Ahead of the New York Jets’ Week 7 game against the Carolina Panthers, I pitched a poll on Twitter (ugh… “X”) asking fans what they were rooting for against Carolina and over the rest of the season.
These were the results.
What is your rooting approach for the Jets going into today and moving forward?
— Michael Nania (@Michael_Nania) October 19, 2025
Win as much as possible: 23.4%
Focused on young guys: 18.7%
Apathy: 27.2%
All in on tank: 30.7%
New York went on to lose 13-6, falling to 0-7 on the season.
In addition to the loss, the Jets put on a circus performance throughout the week.
After benching their starting quarterback at halftime (and still scoring no touchdowns), the Jets’ owner publicly bashed that quarterback, likely assuming he wouldn’t be the starter moving forward. However, due to an injury to the backup who replaced him, that quarterback will now be starting in front of the owner who said “any head coach with a quarterback like that” would produce similar results.
Given the team’s seventh straight loss and ensuing drama, I was curious to find out if the fanbase’s outlook had changed at all over the last seven days. Ahead of Sunday’s Week 8 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, I pitched the same poll as I did seven days ago.
With over 450 votes as of this writing, here are the results, along with the changes from last week:
Win as much as possible: 17.1% (-6.3%)
Focused on young guys: 23.6% (+4.9%)
Apathy: 31.8% (+4.8%)
All in on tank: 27.5% (-3.2%)
Overall, the fanbase’s mood hasn’t changed significantly, but there are a few noticeable shifts.
Quite a few voters have given up on rooting for the team to win as much as possible. Of those who pivoted, some turned their focus to New York’s young players, while others turned to apathy.
Interestingly, despite the Jets falling to 0-7 and displaying further dysfunction during the week, a slightly lower percentage of voters are rooting for the team to tank than last week. It seems that many beaten-and-battered Jets fans have lost the energy to even root for losses.
You can’t blame them. Five years ago, a large chunk of the fanbase invested in tanking for Trevor Lawrence, only for the team to blow it after an 0-13 start. The result: Zach Wilson. After that experience, it makes sense why many Jets fans are uninterested in rooting for losses again.
Plus, even if the Jets successfully tanked for Lawrence, it probably would have done little to alter the franchise’s fortunes. Nearly halfway through his fifth NFL season, Lawrence has yet to establish himself as even a league-average starting quarterback. Despite his lack of success, the Jaguars are stuck with him, as he signed a five-year, $275 million extension.
Simply put, tanking has gone out of style. After watching recent drafts yield a plethora of non-saviors in the No. 1 slot, from Lawrence, to Kyler Murray, to Bryce Young, we would be foolish to view the first overall pick as anything remotely close to a cure-all.
The Jets’ miserable start under Aaron Glenn has left the fanbase split into many factions. Instead of being united over the pursuit of victories and a playoff appearance, fans are forced to do mental gymnastics regarding whether they should root for wins or losses—or if they should root at all.