It was a blood mess. Literally.
The Jets’ debacle in Dallas dealt a lancing blow to their offense and defense Sunday in their 30-10 loss to the Cowboys at Jerry Jones’ house.
It did literally turn into a bloody mess as fans from both teams engaged in a brawl that left blood stains on the AT&T &TStadium concrete floor.
Without Aaron Rodgers and facing a Cowboys’ team that has shown plenty of early signs of representing the NFC in this year’s Super Bowl, the Cowboys’ 8.5- or 9.5-point- line certainly looked legitimate.
The Dallas radio broadcast team was surprised that the Cowboys elected to receive the opening kickoff rather than defer to go after Wilson from the start.
It was that kind of afternoon looming..a bloody mess ahead.
Threegames into the season, the Jets are faced with a must-win situation this Sunday against New England.
Against Dallas, though, there was plenty of need for a football medic.
There was the Zach Wilson scenario when everyone expected the new starter to implode, notably under the rush of rising Cowboys’ one-man wrecking crew Micah Parsons, who stripped Dalvin Cook of the ball and apparently sprinted into the end zone.
However, Parson’s knee hit the ground and it was overruled on a replay decision.
It was one of two highlights for the Jets on the afternoon, the other being Wilson perfectly threading a pass to Garrett Wilson on a 67-yard touchdown pass.
Actually, the Jets were right there at the half, trailing 18-10.
But that was the extent of it for the offense and defense. The Jets looked mostly sluggish and the going-through-the-motions stage after halftime. They did manage to keep Dallas out of the end zone in spite of four field goals.
For the rest of the afternoon, it was a Texas Two-Step for the Cowboys, while the Jets had their feet tangled.
After his touchdown to Garrett Wilson, Zach Wilson began to show signs of apprehension and inconsistencies that have plagued him in the past. While rolling to the sidelines in the second half, he threw a bad interception.
It was one of three in the fourth quarter, and his line of 12-for-27, 170 yards resembled his struggling lines of the past. Unfortunately, Wilson looked like his old struggling self,and his teammates looked disinterested.
One puzzling fact was how the Jets abandoned their running game, as Breece Hall had only four carries and went to his X (Twitter) account to balk about it. The Jets ran the ball just 16 times and Wilson had five of those carries.
They also ran 42 plays to Dallas’ 86. They had the ball for 17:45. Unless you have a few view turnovers in your favor, it is nearly impossible to win.
But the most troubling part of the day was their defense. Cowboys’ wide receiver Cee Dee Lamb has 11 catches for 143 yards against Sauce Gardner. Ouch!
They looked listless after halftime and didn’t have any turnovers and one sack in their favor (see above). They did manage to keep Dallas out of the end zone in spite of four field goals.
Well, you have seen and heard most of this already, but it is important.
This blowout wasn’t expected, especially with their defense. I guess D.J.Reed can temporarily shelve the comparison to the 1985 Bears. And the Jets need to run the ball and respond to Zach Wilson.
The defense can redeem itself this Sunday against the Patriots at MetLife Sunday, as they need to play the key role in snapping the 14-game consecutive hold Bill Belichick has on his old club. Think back to the 10-3 loss at New England last year, a game the Jets easily could have won despite Zach Wilson’s 77-yard passing effort.
At this point, the Pats also look like a bloody mess.
If the Jets are to be respectable and beyond, it’s must-win time. Or there will be more bloody messes ahead.