating of 59.8.

"I got to throw the ball better, give the guys a better chance to run after the catch," he said. "Right from the beginning, I have to be more accurate."

Wilson made some bad throws. He was short on a bubble screen to Braxton Berrios and missed Ryan Griffin open right in front of him. Wilson also overthrew Jamison Crowder a couple of times.

The Jets also didn’t help Wilson.

Running back Ty Johnson had three drops in the first three series of the game. Receiver Denzel Mims was called for back-to-back penalties after the Jets got to the Saints’ 24 late in the first half. At 10-3, the drive could have produced a tying touchdown, but the Jets were forced to settle for a field goal. Mims spent most of the second half on the sideline.

The only points the Jets scored came off the leg of kicker Eddy Pineiro, who was signed Tuesday. He connected on field goals of 36, 46 and 36 yards.

The Saints (6-7) snapped a five-game losing streak. Alvin Kamara, who returned after missing four games with a knee injury, rushed 27 times for 120 yards and a touchdown. Hill threw for 175 yards and ran for two touchdowns.

The second one, at the end of the game, just added insult to ugliness.

"At the end of the day, we just can’t give that up," defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins said. "It looks bad."

The Jets were down only 10-6 at halftime but gave up points on three straight New Orleans series in the second half, including Hill’s 2-yard touchdown run that made it 23-6. The way the Jets’ offense was playing, the game was over. It felt like that much sooner.

Moving the football was an issue for the Jets from the start. They opened the game with three straight three-and-outs, with Johnson dropping a pass on each drive.

"They hit my hands, I dropped it," he said. "What else is there to say? I can make those catches. I told Zach that was completely on me. If it touches my hands, I need to bring them in. Simple as that."

It all added up to another loss and another season without a playoff berth.

Maybe next year.