After ugly loss to Browns, Jets' season might already be unsalvageable
At least the New York Jets won’t be the worst team in the AFC East.
While the Jets didn’t sink to Miami Dolphins lows, they couldn’t have exited Monday night’s 23-3 loss to the Cleveland Browns feeling anything but despair for the rest of the season.
Quarterback Sam Darnold is out with mono. Replacement Trevor Siemian wasn’t good and then he was knocked out with an ugly looking ankle injury. Third-string quarterback Luke Falk didn’t impress in his NFL debut. And Adam Gase isn’t good enough of a coach to fix this mess.
The Jets are 0-2 and it’s hard to see it getting much better. There are 14 games still to play.
Jets offense was stuck vs. Browns
The Jets had minus-13 net passing yards in the first half. If you were fortunate enough to have not watched on Monday night, it was just as ugly as you’d imagine.
Siemian was content to check every pass down before Myles Garrett landed on him and his leg bent in a bad way. Siemian came out and Falk came in for his first NFL snaps.
The Jets offense was uncreative and conservative with Darnold in Week 1, and that’s becoming a Gase calling card. It wasn’t better in Week 2. For a supposed offensive guru, his offenses in Miami and now New York haven’t been very good.
Gase also made a bad game management mistake at the end of the first half. The Jets were backed up at their own 12-yard line. They threw a second-down pass that was incomplete and stopped the clock. The Jets then ran on third down, let the Browns call their final timeout, and Cleveland had a short drive for a field goal on the last play of the half. Instead of just running out the half, Gase gave the Browns three free points.
It probably didn’t matter because the Jets weren’t going to score much anyway, but it’s the kind of mistake that doesn’t inspire confidence in the Jets’ new head coach.
Jets off to bad 0-2 start
Even if Siemian’s injury isn’t as bad as it looked, nothing he did Monday night should excite anyone. Falk completed some passes (he finished 20-of-25 for 198 yards) but didn’t get the Jets in the end zone.
Teams can have their seasons turn fast. In Week 1, the Jets had a 16-0 lead on the Buffalo Bills. They blew that lead and lost. Then Darnold was ruled out for Week 2 and he might be out a while. By the end of Monday night’s game, it was hard to muster up any encouraging words for Jets fans. There’s a lot of the season to go and the Jets are already at a low point.
The Jets have to regroup because in Week 3 they play (checks notes) ... at the New England Patriots. Gulp.
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Frank Schwab is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdown.corner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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