Jets Week 2 Recap: Loss vs. 49ers

Jets Offensive Recap

The Jets offense was as bland as ever in the loss. Sam Darnold had a strong day, especially considering that he was practically playing with a Practice Squad level offense. The play calling was atrocious once again and the playmakers did little to none in support of Darnold. Rookie left tackle Mekhi Becton did have a great day though, flashing his immense potential.

Darnold had a pretty good game in Week 2, much better than his Week 1 performance. Maybe it’s the limitations of the system, but he still has not shown much so far to prove that he is clearly the long term answer. His upward trend is positive however, and it shows his mental toughness. These last 14 games will decide if Darnold’s future is in New York or elsewhere. Darnold’s completion percentage improved from Week 1 to 2 and he threw no interceptions, playing smarter football in general. This flashy play at the end of the game was a reminder of Darnold’s crazy talent.

The run game was stagnant once again. Frank Gore was force-fed 21 carries and only mustered 63 yards. La’Mical Perine was criminally underused. The promising rookie only got 3 carries, but put him an efficient 17 yards. The offensive line did not do a great job opening up running lanes. However, left tackle Mekhi Becton did play a fantastic game. He was mauling people in the ground game and stout in the passing game. Becton allowed just 2 pressures on the game. Becton has been the highest graded offensive rookie by PFF so far in the young season. He has been simply fantastic, as displayed in the clip below.

The Niners were crushed by injuries but the Jets still got nothing going on offense. They were without Richard Sherman heading into the game and lost Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas during the game, whose injuries turned out to be season-ending.

The Jets lost receiver Breshad Perriman to injury during the game, and all the playmakers played poorly. Chris Herndon was just awful as were the backups at wide receiver. This may be in part due to the system, but the Jets desperately need bodies at wide receiver. Denzel Mims should help a ton when he is back healthy. Maybe sign a free agent? Pry the 47-year old Wayne Chrebet out of retirement? Anything is on the table.

The Jets offense needs to perk up as the season progresses. They missed an opportunity against a very injured team. Adam Gase better get them to show something soon or he’ll be fired by midseason.

Jets Defensive Recap

The Jets defense was more embarrassing than the offense on Sunday. They got absolutely shredded, and they were facing a backup quarterback in the second half. It was an awful performance in which they lacked energy once again.

The run defense was scary to watch. They gave 182 yards on the ground, including an 80-yard touchdown run on the first play of the game. The worst play of them all though was giving up a 55-yard run on 3rd and a whooping 31. The team showed no effort on the play below.

The secondary played bad again as well. Safety Bradley McDougald gave up a massive 118.8 passer rating allowed when targeted. Cornerback Blessuan Austin struggled after a strong Week 1, allowing a 103.8 passer rating when targeted. The scariest part about it was that the Niners were without All-Pro tight end George Kittle and star wide receiver Deebo Samuel for the whole game. Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was also out for the second half.

The lone bright spot on defense was defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. Williams had his best game as a pro by far. He had two sacks, a career high, on the game. He also was wrecking the Niners’ run game all he could. This is a huge step forward for Williams. The former #3 overall pick needs to be the game wrecker the Jets wanted when they drafted him in the future. This was a strong start.

The Jets defense mightily struggled against a bunch of San Francisco backups. They have to bring more energy as the season moves along.

Final Thoughts

The Jets are in an ugly spiral just two weeks into the 2020 NFL season. The team seems cemented as the worst team in the whole league. Head coach Adam Gase has to be let go soon. The team has played with no energy and it is very alarming to see so early in the season. It seems like it will be another long season in New York. All that the front office should hope for now is that the young players develop into long term cornerstones, which Becton and Williams showed on Sunday.

Week 3 Outlook

The New York Jets take on the Indianapolis Colts this Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium. The game will be at 4:05 PM EST on CBS. The 1-1 Colts looked fantastic in a Week 2 win over the Vikings. The Jets continue their search for win #1 in a tough matchup. New York needs to come prepared and bring more effort if they want any chance at winning this game.

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