Aaron Rodgers & New York Jets Struggle in Monday Night Season Opener

A noisy off-season for the New York Jets led to a Monday night meltdown yesterday as the San Francisco 49ers pummeled gang-green 32-19 during the final game of week one.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers returned to the Jets after tearing his Achilles on Monday night football last season, and he looked like a 40-year-old quarterback coming off of major surgery. The 2011 Super Bowl champion threw for only 167 yards, averaging just eight yards a pass as the 49ers’ pass rush gave him no time and their secondary locked down a mediocre receiving corp. It did not help the offense either that they committed two turnovers, a Rodgers interception, and a Breece Hall fumble that led to San Francisco points and just 21 minutes of possession. After the game, Rodgers did not want to hit the panic button on a season with playoff aspirations.

“This is a tough opener for us, travel-wise and schedule-wise, but no excuses. We have to play better and I have to play better and we’ll bounce back,” he said.

“They are a championship-level group – and I hope we see them then.”

If the Jets want to even consider a championship, they must fix both sides of the ball. 49ers head coach and play-caller Kyle Shannahan unzipped a supposedly solid Jets defense that gave up points on eight straight possessions after their opening drive. This forced Jets head coach Robert Salah to take out Rodgers with four minutes left in the fourth quarter because the game reached garbage time. The key to the 49er’s success on offense came from their running game, which accumulated 180 yards on the ground for 4.7 yards a carry. Their physical style of play wore out a Jets defense not conditioned for a 60-minute dogfight in the first week of the season and led to the lopsided scoreline.

Next, NYJ stays on the road as they head to Nashville to take on the 0-1 Tennessee Titans.