This photo perfectly sums up how the Jets feel after their scoreless loss to the Dolphins in Week 6:
Feels pic.twitter.com/3F5prywFjO
— Connor Hughes (@Connor_J_Hughes) October 18, 2020
Somehow, some way, the Jets found out there’s something lower than rock bottom.
Not only did the offense fail to score a single point against the Dolphins, but the defense also allowed 21 first-half points and penalties sank multiple drives. Something went wrong even during the Jets’ possessions that moved down the field.
There isn’t much good to come from this loss, other than a better likelihood of the No. 1 overall draft pick in the 2021 draft. That, and maybe the idea that the Jets can’t get any worse than this week, though they’ve proven to top themselves before.
With little positive to focus on, here are four takeaway from Week 6.
Still undisciplined
Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
The Jets can’t stay out of their own way. New York tallied seven penalties for 80 yards in Week 6, including multiple instances of drive-killing infractions.
On the Jets’ second drive of the game, New York committed a false start, offensive pass interference and illegal motion penalty that took the Jets out of field goal range. They followed that up with a face mask penalty on the ensuing punt that gave the Dolphins great field position.
An intentional grounding penalty by Joe Flacco on third-and-1 from the Miami 24 pushed the Jets’ field goal attempt from 36 yards out to 55 yards. Ficken missed the attempt, his only one of the game.
These moments aren’t even counting the defensive penalties that helped push various Dolphins drives. The Jets need to reign themselves in if they want to maintain competitive in any games.
Horrific on 3rd down
(Allen Eyestone-The Palm Beach Post]
This is a weekly issue for the Jets, but the Dolphins game was especially bad. New York converted just two of its 17 third-down attempts, which didn’t even come until the fourth quarter. Between the conservative passing attempts and runs up the middle, the Jets rarely strung together enough plays to build a sustained drive. When they did, they typically still found ways to give up the ball or take themselves out of scoring range.
Converting on third down is the only way the Jets can score this season. They don’t have enough game-breaking players on offense to bust open long gains, so the dink-and-dunk strategy is the only one that could work. It hasn’t yet, and until the Jets solve their third-down offense it will remain an issue for this team for the foreseeable future.
Everyone is to blame
(Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports)
One of the biggest storylines heading into the game was a comment Gregg Williams made about the Jets offense earlier this week. He basically blamed Adam Gase and the offense by claiming “a lot of it’s not all defensively” when asked why the Jets have given up 32.2 points per game this season. Well, after one half on Sunday, the defense had given up 21 points and the offense hadn’t scored a point.
Who’s at fault for that? It’s clearly both on Williams and Gase. Neither unit did its job and that resulted in arguably the worst game the Jets have played this season. The defense did rebound in the second half by only giving up three points while the offense still couldn’t score, but that’s not enough to justify shifting blame entirely on the offense.
Old guys remain in
(Michael Reaves-Getty Images)
Without Sam Darnold or Le’Veon Bell, Gase continued to keep playing his veteran Jets for no reason instead of developing his younger ones. It didn’t end well again. Flacco kept his touchdown-less streak alive once more, and Frank Gore led the Jets with 70 yards on 15 total touches.
At some point, Gase – and Joe Douglas – will need to see what he has in his young players and that starts with fourth-round rookies James Morgan and La’Mical Perine. Morgan was a healthy scratch again for no real reason and Perine only saw 10 total touches. There’s no reason the Jets should be rolling with their older players while sitting at 0-6.
