The Jets suffered their third straight loss on Sunday, a gut-wrenching 22-17 defeat to the Patriots. At 3-8, the season is over, but there is plenty to pick apart from Sunday’s game. Here are some thoughts and observations from the game:
Nothing has shocked me more about this Jets season than how poorly the defense has played. They were not awful on Sunday. They held Tom Brady to his lowest quarterback rating this season. But they failed to make a big play — no sacks, no takeaways — and collapsed in the final minutes when they had to make a stop.
I fully expected the offense to take a step backward after an overachieving 2015. No one should have expected Ryan Fitzpatrick & Co. to duplicate that season, particularly against a tougher schedule. But I thought the defense would carry this team.
It hasn’t happened.
The secondary has been atrocious. The overhyped defensive line has been a total disappointment, other than Leonard Williams. The linebackers can’t generate pressure on the quarterback.
Jets coach Todd Bowles is a former defensive coordinator. He came to the Jets with a reputation for being able to find creative game plans no matter whom he had on the field for him. Frankly, we have not seen that at all.
The rankings are not poor. They are 12th in yards per game and fourth against the run. But don’t let those rankings fool you. This is not a good defense.
The biggest problem is their inability to make a play. They have nine takeaways. Only the Colts, Jaguars and Bears have fewer. The Jets had 30 takeaways last year, which was a huge reason for their turnaround.
The Jets started slow in the takeaway department and then had five over two games against the Ravens and Browns, both wins coincidentally. Bowles loves to say that takeaways come in bunches, but they did not for the Jets. They have gone three games since that game in Cleveland without forcing a turnover.
Without ever getting takeaways, it is impossible to score defensive touchdowns. That is something this team could use with an offense that has struggled. But you have to go back all the way to 2013 to find the last defensive touchdown by the Jets.
The other area the Jets are terrible in is sacks. They have 19 sacks, which ranks 29th in the NFL. Consider they had seven sacks in the season opener with the Bengals and you can see how futile their pass rush has been. This was the third game in which the Jets failed to register a sack.
Bowles defends the lack of sacks by saying sacks are not important, disrupting the quarterback is — meaning you can rush a quarterback without actually sacking him. You know who says that? Teams that don’t have a lot of sacks. Watch the Broncos and tell me sacks are not an important stat.
All of our focus has been on the quarterback situation this season, but the defense has been equally disappointing.
— Speaking of the quarterback situation … Bowles was noncommittal after the game about who his quarterback would be next week against the Colts. But I don’t see how he can go to Bryce Petty after the way he spelled out his logic last week. If Fitzpatrick gives you the best chance to win, nothing could have changed that opinion. Fitzpatrick played one of his best games of the season (a low bar, I know). Making a quarterback switch now would mean Bowles has completely altered his view of the season off of one loss. Is 3-8 that much different than 3-7?
If Bowles does turn to Petty, it will be akin to waving the white flag to his locker room. He will be turning his eyes to 2017, something he has resisted doing despite a public outcry to see Petty.
I think he will stick with Fitzpatrick, but it was interesting that he did not say that after the game. Remember the dustup after Arizona when he told the media he was staying with Fitzpatrick and then changed to Geno Smith the next day? Bowles basically said that week he always would stick with the incumbent in the aftermath of the game and tell the media that, reserving the right to change his mind a day later. So why not just say he is going with Fitzpatrick this week?
We’ll see what he does. Bowles is scheduled to speak to reporters Monday afternoon.
— Expectations for a draft pick are a funny thing. I’ll let you in on a little secret about draft coverage: We have no idea what we are talking about when players are drafted. Sure, you have your gurus — Mel Kiper, etc. — who study these guys, and even they get things wrong. But the rest of us rely on others to tell us about players. We cover NFL teams. There is no time to study every college player. So you rely on what scouts tell you and those draft guides and gurus.
I bring this up because of what I saw from Jets rookie Darron Lee on Sunday. He played a great game. He led the team with 11 tackles and played every defensive snap in the game, his first back fully healthy from an ankle sprain. Yes, he did give up the fourth-down pass on the final drive, but I’m not sure how he could have played that one better. It was a great call and great execution.
Lee is a much better linebacker than I expected. All of the talk around the draft was about his small size (listed at 232 pounds) and how that could hinder his ability to play the run. The thought was the Jets were taking him to be a versatile hybrid who could cover tight ends and running backs and also blitz from all over the place. Lee has been up and down in his coverage and has not really blitzed a ton. So, in a weird way, it feels like he has not lived up to expectations. But watching him Sunday, I was impressed by how this guy plays linebacker. He can go sideline to sideline, makes a ton of tackles and has no problem getting off blocks.
I think the Jets have a good player here. It just took an adjustment in expectations to realize it.
— I don’t blame the fans for selling their tickets on Sunday. This team is tough to watch and you pay too much for tickets anyway. I am curious to see what Monday night’s crowd looks like. I doubt there is going to be as much of a market for the opposing team, so Colts fans won’t invade. I think there will be a ton of empty seats.
The schedule makers hurt the Jets from a football standpoint with the early-season schedule and they hurt them from a business standpoint with all these home games at the end of a miserable season.
Revealing stat: It seemed like the Jets were getting to Tom Brady early in the game … and then they were not. According to Pro Football Focus, they had 13 quarterback pressures on Brady’s 50 dropbacks (0 sacks, 4 QB hits, 9 QB hurries). Williams led the way with six pressures. Sheldon Richardson had three. Muhammad Wilkerson had two. Lorenzo Mauldin and Jordan Jenkins each had one.
Surprising snap count: Brandon Bostick played 27 snaps, 12 more than Austin Seferian-Jenkins. It shows the Jets continue to value blocking more than receiving skills at tight end. They combined for three catches in this game, a shockingly high number for Jets tight ends.
Game ball: Quincy Enunwa had vanished the past two games, but he came back with a vengeance. He had five catches for 109 yards, including a great 40-yard grab and the 22-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter where he showed remarkable body control.