Biggest surprise, best coaching job, above-average team with perseverance

Biggest disappointment: New York Jets. This one isn't even close. The Jets began this season believing they could make amends for what didn't happen last year, when their Super Bowl dreams vanished when Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles tendon on the first drive of the 2023 season. What we learned this fall is that this surgery was always going to be a breeze. Yes, it was nice to see the Jets finally get a win on Thursday when they beat the Texans. That shouldn't inspire renewed optimism about where this 3-6 team is headed for the rest of the season. With this win in Week 9, the Jets ended a five-game losing streak. They fired head coach Robert Saleh and demoted offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. A little over a week ago, they lost to New England, a team that will most likely have a top-five pick in next year's NFL Draft. The trade for wide receiver Davante Adams also appears to be a case of too little, too late, when New York lost the first two games after arriving from Las Vegas. Last year, the Jets were a trendy pick for the Super Bowl because Rodgers was in the building and the defense was difficult to control. This year they seem like a cautionary tale, an example of what can go wrong when you believe one man is stopping you from winning a championship.