Winless Jets Get Absolutely Obliterated By Seahawks in Worst Loss of 2020
Last week, the Jets came seconds away from securing their first win of the season. On Sunday in Seattle, New York's 13th loss of the year was effectively decided only a few minutes into the first quarter.
After scoring on their first drive of the game, something this team has done in seven straight contests, the Jets allowed 40 unanswered points to Russell Wilson and the Seahawks.
Four excruciating quarters later, the final whistle blew to end New York's misery as the Jets fell 40-3 at Lumen Field.
Wilson threw for four touchdown passes and 206 yards in the Seahawks' ninth win this year, picking apart the Jets' beleaguered secondary with ease.
This game was so lopsided that Seattle didn't even need Wilson to play in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks brought former Jets quarterback Geno Smith in for garbage time, a period that began with a few minutes left in the third.
On the other side, Jets quarterback Sam Darnold managed just 132 yards against a defense that entered play as the worst unit in football at limiting opposing aerial attacks.
He was sacked three times and it would've been even more ugly had the Seahawks not dropped an interception three times.
The Jets are now three losses away from making the most humiliating type of history and becoming just the third team ever to finish a season 0-16. Here are three takeaways from the blowout that pushed New York's record to an embarrassing 0-13.
Never had a chance
The flight home from Seattle will be a long one for the Jets.
Even for a winless team, New York had established some momentum over the last several weeks. Forget about a 20-3 loss to the Dolphins in Week 12 and the Jets had scored either 27 or 28 points in every game since Nov. 1.
Again, last weekend the Jets were one or two plays away from their first win of the year. They played well enough to win.
On Sunday, it was a very different story. After their opening-drive field goal, New York came up empty on its next 10 drives. They couldn't establish the running game. After exploding for 200-plus yards last week, the Jets had a grand total of 69 rushing yards against Seattle.
Even when the ball made it into the red zone, something that happened twice on Sunday, the Jets simply didn't stand a chance.
The defense, under interim defensive coordinator Frank Bush, continued to struggle. Every few passes it seemed like the Seahawks had a receiver wide open. And on multiple occasions, when stops were made, they were taken off the board by costly penalties. The Jets were penalized seven times for a total of 50 yards.
New York plays against the Los Angeles Rams, Cleveland Browns and New England Patriots to finish out the season. After a performance like this, it's hard to envision this team being capable of securing a win against any opponent...
Sergi-oh no
New York's kicking game set the tone in the worst possible way to close out the first half.
Sergio Castillo, who's done a solid job filling in for an injured Sam Ficken these last several weeks, went 1-for-4 on Sunday. He drilled his first field goal, but missed three in a row on the Jets three final drives to finish the second quarter.
Instead of going to the locker room at halftime down 23-9, it was 23-3. That was already an insurmountable deficit.
Castillo started his stint with the Jets this season going 6-for-7 on field goal chances. The one "miss" in that span was a blocked field goal against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 8.
Now, and with Ficken still on injured reserve, Castillo has made just two of his last six tries over the last three weeks, even missing an extra point during that stretch.
Do the Jets go out and sign a new kicker now that Castillo is contributing to losing efforts? It might seem like a lost cause for this team overall, but those on the field are still doing their best to try and win games. Not being able to count on your kicker to capitalize on a quality drive, especially when those are few and far between, is especially debilitating.
Not going winless without a fight
It's hard to find positives from a 40-3 loss, but here goes nothing...
As this team has proven over the last several weeks, they're not surrendering without giving it their all between the lines.
Safety Marcus Maye, who has established himself as a rising star and leader in green and white this season, made an acrobatic interception in the first quarter.
Defending DK Metcalf, the NFL's leading receiver entering play on Sunday, Maye tipped the ball up to himself before making the grab as he fell into the end zone.
It was the only turnover New York forced against the Seahawks. If it's any consolation, watching Maye thrive sure does make Jamal Adams' departure an easier pill to swallow.
Adams sacked Darnold in second quarter to set the new single-season record for most sacks by a defensive back (with 8.5). He was constantly wreaking havoc on defense, as he's done all year for Seattle, even got involved as another former Jets defender, Damon Harrison, forced a fumble on Frank Gore.
Second-year cornerback Corey Ballentine was also a spark on special teams.
At one point, Ballentine singlehandedly put the Jets in position to get back in the game. He returned a kick early in the second quarter for 66 yards, nearly breaking free all the way to paydirt.
That didn't translate to points for the Jets on offense, however, as Castillo would miss a 37-yard field goal, his first of three misses. The Jets went 11 yards on seven plays in that drive.
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