Jets' Defense Plummeted to Historic Low in Ugly Loss to Bills
There have been some bad Jets teams in the history of the franchise.
With the way this year's version of Gang Green has been playing, specifically on the defensive side of the ball, this 2021 team is currently shaping up to be one the worst of them.
New York allowed 45 points and 489 total yards in Sunday's shellacking at the hands of the first-place Bills. If you think this week was bad, though, zoom out a tad and brace yourself for some of these numbers.
New York has given up 1,890 total yards over the last four games, their worst four-game stretch in franchise history, per ESPN Stats & Info. Before the Jets, the last team to give up 45-plus points three times in a four-game span was the 1966 Giants.
Further, the Jets dug themselves deeper into the league's cellar in two major defensive categories this week. Gang Green is now last in yards allowed per game (417.1) and points allowed per game (32.9).
Oh, and the Jets still hold the lead for the worst turnover margin in football. After five turnovers on Sunday—including four interceptions from backup Mike White—New York has an appalling minus-15 differential on the year.
For a club that entered this season with a loaded defense, led into battle with a first-year head coach that has a defensive background, keeping opponents off the scoreboard was poised to be this team's strength.
So, why has New York struggled to this historic extent in recent weeks on defense?
"In the simplest of terms, lack of execution," tackle Sheldon Rankins told reporters after the game. "We're continuing to work to fix it. This is not a lack of effort thing. Guys are studying hard, making sure they're locked in to their assignments and the game plan. For some reason it's not coming together when we need it to. We'll continue to fix this thing, to fine tune, get back to the drawing board and we'll get this thing rolling, but it's been rough so far."
Perhaps Buffalo is an exception because of just how talented their top-ranked offense and star quarterback are, but this trend extends all the way back to the bye week a month ago. Injuries to key contributors (like Carl Lawson, Lamarcus Joyner, Marcus Maye and more) play a role in all this as well, but that can't be an excuse in the National Football League. Every team goes through injuries every season.
"Clearly, it’s not good enough," head coach Robert Saleh added. "It just hasn’t been good enough ever since that Tennessee game. We played Atlanta alright, but ever since that bye week, we haven’t been nearly as good as we have wanted to be. We have eight games left and from coaches to players, we have to find a way to get better every day."
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Captain C.J. Mosley was also critical of this unit, a group that was dismantled on Sunday by Josh Allen and Buffalo's offensive playmakers. The linebacker explained that New York needs to look in the mirror, figuring out a way to play together and strive to develop as a unit.
Stacking ugly losses together stings, but this is a young team. In order to reach the ultimate goal—a Super Bowl championship—it's going to take some time and plenty of hard work. Part of that process is weeding out the players that don't have the fortitude to continue grinding when human nature suggests it's time to throw in the towel.
"You love putting in that work. And when the success does happen, it feels that much better," Mosley explained. "So, I feel like we built a foundation in the OTAs and all this, and it might have found some cracks here and there in the foundation, but you can’t have a strong house without a strong foundation. So, I feel this character-building moment, this season, we’re going to really see what our foundation is like. And is it going to crack or not."
Mosley added that it starts with eliminating big plays. Beyond that, it all boils down to execution. No matter how good this team looks in practice during the week, if they perform this way between the lines on Sundays, these are the types of games that fans will be forced to watch every single weekend.
New York has an opportunity over the next few weeks to turn their season around on the defensive side of the ball. Their next three opponents (Miami, Houston and Philadelphia) are all under .500, teams that the Jets have a real chance of beating if they play quality football.
And as frustrating and disappointing as this stretch has been, Saleh and several members of this defense believe that New York will be able to make a change and right the ship with maximum efficiency.
"It can only go up from here. I think we've played overall about as bad as we can play at times," Rankins said.
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