It's only Week 2 but it feels like yet another Jets season is as good as over. After choking down the stretch in Week 1 against the Bills, the Gang Green were hardly ever in the game against the Browns tonight. As QB Sam Darnold was out with illness, Trevor Siemian started and looked atrocious before suffering an ankle injury in the second quarter. His replacement, QB Luke Falk, looked better but horrible cagey playcalling along with the defense giving up an 89-yard TD pass, never allowed the Jets to get back in this game.
The defense actually looked pretty good, stopping the Browns time after time despite hardly getting any rest, as Siemian led offense kept going 3 and out. Unfortunately, it lasted for only two and a half quarters until Mayfield connected with OBJ who easily outran Jets defenders on his way to the end zone.
Falk found somewhat of a rhythm in the 3rd quarter and led the Jets on their longest drive of night at that point. When the drive got stalled inside the Browns' 15-yard line, Adam Gase decided to go for it. RB Le'Veon Bell could only get 1 yard on a fourth-and-2 pass, turning the ball over on downs at the Browns 11. This turned out to be the deciding moment of the game, as Mayfield hit Beckham with a slant pass on the very next play, putting Cleveland up 23-3.
It's hard to blame Gase for that decision but his horrendous playcalling in the first two quarters is a different matter. It was like being back in the "not to lose" days of the Herman Edwards' regime... scared, cagey, predictable. Gase refused to open it up with Siemian and paid the price. The offensive line's horrible performance did not help either, as they were consistently overrun by the Browns' pass rush.
Well, the Patriots are next, then it's the Eagles, the Cowboys and the Pats again. A 0-6 start seems like a definite possibility at this point. It's the Same Old Jets after all...