Strong Finish to 2019 Looking Like Fool's Gold for These New York Jets
An 0-2 start to the NFL season isn’t the end of the world for the New York Jets. But a third loss in as many games, given the way the Jets have played, could spell the end of a year where there was so much optimism in preseason.
The Jets are winless heading into Week 3, Sunday’s 31-13 loss to the San Francisco 49ers a damning indictment of failures on both sides of the ball. The Jets looked more like a team in need of rebuilding rather than one that spent the offseason supposedly taking a step forward in their rebuild.
Now with the Indianapolis Colts in the season’s third week, the Jets have to rebound. If they don’t, they face yet another dire start to the year in what could fast become a crisis.
“We just lost a football game, no one is jumping around and screaming. It sucks. No one is yelling at each other, we understand that we have to stay together,” quarterback Sam Darnold said after the game in his virtual press conference. “It’s only our second game of the season; obviously we didn’t envision these two games going like this. We have to keep our heads down, get to work and get ready for a touch Indy team.”
In the history of the NFL, only five teams have started 0-3 and made the playoffs. The Jets, in 1981, were the first team to do so. Of course, this is a team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2010 and has one winning record since. Breaking even on the year let alone the playoffs would be an accomplishment.
Truthfully, the playoffs were not a realistic outlook to start the season, but respectability certainly was not out of the question. And while Darnold can hit the talking points about watching the film, staying united and focusing on next week, the end game of this rebuild is very fuzzy.
Not only have the Jets lacked an identity over the past year under head coach Adam Gase, they don’t seem to have a sense of direction as a team. That isn’t to say that Gase is fully or partially at fault here but at some point, something has to give.
That 7-9 start and strong close to last year seems so distant for the Jets. It is beginning to look like fool’s gold.
There was an overreliance last year on star players such as safety Jamal Adams, an All-Pro a season ago, and talent such as wide receiver Jamison Crowder and even Robby Anderson. The 49ers, albeit at a different level in the NFL, didn’t miss a beat when edge rusher Nick Bosa and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo went down with injuries on Sunday.
The Jets, however, were lost without the likes of Crowder and running back Le’Veon Bell, neither of whom dressed on Sunday.
And while it is foolish to think that the Jets are at the same roster depth as the defending NFC champions, the inability now in consecutive weeks to have a reasonably functioning offense is worrisome. The regression of the defense to start the season is also a disturbing trend for the Jets.
The defense, after all, was the strength of this team last year and carried the Jets to six wins in their final eight games.
Yet it is the offense that is the point of contention for the Jets winless start. And while Darnold can point to a calm and focused locker room, this offense has sputtered to start the year.
He may not have regressed from last year but through two games, Darnold has certainly flat lined. An offense that the Jets invested heavily into rebuilding this offseason is bland at best but mostly weak and inefficient.
“Of course 0-2 can become 0-3; it can turn into 1-2. That’s the game of football. We believe in the guys we have in this room, this group,” wide receiver Braxton Berrios said after the game.
“I don’t think this is one of those history repeats itself type of things, this is a new team, a new year. Obviously it hasn’t started the way we wanted it to for whatever reason. But that’s why we have to go back [Monday] to the drawing board and figure it out.”
