The Jets fell 0-7 on Sunday with an 18-10 loss to Bill at MetLife Stadium. Here are some ideas and observations of the game:
.. Sunday’s defeat saw Sam Darnold defeated. During his zoom call with reporters, Darnold wore the look he had seen before from the Jets players. He looked like a beaten man. It seems like all the losers and struggles are sucking life out of Darnold. It’s a look that Mark Sanchez wore in 2012 when he had to answer questions about losing, interruptions and Tim Tabo. Darnold is now answering questions about getting lost, interruptions and Trevor Lawrence.
It hurts to see that. It provided Darnold with a lot of hope when it was drafted. It will become a franchise savior. Instead, he is eaten alive by the grief that the New York Jets have. The team has failed to give him a capable offensive line and competent receivers. The coach did not help them. It’s all a mess and the probable end is that the Jets are trading with him before the draft when Trevor Lawrence takes over.
This is not to say that Darnold should be acquitted. He continues to make terrible decisions, such as the one that led to the hurdle halfway through Sunday. He still doesn’t seem to be reading the defense well and that’s part of the defense issue. However, Darnold is difficult to evaluate because of his supporting cast.
Darnold had returned from injury the last two times. He led the Jets to a comeback win in Buffalo in 2018 when he came back from a foot injury and led to a win over the Cowboys last year when he came back after Mono. This time, though, he played his worst games. His pacer rating on Sunday was the second lowest level of his career. Only the “ghost” game against the Patriots was worse (6.6) he completed just one pass in the second half.
It looks like Darnold will be the second promising first round pick that flops with the Jets. It’s sad to see.
2. The same Dou Douglas’ remade offensive line is officially a flop. The group could not defend Darnold at all on Sunday. He was fired six times because the line on how to block Bill’s blitz packages seemed vague.
This was the fifth combination of different offensive lines this season. Josh Andrews started with a left guard instead of Alex Lewis (shoulder) and showed why he is backed up. Andrews was terrible. Remember, the Jets signed him to this off fashion and chose to keep him on Brian Winters to save some money. Winter began for Bill on Sunday.
At least Andrews is the backup. George Fent, Greg van Rotten and Connor McGover were brought in to get started here and they didn’t play like this. Fent, who was playing with a knee injury, felt terrible on Sunday.
There’s no way to fix the offensive line in the midsection, so the Jets just have to hope for improvement. This is not a se fion ason, however, another offensive line will be made up by Douglas and he needs to get it right this time.
3. I know we are not allowed to give Adam Gas credit for anything, but I thought it showed something with the decision to assign play-calling gender to Dowell Loggains. Anyone who has spent any time around Gas knows how important play-calling gender is to him and that is the part of the job that gives him relief. Obviously, the results didn’t come there. Gas put his pride aside and tried to do something different to spark the team by calling the loggains a crime. It almost worked.
I suspect Loggains will have to call during this week’s game against the Chiefs. Gass tried to stay out of the way of loggia last week, wanting Gains not to feel pressured by it. This week, there should be more collaboration. Gas probably saw some things on Sunday that might not have happened when he called the play over his head. They can find some answers working together.
4 He’s been losing this miserable Jets season, but second-year defensive lineman Quinn Williams is quietly putting in a pretty good season. He had four tackles, a third down bag and three quarterback hits against Bill on Sunday. He was following a really strong game against the Dolphins last week where he looked dominant ahead of time.
Now, Williams needs to do it on a consistent basis. He has to prove that he is not Leonard Williams, who will disappear for weeks at a time. Quinn Williams also needs to reduce the fine. He got a third pass on Sunday, the highest in the NFL. He needs to get down when hitting quarterbacks. But Williams shows progress and thinks it could be a building block for the future.
Declares State
The Jets have 14 passes of 20 yards or more. Only patriots (12) are less. On Sunday, he had a pass of 20 yards, a third and a 20 round at Braxton Barrios. The Jets will have to find a way to get some explosive plays or the defense will continue to flick them to the ground.
Surprising quick count
Frank Gore played just 16 overs, which was 28 percent. The Jets are shifting to La’Mical Perine, but I was still surprised to see Gore’s quick sinks so low.
Game Ball
Linebacker Neville Hewitt had 10 solo tackles and 13 total tackles in the game. Hewitt has been solid in the middle for the Jets this season, replacing CJ Mosley.
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