Rodgers and the Jets stall after a promising start and now there are more questions about his future

Sport

Rodgers and the Jets stall after a promising start and now there are more questions about his future

2024-12-02 08:14 Last Updated At：08:21

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets were driving for another score, a touchdown that could have sent the struggling squad to a big lead and perhaps a much-needed victory.

Instead, a missed opportunity was followed by a momentum-shifting mistake.

“It’s disappointing,” Rodgers said after the Jets' 26-21 loss to Seattle on Sunday. “I mean, what else can you say?"

A 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Kene Nwangwu put the Jets ahead 21-7 in the second quarter. Kicker Anders Carlson recovered Laviska Shenault's fumbled kickoff return on the next play, and Rodgers went back to work.

But a promising drive was short-circuited when he missed a wide-open Garrett Wilson for what would have been a touchdown. On the next play, Rodgers targeted Wilson again — but defensive end Leonard Williams stepped in front of the pass, tipped it to himself and scampered 92 yards for a touchdown.

“We've had a lot of chances in these situations,” Rodgers said. "A lot of these games come down to one play, whether you make it or miss it. Sometimes that play happens in the second quarter. Make that play, (it's) 28-7. Different ballgame.”

Zach Charbonnet's go-ahead 8-yard touchdown with 5:31 remaining gave the Seahawks the lead for the first time. But Rodgers and the Jets (3-9) had one more chance to pull out a comeback win, something he did so often during his many seasons in Green Bay.

Rodgers was sacked by Williams on third down. And then his desperation heave for Wilson from the Seahawks 34 fell way incomplete in the end zone — and another disappointing loss was sealed. And the Jets fell to 0-5 in situations during which the offense had the ball with a chance to win on its last possession.

“We have to figure that out,” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said. "We have to figure that out quickly. It’s never on one person, it isn’t. It’s on the entire collective group, from players to coaches to every single human being out there on offense.

“We have to be better in those moments.”

New York, which fired general manager Joe Douglas last week, has dropped three in a row and eight of its past nine. It fell to 1-6 under Ulbrich.

“We started by playing really good complementary football in all three phases,” Ulbrich said. “We didn’t end the first half the way that we needed to and should have. The second half was definitely not clean football at all by all three phases.

“Can’t win like that.”

Rodgers, who turns 41 on Monday, finished 21 of 39 for 185 yards and touchdown passes to Davante Adams and Isaiah Davis. But the Jets were shut out in the second half.

“There were a lot of things,” Rodgers said when asked what the difference was in this one. “But I think the two-play stretch where I missed Garrett open to go up 28-7 and threw a pick-6 that kind of changed the momentum of the game.”

Now, there are questions if perhaps New York might be better served by benching Rodgers in favor of Tyrod Taylor to spark things — a scenario Ulbrich hasn't envisioned.

“Not as of today,” Ulbrich said.

But with each loss, the latest clinching a ninth straight losing season, Rodgers' future with the franchise is put under an even more intense spotlight. He remains under contract for next season, but the deal contains no guaranteed money. That could provide an opening for the Jets to cut ties with the four-time NFL MVP who was brought to New York to end the franchise's playoff drought, which is about to reach 14 straight seasons.

There were also reports during the bye-week break that owner Woody Johnson broached the idea of sitting a then-banged up Rodgers after Week 4. Rodgers says he's now healthier than he has been all season, and his scrambling Sunday supported that.

But even Williams cited Rodgers' age as being a potential reason for how his pick-6 unfolded.

“I think he’s an older guy — he doesn’t want to take big hits like that anymore,” Williams said. “When he feels a guy coming full speed at him, he’s going to chuck it and duck.”

And now Rodgers is fielding questions about hitting the bench — whether it's the decision of Ulbrich or Johnson — and not finishing this season on the field.

“Yeah, I don't know,” Rodgers said when asked if he has considered that. “We'll figure that out when we have those conversations.”

Rodgers reiterated that he wants to continue playing this season as long as he's healthy. But he declined to entertain a question about what he might do if the Jets made a change at quarterback.

“It's a hypothetical, you know?” Rodgers said. “I'll tell you after the fact if that happens.”

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Romania’s leftists set to top polls in parliamentary election, but far-right populists see big gains

2024-12-02 08:18 Last Updated At：08:21

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Romania’s Social Democratic Party looked set to win the most votes in Sunday’s parliamentary election, incomplete data showed, while far-right populists were on track to make significant gains in the country’s legislature. The voting suggested widespread anti-establishment sentiment in the European Union and NATO member country.

With about 85% of the votes counted, incomplete electoral data showed the leftist PSD leading the polls with about 23.9%, while the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians, or AUR, was in second place with about 17.8%. The center-right National Liberal Party, or PNL, stood at about 14.5% and the reformist Save Romania Union party, the USR, was at 10.9%.

The legislative vote came a week after the first round of a presidential race that saw a controversial far-right populist who was polling in single digits win the most votes, which has since plunged the country into political turmoil. Calin Georgescu, 62, is due to face reformist Elena Lasconi of the USR in a Dec. 8 runoff.

Despite only being formed last year, the little-known right-wing populist Party of Young People — which has backed Georgescu for the presidency — appeared on track to pass the 5% threshold to enter parliament, as did the far-right nationalist S.O.S. Romania party. However, some diaspora votes were still being counted and could alter the outcome.

Incumbent Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu, who came in third in the first round of the presidential race and resigned as PSD leader, said after polls closed that they "need to look carefully” at Sunday’s results. “It is an important signal that the Romanians sent to the political class,” he warned.

George Simion, the controversial 38-year-old AUR leader who is a vocal supporter of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, told the media that the anti-establishment gains amounted to a “watershed moment” for Romania.

“It is a moment when, through our common will, Romania is reborn,” he said. “We are here … generation after generation, proving that nothing can defeat a united nation.”

In 2020, the AUR party went from relative obscurity to gaining 9% in a parliamentary vote, allowing it to enter parliament. It proclaims to stand for "family, nation, faith, and freedom.”

When polls closed locally at 9 p.m., about 9.4 million people — about 52.3% of eligible voters — had cast ballots, according to the Central Election Bureau. It was the biggest turnout in a parliamentary election since 2004. The vote will elect a new government and prime minister and determine the formation of the 466-seat legislature.

Many observers believe the presidential outcome indicated a sharp shift from Romania’s mainstream parties to more populist anti-establishment parties, whose voices have found fertile ground amid high inflation, high cost of living and a sluggish economy.

The parliamentary election was sandwiched between two rounds of the presidential race, the first of which sent shockwaves through the political establishment and led to allegations of electoral violations and Russian interference.

Georgescu’s success, which many have attributed to his rapid rise in popularity on the social media platform TikTok, has triggered nightly protests throughout Romania by those who oppose his past remarks praising Romanian fascist leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin and view him as a threat to democracy.

According to a report by Expert Forum, a Bucharest-based think tank, Georgescu’s TikTok account before last week's vote saw an explosion of engagement, which it said appeared "sudden and artificial, similar to his polling results.”

Without naming Georgescu, who declared zero campaign spending, Romania’s top defense body said Thursday that “a presidential candidate benefited from massive exposure due to preferential treatment” granted by TikTok. Romania has become a “priority target for hostile actions” by Russia, it added. The Kremlin denies it is meddling.

The same day, the Constitutional Court requested a recount of all 9.4 million votes after a presidential candidate who obtained 1% filed a complaint alleging the USR had violated electoral laws against campaign activities on polling day. The Central Election Bureau approved the request and said scanned reports were due to be sent in by Sunday night. On Friday, the court postponed a decision until Monday on whether to annul the vote.

Lasconi, the USR leader and former journalist, vowed on Sunday evening that “if we are united, the Russian bots on TikTok cannot destroy our democracy."

“I understand what is happening in society, I understand the anger, I understand the frustrations and that is why I am here now,” she said. "We really need to make a change and rewrite the political elite.”

Cristian Andrei, a political consultant based in Bucharest, told The Associated Press ahead of Sunday's vote that Georgescu’s success indicated that far-right parties would obtain record highs.

“The impact of the surprise in last Sunday’s presidential election will be significant, and we are going to wake up in a new political reality,” he told The Associated Press. “Georgescu voters will speak again and will reshape how we look at the political Romanian spectrum from now on and probably forever.”

“The most probable scenario will be a difficult-to-build majority in the parliament to support and endorse a new government,” he added.

Despite historically being Romania's two main opposition parties that have dominated post-communist politics, the PSD and the PNL formed an unlikely coalition in 2021, which became increasingly strained. A small ethnic Hungarian party exited the Cabinet last year after a power-sharing dispute.

While the presidential role in Romania has significant decision-making powers in areas such as national security and foreign policy, the prime minister is the head of the nation’s government.

Alexandru Rizescu, a 24-year-old medical student, says he was surprised by the result in the first-round presidential ballot and that it’s an “obvious sign” Europe at large is shifting toward far-right populism.

“Most of us are sick of these big parties, but now we have to think about the … lesser evil,” he said. “If Georgescu becomes president, with a favorable parliament, it’s going to be wild.”