The New York Jets’ Super Bowl dreams last season were dashed after just four plays when star offseason recruit Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles tendon injury.
For the San Francisco 49ers, the pain came at the very end of the season, when they allowed a touchdown pass by Patrick Mahomes in overtime, resulting in a Super Bowl loss.
Although the 2023 seasons for the Jets and 49ers were vastly different, they both enter the new season as two of the top contenders for the championship that has eluded both teams for many years.
The Jets are starting the season with the longest active playoff drought in the NFL, having not made the postseason since 2010. The 49ers have come extremely close in recent years but have not yet managed to win the big game.
They lost a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl during the 2019 season to the Kansas City Chiefs.
They also lost consecutive NFC Championship games to the Rams and Philadelphia in 2021-22, and then another Super Bowl to Mahomes and the Chiefs last season.
These near-misses have been tough on the players, both physically and emotionally, with the added strain of extra games and the disappointment of falling short of a championship since their last win in 1994.
“We’ve all just been there,” quarterback Brock Purdy said. “We’ve experienced it. Obviously, the Super Bowl was just a few plays away from being ours.
The year before that, NFC championship. The year before that, NFC championship. We have guys in this locker room who have tasted it and want it. Losing that Super Bowl in overtime was heartbreaking, and we want it badly for this fan base and this organization.”
The Jets haven’t won a Super Bowl since Joe Namath famously held up one finger to symbolize their victory after the 1968 season, which remains one of the few bright moments in a franchise with a lot of disappointments.
