The New York Jets dropped to 1-6 after yet another bad performance against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Although he did not look as bad as six days ago, QB Sam Darnold still managed to throw three interceptions against a defense that had four interceptions in their previous seven games. Darnold now has seven interceptions in the last two games. He has thrown 5 TDs and 8 INTs this season.
Darnold looked excellent on the first Jets’ possession, as he completed all of his 8 passes and connected with TE Ryan Griffin to put the Gang Green up, 7-6. It all went downhill from there on. After the defense stopped Jacksonville’s ensuing drive, Darnold and Co. found themselves in excellent field position only to throw it back to the Jaguars two plays later. The Jaguars quickly responded with a 70-yard touchdown strike and never looked back.
As much as Darnold struggled against pretty average Jaguars defense, it was the offensive line that was by far the worst Jets’ unit in this game. Darnold was sacked eight times and hit 13 times. The running game averaged only 3.1 yards per carry and for who knows what reason star RB Le’Veon Ball was given the ball only nine times.
Long gone are the days when the Jets had one of the best offensive lines in football, led by Hall of Famer Kevin Mawae and then Nick Mangold. The current unit lacks talent and struggled in both pass protection and running game. Yet for whatever reason, the Jets brass keeps totally ignoring this glaring hole in the Draft and then tries to patch it up with past their prime free agents.
The Jets haven’t drafted an offensive lineman in the first round since 2006. That’s when they used their two first round picks on Nick Mangold and D’Brickashaw Ferguson, both of whom spent the next decade with the Gang Green. Instead, the Jets have been obsessively drafting defensive players, primarily linemen, most of whom turned out to be marginal contributors at best. It’s just plain stupid to draft a future franchise quarterback and sign top offensive free agents, while the offensive line remains one of the worst, if not the worst, in the league. This game is won and lost in the trenches. It’s Football 101 and apparently the Jets front office skipped that class.
Next Sunday the Jets will take on Adam Gase's former team, the winless Miami Dolphins. Another loss will draw direct comparisons with the only Jets team that was worse half way through the season - Rich Kotite's 1996 Jets that finished 1-15.