On a day where the Jets needed to show up with a top-flight performance to hold off the Seattle Seahawks, it was the team’s secondary which pulled a no-show at MetLife Stadium.
Seattle came away with a 27-17 win over the Jets which has fans frustrated and players equally frustrated along with scratching their heads.
When Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson wasn’t picking apart the Jets with short passes to the middle of the field, he was finding open wide receivers for long completions.
The most glaring case of this arguably had to have been Wilson’s 42-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Tanner McEvoy in the second quarter.
Wilson dropped back for a play-action fake which allowed McEvoy to slip by the Jets defense and high-step into the end zone.
With the exception of safety Calvin Pryor, who tripped and fell down on the play, there wasn’t a Jet defender near McEvoy.
Seattle finished with 354 total yards of offense, Wilson threw three touchdown passes. The Jets defense had zero interceptions.
“We have to communicate and execute better,” said Pryor after the game. “It’s simple.”
Darrelle Revis doesn’t look anywhere near the shutdown cornerback he’s been throughout his career. Pryor’s been inconsistent at best and continues to struggle with finding the balance between playing aggressive and not crossing the line with costly penalties.
Upfront, the Jets are feature a fearsome defensive line that features Leonard Williams, Sheldon Richardson, and Muhammad Wilkerson.
As good as that line is, their pass rush won’t matter if the secondary continues to allow receivers all the room in the world to roam the field.
The poor play of the Jets secondary is also wearing thin with the one voice in the room that matters, head coach Todd Bowles.
The long pass plays given up by the defense have contributed to why the Jets are 1-3 to start the season. It doesn’t help matters that the next two games on the schedule are road games against Pittsburgh and Arizona.
When asked why the Jets continue to allow long pass plays, Bowles was not in the mood for excuses.
“That’s a good question,” said Bowles. “There should be no excuse at this point in time. We’re not playing anything difficult. It just got busted back there and it needs to be corrected.”
And if there’s no corrections made?
“If it can’t be corrected, then we need to change people.”
At this rate, a change may have to come because the Jets can’t afford another disappearing act.