The Jets suffered their worst loss of the young 2020 season on Sunday to the Dolphins. That is saying something considering how bad this season has been for the 0-6 Jets. It was just an awfully embarrassing beatdown by a divisional opponent, as the Jets were not competitive and thrashed from start to finish. The game was a wash after about one quarter. Miami shutout New York, 24-0. The Jets now stand as the NFL’s only winless team and are in pole position for the #1 pick in the 2021 NFL Draft. That pick means the right to draft star Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. There are a load of teams that want Lawrence, but it is highly unlikely that anyone will be worse than the Jets this season. Lawrence is the lone light at the end of the tunnel for Jets fans. It will be a long and painful journey to the end of this season before the draft order is set however. It has been awful to watch and it reached a new low point on Sunday. Let’s get into the latest disappointing loss.
Jets Offensive Recap
To put it bluntly, the Jets offense was completely non-existent in the loss to the Dolphins. Scoring 0 points in today’s NFL is just unacceptable, and obviously always results in a loss. The offense was wildly inefficient and the play calling was bland. Joe Flacco struggled in his second start with the team and the offense came up short in crucial moments of the game once again. The offense had practically 3 quarters of garbage time to play freely and still managed to come up empty.
Joe Flacco had an atrocious QBR of 11.1. His completion percentage was below 50% and his average yards per pass was 4.2. These are simply bad and completely inefficient numbers. These numbers are especially poor when you consider the fact that most of this game was played in garbage time. That means the defense is not playing as hard and the offense passes much more, which they did. The execution failed and the Jets could not even put up a measly field goal.
Breshad Perriman (4 receptions, 62 yards) and Jamison Crowder (7 receptions, 48 yards) both put up some solid numbers. Neither was enough to mask the inefficiencies as the offense as a whole however. These inefficiencies included third downs, where the Jets were historically bad.
The Jets finished the day going 2-17 on third downs. That is terrible. They also punted a whooping 10 times, cushioning their league lead in punts. These show that it was a historically bad game for the Jets.
The Jets offensive line was decent in the run game as the team ran for 115 yards on 5.2 yards per carry. However, the offensive line was very poor in pass blocking once again. Joe Flacco was under constant duress as he was hit 10 times.
The coaching and play calling was subpar for another game. This has become a theme for the Jets under head coach and play caller Adam Gase. He always makes some bizarre decisions, and that happened again on Sunday. Frank Gore and La’Mical Perine weren’t exploding in the run game, so Gase made a good call to get young running back Ty Johnson involved for the first time as a Jet. He was recently picked up and was lighting in a bottle against the Dolphins. Johnson rushed for 42 yards on just 3 carries. Gase inexplicably barely gave him the ball instead of riding his hot hand. It was another poor decision and game all around for the head coach.
The Jets offense is clearly the worst in the league and is heading the wrong direction. The shutout on Sunday was just another showing of how bad this offense is as they await the returns of quarterback Sam Darnold and wide receiver Denzel Mims. The offense also lost a whole dimension with the release of Le’Veon Bell. It will continue to be a trying season if the offense can’t generate anything.
Jets Defensive Recap
The Jets defense was fine in the disappointing loss. They forced turnovers and only giving up 24 points was partially impressive considering the circumstances. The offense put them in awful field position and on the field too much as the Jets struggled to score.
The defensive line got 2 sacks but did not generate enough pressure during the game. They don’t have the personnel to put the opposing quarterback on the ground often. They are still in desperate need of an elite edge rusher.
Marcus Maye and Brian Poole both snagged interceptions. Forcing turnovers are huge to win games, which they did, but to no avail of a win. Maye and Poole are probably New York’s two best players and they have been studs in the secondary of a poor defense so far. Maye’s interception was acrobatic and wild.
The Jets run defense struggled a bit. They gave up an efficient 91 yards on 18 carries to Myles Gaskin. They need to be a bit better in containing the run game.
To put it quite simply, the Jets defense needs upgrades all over the field. The only guys on this defense that seem worthy of keeping for the future are Quinnen Williams, maybe rookie safety Ashtyn Davis, as well as the aforementioned Maye and Poole. That leaves needs for at least one defensive tackle, two edge rushers, two middle linebackers, and two cornerbacks. It will be an interesting defensive makeover this offseason.
The Jets defense was put in a practically impossible situation and did a fine job. With no support from the offense, but a load of hinderance from them, the defense was semi-impressive. Only giving up 24 points is at least an average performance given the offense. Don’t get me wrong though, this unit is not great.
Final Thoughts
The Jets are the NFL’s undisputed worst team. They may be one of the worst teams in the history of the league. The mixture of awful personnel, execution, and coaching is a recipe for disaster. Disaster has unsurprisingly been the prime result. They need to at least bring a ton of energy and effort if they want to have a chance to win games and have some fun. This season has been and looks like it will continue to be hard to watch. Like I said earlier though, the prize of Trevor Lawrence may be all worth it.
Week 7 Outlook
The New York Jets host the Buffalo Bills this Sunday at 1:00 PM EST. The game is on CBS. The 4-2 Bills look to end their two game skid and get their second win against the Jets already in the young campaign. It will be another uphill battle for New York as they face a very stout Buffalo team. The possible debut of rookie wide receiver Denzel Mims may excite the Jets as they hope to at least make the game competitive. It may get ugly for the Jets in another divisional matchup.
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