Robert Saleh, needless to say, would prefer to have his team sitting pretty at 1-0 heading to Tennessee on Sunday than at 0-1. But he had to agree with the "fan consensus" that 0-1 with Aaron Rodgers, not to mention the Jets defense, for a full game this year feels better than being 1-0 mostly without him last year.
"You know what, unfortunately, it does because I know we're going to get the defense fixed," the head coach said back home after the opening-night loss to the Niners. "And I think I speak for everybody, especially on the offensive side of the ball. There's a lot of confidence on that side.
"I know we're going to get a lot better from Week 1 to Week 2."
Rodgers, of course, is in a slightly different place than he used to be, having missed most of last year's opener. But from 2008-22, A-Rod started all 15 of the Packers' openers and played in 96 percent of the offensive snaps in those games. And a natural question comes to mind:
Are Rodgers and his teams better after opening a sesaon with a loss rather than a victory?
The answer, which may or may not portend good things for the Jets, is yes, an opening loss leads to a better season.
Whether it's just the luck of the NFL draw or that chip that Rodgers has talked about weighs heavier on his shoulder pads when he loses his opener, the stats suggest tha for him, 0-1 > 1-0.
Here are some Rodgers statistics for the five seasons (2012-14, 2021-22) in which the QB and Green Bay opened with a loss. The top line are his numbers in the five opening-day (OD) losses, the bottom line his numbers in all the regular-season games that followed in those seasons:
| TDPs | INTs | Rating | W-L, Pct. | PO Berths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 OD losses | 6 | 6 | 79.1 | 0-5, .000 | ...... |
| Games after OD | 151 | 29 | 107.7 | 50-19, .725 | 4 |
Similarly, here are Rodgers' stats for the 10 seasons in which he and the Packers began with a victory, plus the QB's numbers in all the RS games that followed in those seasons:
| TDPs | INTs | Rating | W-L, Pct | PO Berths | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 OD wins | 21 | 3 | 108.3 | 10-0, 1.000 | ...... |
| Games after OD | 296 | 66 | 102.6 | 87-51-1, .629 | 7 |
It's at least interesting to note that after an opening-day L, Rodgers produces a higher passer rating and his teams logged a higher win percentage and a higher playoff rate (80% to 70%) than they did after a season-opening W.
Significant? Who knows? What we do know is that Rodgers, after playing the Niners, said his mindset is for Game 2 is similar to his head coach's view.
"No excuses, we have to play better, I have to play better," Rodgers said. "We'll bounce back next week."
17 Minutes of Lazard Dazzle
Allen Lazard, as noted this week, came up big in the second half at SF. Not ignoring his third-down drop on the third play of the game but setting it aside, the Jets WR was targeted eight times by Rodgers and Tyrod Taylor and caught six, all for first downs, for 89 yards and two touchdowns. And all those receptions came in the game's final 17 minutes.
The TD catches tied Lazard's career game high, and also marked the first time a Jets WR had multiple TD catches since then-rookie Garrett Wilson had two twice in 2021, in Game 2 at Cleveland and Game 11 vs. Chicago.
But six receiving first downs in any half? That's franchise-quality production. Lazard is the first Jet to have acquired such a sixpack in the last 12 seasons, or since Santonio Holmes also had six first downs (actually five in the second half plus one in overtime) in the Jets' 23-20 win at Miami in 2012.
Other first-and-foremost showings by Jets pass-catchers: Jerricho Cotchery did six receiving first downs in a half twice. Laveranues Coles had seven in the second half of the 2002 MNF loss at Oakland. And the most in any half since 1991 was eight by Rob Moore, in the second half of the season-opening Meadowlands loss to Denver in 1993.
