There is nowhere left for Aaron Rodgers to hide from the Jets

Woody Johnson needed a suitable scapegoat and didn't have to look far to find one in Robert Saleh, the Jets' 20-36-year-old former head coach.

The owner concluded after five games that there was so much dysfunction on offense that not even his designated franchise savior, Mr. Aaron Rodgers, could overcome it.

When Josh Allen and the Bills marched into MetLife Stadium on Monday night, Jets interim coach Jeff Ulbrich needed Aaron Rodgers to be the Aaron Rodgers that Johnson and GM Joe Douglas and Saleh were confident they would get asked him to be her Joe Namath and overcome.

Ulbrich needed Rodgers to find a way to make everything work with new play-caller Todd Downing replacing Nathaniel Hackett.

Ulbrich needed better protection for Rodgers and he needed Breece Hall to get out of the football witness protection program.

Most of all, he needed Rodgers to stare at Allen and never bat an eyelid, ending the night in first place in the AFC East.

The way Johnson talked about his roster the day he beat Saleh, you would have thought Adam Gase could coach the Jets to their first playoff berth since the 2010 season.

The reality is that Saleh was just one of the many underachievers.

After Johnson's impulsive decision to abandon the franchise, Jets players wax poetic about responsibility and truce.

“I think it puts us in the spotlight,” Rodgers said.

Mostly on him.

Especially with him.

Rodgers was one of a good group of Jets who felt guilty about costing Saleh his job, and while the owner went out of his way to tell everyone it was his decision and his alone, you'd have to be pretty naive to think Rodgers was caught off guard by this. You don't pull the rug out from under head coach Rodgers to create a New York legacy, chase a Super Bowl together and keep him in the dark.

Ulbrich's defensive players are impressed by him and have always played for him.

But Ulbrich couldn't afford for Rodgers to throw three interceptions like he did in London or not get his team into the end zone against the Broncos.

Ulbrich couldn't afford to watch Rodgers resemble a quarterback a month and a half after his 41st birthday.

Elite head coaches always make a difference, in any sport.

But ask Andy Reid about Patrick Mahomes. Ask Sean McDermott about Allen. Ask John Harbaugh about Lamar Jackson. Ask Zac Taylor about Joe Burrow.

Hall had to regain his swagger to keep Rodgers from attempting 54 passes and taking a beating. Downing had to use him as a weapon in the passing game. WR Mike Williams needed to be a bigger factor so Rodgers didn't feel the need to force 22 goals on Garrett Wilson again. Downing had to be a more creative and unpredictable player than Hackett.

Sixteen months ago I asked Ulbrich on the phone how Rodgers made him better.

“Oh my God, in countless ways,” Ulbrich said. “The most obvious thing is that if he misses training and we are an inch off, we will have to pay for it. He makes sure you're so detailed in everything you do – pre-snap, post-snap, technique, scheme, all of that. He's going to upgrade everyone in this defense because there's not a second where you don't know your data and you're not being exploited. I think that's probably the biggest influence he'll have on me. I can't wait to have more conversations with him about what he sees, why he made certain decisions and how he sees the game. He's the best I've ever been around, just in terms of having a football player's brain. I've never seen anything like that in terms of his ability to really see through you and then not only see through you, but also have the skills to take advantage of what he sees. … It’s just a deadly combination.”

For the Jeff Ulbrich era to start better than the Robert Saleh era, this is the Aaron Rodgers he needed and will need.