Yesterday, the New York Jets took on the defending NFC Champion San Francisco 49ers in their home opener at MetLife Stadium. It was a home opener like none other. This was largely since there were no fans, so nobody was able to tailgate pregame or lead the J-E-T-S chant before kickoff. Putting all of the hoopla of the Jets home opener aside, it was one to quickly forget.
The Jets were absolutely embarrassed by the 49ers since the very first play from scrimmage when they gave up an 80-yard touchdown run to Raheem Mostert. To make matters worse, the Jets defense was not able to buckle down the whole game as they lost 31-13. The ultimate crusher was allowing the 49ers to convert on a 3rd and 31 inside their own 10-yard line and the play went for a 55- yard run. It was pretty pathetic that the Jets were not being able to beat the 49ers without their starting quarterback, running back, or tight end. Yes, the Jets are pretty banged up too, but they did not have travel cross country.
In terms of the Jets offense, they had trouble all afternoon. QB Sam Darnold was under constant pressure and his receivers were dropping perfectly good throws. This is unacceptable and a recipe for disaster. During their past two games, they have averaged only 15 points. Darnold completed 21 of 32 passes for 179 yards, 1 touchdown, no interceptions. The saddest part is that the Jets did not turn the ball over once and still got blown out.
HC Adam Gase has been very conservative with his play calling the past couple of weeks and penalties continue to be a major issue. He is dialing up screen plays that wind up going for negative yards, kicking a field goal in the 4th quarter already down by multiple scores, and running the ball on 3rd and 18. Only an incompetent coach would call these types of plays. When the Jets first hired Gase, they hired him because he was supposed to have this “brilliant offensive mind” per CEO Christopher Johnson
but what brilliant mind calls screen plays knowing they will not work and runs the ball on 3rd and long. Johnson also gave Gase his “vote of confidence” to right the ship. I do not know what Johnson sees in Gase but I do know that as long as he is head coach, the Jets will never have a winning record. An interesting stat is that the Jets have punted the football about 3 times as much as they have scored a touchdown since Gase took over.
Next week, the Jets will travel to Indianapolis to take on the Colts. In order for the Jets to have a chance in this game, their defense needs to be ready to create turnovers because their quarterback Phillip Rivers is prone to them. Otherwise, they will be 0-3 and their season will just about be complete and all attention should be focused on next year. Try not to worry too much Jets fans...your team has to win at some point.
-Jack Henry Cicio
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