Giving Out 7 Awards in Jets' Stunning Loss to Packers

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J — The New York Jets squandered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and fell in overtime to the Green Bay Packers in their home opener.

"This loss is not going to define who we are and what we’re about," Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said. "It’s always tough when you feel like you were right there in the thick of it and then you didn’t overcome and you let the other team overcome and win, and that’s something that’s tough."

New York will be frustrated after this game because it was a contest they should feel they dominated. They became the first team in NFL history to hold an opponent to under 200 yards of offense, win the turnover battle, and get 100 penalty yards for them, and still lose.

As always we have awards to dish out. Here are seven for fans to get frustrated over.

The "what the heck was that?!" Award: Jets offensive line

In Week 1, the Jets offensive line dominated the Tennessee Titans defensive line and All-Pro defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons. That is the same Simmons who dominated Week 2's performance against the Philadelphia Eagles and still, the offensive line looked so solid.

So what the heck was that this week?

Green Bay was without Micah Parsons and Javon Hargrave. Their best pass rusher was a solid Lukas Van Ness, but even he is nothing to really get excited over.

And yet, the Jets offensive line couldn't block a soul throughout the game. Van Ness recorded 1.5 sacks, New York averaged a pedestrian 2.5 yards per carry on the ground, and also didn't give Geno Smith much time to operate either. The Jets were sacked four times including back-to-back plays in overtime. The Packers didn't have any player who stood out on their defensive line, but it was their stunts that had confused the Jets line from the very beginning.

"(The Packers) pressured and stunted pretty much the whole game," Jets center Josh Myers said. "There was a lot of interior pressure and their safety was down in the box a lot today."

It's an inexcusable performance from the Jets on Sunday along their offensive line. They cannot take the next jump as an organization without the group playing well.

They were a major problem all game, instead.

The "revenge game" Award: Kingsley Enagbare

New York as a collective defense played very well. There were some specific winners like linebacker Jamien Sherwood and Andre Cisco, but the best player on the Jets defense was former Packer Kingsley Enagbare.

The free-agent pickup recorded his second sack of the season and also recorded a forced fumble that helped the Jets take a two-score lead going into the fourth quarter. Enagbare has been a nice signing for the Jets this offseason, even with Joseph Ossai still not ready to return to game action.

While I'm sure Enagbare would have preferred a win, it should feel good for him to show a strong level of production against the team that never really allowed him to take that next step.

The "Jekyll and Hyde" Award: Aaron Glenn

Sunday was a very frustrating game for Jets fans. There are some who are using it to call for Glenn's job again. Others are saying he directly cost the team the win with late-game coaching blunders.

I don't think either is accurate. But it was a clear Jekyll and Hyde kind of game for Glenn.

In the good, the Jets defense was superb again. They have held their first two opponents this season to just 4.7 yards per pass. They also were excellent in stopping the run against the Packers by forcing just 3.5 yards per carry. So far, Glenn declaring play-calling his "superpower" has been extremely accurate. The defense has been fun to watch.

His timeout and game management? Yikes.

Whether it was burning all three first-half timeouts early, or not using one when the Jets defense came up with a start with a minute remaining in the game, the in-game management when it matters most has been a problem for Glenn. Here was his answer about not using his final timeout with a minute to go in the game:

"If they would have punted it, they would have put us in a backed-up situation," Glenn said. "I think they could’ve punted the ball and put us in a backed-up situation right there, so that was the reason why."

Not good. The Jets cannot be successful if their coach is unwilling to get aggressive in a big moment like that.

The "Et tu, Brute?" Award: Jets' special teams

If I were to assign blame for who is at fault for the Jets' loss on Sunday, it would look like this:

20% Aaron Glenn
20% Frank Reich
30% Offensive Line
30% Special Teams

Two of the intended strengths of the team let the organization down when they needed it most. We've already broke, down how bad the offensive line was, but it was the special teams unit that was the most surprising.

Like Julius Caesar talking to Brutus when he was assassinated levels of surprise.

Isaiah Williams muffed two punts early in the game that pushed the offense back. Then, as if things couldn't get worse, the punt coverage team gave up a 63-yard punt return that gave the Packers a chance to tie the game in the fourth.

Chris Banjo has been an excellent special teams coordinator, but this might have been the worst day for the collective group.

At least Jason Sanders made his only field goal...right?

The "Ever hear of a QB sneak?" award: Frank Reich

Frank Reich coached Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett, and Carson Wentz. The similarity between all those quarterbacks is that they were good at quarterback sneaks. Any time the Colts or Eagles were found in third- or fourth-and-shorts, they would call a sneak and always seem to get it.

So why in the world would Reich call runs up the middle...from shotgun for the Jets?

Reich's play-calling and design were really bad on Sunday. But at the two-minute warning with the offense at midfield, New York faced a 3rd-and-2 and 4th-and-1. All they needed to do was go under center, shuffle the quarterback's feet, and they would keep the drive alive. Instead, Reich called shotgun plays and got stuffed both times. The offensive line deserves blame there, but the play-calling was completely bizarre.

Under no circumstances should an NFL offense put their ball-carrier five yards from the line of scrimmage to get a yard. Reich had a really bad game on Sunday and that sequence was the worst of them all.

The "It's not your fault" Award: Jets secondary

New York's defense was not the reason for the team losing on Sunday. Giving up 17 points in regulation should be enough to win for any team in the league.

The most valiant effort, though, came in the secondary.

In the week before, Jordan Love threw for nearly 400 yards in a Week 1 loss. This week, the Jets held him to just 145 passing yards and an overall mediocre day by his standards. AZ Thomas, Brandon Stephens, and the team's collection of safeties all played very well.

While Jarvis Brownlee did give up a back-breaking late hit out of bounds penalty, he also had a good game. After the game, players even spoke about the penalty and how they had Brownlee's back going forward.

"As an aggressive player, there's going to be aggressive penalties at times, obviously untimely, but we trust him and I don't think we'll harp on him too much," starting safety Andre Cisco said.

If the Jets can keep playing this well in the secondary against good teams, they'll be in a lot of games this year.

The "Patches O'Houlihan" Award: Jets defense

If you haven't seen the terrific comedy movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story you should know about coach Patches O'Houlihan and his many sayings. One of the funniest was when he would call out to the Average Joe's team "will someone please catch a goddamn ball?"

That same question should apply to the Jets defense. New York forced five fumbles in Sunday's loss, and even had at least three opportunities to pick off passes, and end the longest interception-less streak in NFL history.

Instead, the Jets fell on just one of those fumbles, and dropped many opportunities to record a pick.

At some point, this unit needs to take advantage of the opposition effectively giving them the ball. Until that happens, though, there will be many games like Sunday: where the defense plays really well, but with the understanding that one big play could have changed everything.

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