It was ugly from the start for the Jets in their 31-12 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
U.G.L.Y. … you know the rest of the song.
And there was no logical alibi for why the Jets looked like a team which didn’t belong in the same stadium as their opponent.
The Jaguars are tough, they’re double-tough. But the Jets are good enough to at least compete long enough to hang.
At least, that’s what we all thought.
The defense is supposed to be the core of this team’s strength. They were once again outplayed and undisciplined.
Here are a few takeaways from what went wrong, and continues to go wrong, for the Jets:
Jets run game still invisible
The run game just hasn’t been there for the Jets this season.
28 rushing yards, on 13 carries, means there’s a high likelihood your team’s throwing the football too much.
Isaiah Crowell and Bilal Powell are solid running backs. Why isn’t there more of a commitment to them in the first quarter?
The Jaguars set the tone for this game early with Leonard Fournette (before he left the game because of injury) and Blake Bortles scrambling all over the place.
The Jets are finding themselves in 3rd and long situations early, it played a huge role in their loss to Jacksonville.
Simplifying the offense, to place more of an emphasis on the run-game early, can only help Sam Darnold.
Too many penalties
Jets head coach Todd Bowles has to clean this up. What is he waiting for? Because the Jets continue to shoot themselves in the foot with momentum-killing penalties.
Eric Tomlinson’s holding call canceled out a great catch by Chris Herndon, it would have been a 30-yard pickup for the Jets.
Wide receiver Quincy Enunwa made a great play late in the game, a 42-yard gain. Then he spikes the ball and gets flagged for a five-yard penalty.
Safety Jamal Adams gets hit with an unnecessary roughness penalty, again late in the game.
Playing aggressive and with passion is great, but there still needs to be discipline. Where’s the balance?
The buck stops with Bowles on this.
Enough with the empty backfield
The Jets, on multiple occasions, went to an empty backfield formation and repeatedly failed to produce anything. On a third down and one, an empty backfield is ridiculous.
This isn’t helping rookie quarterback Sam Darnold, it’s hurting him. The lack of a consistent run-game plays a big part in this. But what good is it to spread the offense if all Darnold’s doing is dumping it off to the running back anyway? Offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates needs to find his play-calling groove with Darnold.