NEW YORK — It’s usually not hard to find a place to watch a football game with others in Jersey City or Hoboken.
A quick Google search reveals more than 240 bars within those combined city limits on the far southeast end of Hudson County, and four of them, according to the Jets’ website, are part of the team’s official “bar network.”
But for a Jets fan trying to find a place that would be open and showing their team’s 9:30 a.m. ET kickoff against the Broncos on Sunday from London, the options were limited — much like the Jets’ offense.
Not a single bar in the area advertised that it was opening early for the game. Even the bars that a year ago urged fans to show up early for the Jets’ same early kickoff against the Vikings made no mention of the game this time around. And if you called them midway through the first quarter, the phone just kept ringing.
If you didn’t want to spend more than 90 minutes of driving round trip, your best option was to visit Brooklyn or Queens, where several bars had taken to social media to invite Jets fans to join them for an early opening, and, as one bar called it, a “thrilling” matchup.
And while the game ended up being a nail-biter, with the Jets falling 13-11 on a field goal late in the fourth quarter, the scene at one Brooklyn bar that promoted opening early revealed why many others had not: Before 11 a.m., six people sat at the bar at Salty Dog in Bay Side, including two Broncos fans and one Jets fan.
By the end of the first half, with the Jets trailing 10-6 after accumulating just 32 yards of offense on 22 plays, the lone Jets fan closed his tab and quickly walked out. It would be the last Jets fan the bar would see.
“I would have thought there would have been Jets fans here,” said Richard Iocolano, a Brooklyn resident who was anxiously watching his Broncos here in the final moments. “But they were better off not watching that.”
It’s a common theme for the Jets, who have used this season to find new ways to hurt their already angry fan base. Yes, they’re 0-6 but only because they keep finding ways to inflict maximum punishment on themselves and their fans when it matters most.
Sunday was the third game out of the first six in which they blew a fourth-quarter lead, and it was the second time this season in which they were in position to win.
And in the other three games, the Jets played so poorly in the first half that it was impossible to even consider a comeback. It’s been an extremely rough journey to 0-6, but it’s more painful considering they’re the team with the longest playoff drought in the NFL – soon to be 15 years.
“I honestly respect that Jet fan who was here earlier more than anyone else,” said Frankie Ungaro, a Brooklyn native who is a Giants fan. “For him to show up for his team. But I don’t blame him for leaving. … A bunch of my family members are Jets fans and I’ve never seen so many – just, they’re miserable. It’s a system thing and they can’t get it right. Like, how many times can you mess it up?”
That’s an open question with 11 games remaining in the season.
But even if there weren’t any Jets fans here for the second half, one guy was cheering for the Jets.
Omar Maldonado, of Brooklyn, walked up to the bar midway through the second half and started clapping after the Jets took the lead.
“I’m a Giants fan, but I’ve got money on the Jets,” said Maldonado, who was not surprised to see plenty of open seats waiting for him at the bar. “I kind of knew it was going to be slow this early, the only reason I knew they’d be open [here] is they serve food. I’ve got another friend who owns a bar in Bay Ridge, and they were going to try to open up, but not many people are going to come out for a 9:30 a.m. game.”
Even at 0-5, he was surprised there weren’t any Jets fans at the bar.
“They’re used to it, so I thought they’d be out,” Maldonado said of the Jets’ slow start. “I did see a lot of Broncos fans, though. Surprisingly.”
As the Broncos sealed the game with their ninth sack of the game to bring Jets quarterback Justin Fields to the ground short of field goal range with just more than a minute left, there was no celebration from the Broncos fans. They just shook their heads and sighed in relief.
“They should have won that game,” Iocolano said of the Jets. “But a win is a win and we’ll take it.”
Maldonado had similar feelings, even though he was one of the few people on the planet who could walk away from Sunday’s game feeling thankful for the Jets. They had kept the point total so low and the game close enough to win him some money.
“The Jets have talent on defense,” Maldonado said. “But their offense is non-existent.”
As a Giants fan, he hesitated at first when asked if he felt sorry for the Jets.
“I mean, I have had nothing to root about as far as the Giants,” Maldonado said. “I don’t hate the Jets. The same as any New York team, I don’t hate them. I wish them well. Just when we go head-to-head, I always root for my team.”
Then, he paused to consider it further.
“But it’s tough, especially when it comes to the Jets because they have such little [winning] history,” he said. “Like you’re not going to wish them bad, you don’t have to. It’s like, good luck!”
It appears the Jets are going to need it for the rest of the season.
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