Dyer: Sam Darnold's Ghosts are the Jets Failed Quarterbacks Before Him

Sam Darnold had positives and a few bad plays in Sunday's Jets loss at the Dolphins

There were ghosts on Sunday for the New York Jets, but this time they weren’t the opposition. Instead, they were the ghosts of quarterbacks past, who seemingly continue to haunt this franchise. 

There were some positives from Sam Darnold on Sunday in the New York Jets 26-18 loss at the Miami Dolphins but they were outweighed by a quarterback who continues to show signs of regression. 

The stat line wasn’t terrible for Darnold, who went a respectable 27-for-39 for 260 yards with a touchdown and an interception. But beyond the numbers, there is reason for concern that Darnold’s current situation is hurting his development in his second year as starter. It isn’t all his own doing. 

But he could help the situation a long a bit and ease the growing pains. 

Take the interception, thrown late in the first half and on the Dolphins goal line, a moment that showed a quarterback who didn’t make the smart move. Rolling out to his left and under pressure, Darnold simply should have thrown the ball away. Instead, he awkwardly threw into traffic. 

Darnold dodged responsibility for that interception after the game when addressing the media. 

The likes of Mark Sanchez, who showed promise but lacked consistency or Geno Smith, who rarely took responsibility before the media following poor performances are the ghosts that are starting to haunt Darnold. Not the ghosts that haunted him two weeks ago. 

Ghosts of quarterback failures from the Jets past. 

“Just sprinting out, sprinting out to my left. Once I saw everything was crowded, I tried to throw it away,” Darnold said in his press conference. “It didn’t work out.” 

It didn’t work out because Darnold threw into a crowded end zone when he could have - outside the pocket - simply thrown the ball out of bounds.

For so many years, this franchise has wanted a quarterback to build on. Those like Sanchez and Smith who came before Darnold were lauded and built up, often prematurely, to be the franchise's long-awaited answer under center. 

It is unfair, perhaps, to place this level of expectation on Darnold. But this latest incarnation of the Jets franchise quarterback must learn to control the narrative and the hype, knowing all too well that this city and fanbase rabidly wants him to succeed.

But is ready to devour him if he fails. 

With the loss, a demoralizing one and a third straight defeat for the Jets, the team is now 1-7. If hope hadn’t already faded on the Jets season, a loss to a once winless team will surely kiss this season goodbye. 

Darnold’s development is, at best, stalled. Behind an offensive line that allowed him to be sacked three times and be hit nine times, it wasn’t ever going to be a good learning situation for a second-year quarterback. 

“It’s not fun, every single game we try to go out there and win and put our best foot forward. Just didn’t today. We had a really good first drive, put some plays together and got a touchdown,” Darnold said. 

“After that, too much inconsistency. It starts with me, I have to get better. We’ll look at the tape, see exactly what happened and communicate from there. But we have to be more consistent.” 

Now the Jets needn’t panic on Darnold. A better offensive line and an offseason of growth and development can go a long way towards making this a simple blip in the radar for a quarterback who does look like the future of the franchise more often than not. 

But to avoid becoming just another name in the long pantheon of Jets failed quarterbacks, Darnold needs to step up and take full accountability. This loss isn’t solely on him. In fact, he did far more good than bad. 

But Sanchez, who showed promised, eventually wilted after moments like this. Smith never garnered the respect of his teammates after failing to take personal responsibility after losses. 

Darnold needs to step up and lead through accountability. Perhaps that is the greatest lesson of all he can learn from this season. 

Oh, and throw the ball away. 

“My confidence is never going to waver,” Darnold said. “I’m very, very confident in myself and in this team. We show, we have flashes of going down there and scoring, we just got to do it every single drive.”