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I’m going to keep this introduction short and sweet this time, as there aren’t many positives to talk about between these two weeks. All I can say is that this felt like typical New York Jets football. And at least Garrett Wilson is sticking it out!
Week 7: Jets vs. Dolphins
My previous statement that this should be an “easy win” before getting into the tougher stretch of our season didn’t age well. It would’ve been sufficiently embarrassing that we gave Miami their first lead of the season on the opening drive, but that wasn’t all! The Jets awarded the Dolphins their first victory in a truly pathetic showing that the box score can’t fully express. New York didn’t lead for even a second. Basically, this single loss turned our season from better than expected to irredeemable — especially for head coach Aaron Glenn.
Many Jets fans, myself included, tried to wait it out with Glenn, staying optimistic that there was some chance he could be our long-awaited answer. However, the stats speak for themselves at this point: Glenn is 0-8 against AFC East opponents and 5-19 overall as head coach. In comparison, Adam Gase, who served as head coach from 2019-2020, went 9-23, and he is still seen as a representative of an all-time low for the organization. Even worse, across Glenn’s 24 games at the helm, the Jets have been outscored 107-6 in the final two minutes of the first half. This is honestly inexcusable and hard to even wrap my head around.
Going back to this game in particular, the Jets’ defense looked helpless in the face of Malik Willis and T.E. Greg Dulcich — who even is that? And while the offense wasn’t completely stagnant, they only had 25 minutes of possession, with 15 coming from the second half as the team scrambled to try and recover the game. I sound like a broken record at this point, but what is Frank Reich’s opposition to getting Garrett Wilson the ball? A mere three targets for our best player is absolutely ridiculous. We are the laughing stock of the NFL, and rightfully so.
If I must find a silver lining, we have an up-and-coming star in W.R. Omar Cooper Jr. His route-running abilities are truly incredible, and I’d love to see him and Wilson utilized in a “CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens”-esque way.
Week 8: Jets vs. Raiders
Let’s start with the silver lining: we finally got the ball to Garrett Wilson and Adonai Mitchell. Our overall offense was much more explosive than usual, with Geno Smith making many deep throws. However, we still struggled in the red zone, unable to convert when we needed to. This started on the first drive, where an impressive first two plays by Wilson and Braelon Allen put the offense at the two-yard line for a 1st-and-goal that ultimately only resulted in a field goal. It’s honestly insane how quickly the team can kill any momentum it manages to create.
Speaking of that, in the second quarter, the Jets took a 13-7 lead with an exciting touchdown from Isaiah Williams. Immediately after, Raiders returner Dylan Laube returned the kickoff for a 60-yard touchdown, offsetting the improvements made on the prior Jets drive. Truly pathetic.Â
The defense didn’t show up at all, allowing 38 points to be scored by the Raiders. The offensive strides don’t matter when you can’t get any defensive stops. Only one of our six losses has been by more than one score. This defense can’t get stops when it matters.
The offense isn’t safe from my scrutiny either. While Smith was able to complete multiple impressive deep throws, he also made many questionable passes. I can’t help but feel like many of his serious attempts were forced. And while Wilson was finally getting targets, some of the throws to him were forced, too. It also made us forget all about Omar Cooper Jr. I wish we could get all of our weapons involved at the same time.
I’m definitely not looking forward to the next two games against the Chiefs and Bills.
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