It wasn’t pretty from the opening kickoff at MetLife Stadium on Sunday afternoon with rain drizzling all over the Jets and the Denver Broncos. To make matters worse, Aaron Rodgers was sacked on the first play of the game – one of five sacks New York’s offensive line allowed in Sunday’s 10-9 loss.
Plenty of things could be pointed to as to why the Jets lost, but most glaring was the amount of penalties the team was hit with – an issue last season and in years prior under head coach Robert Saleh. They finished with 13 penalties for 90 yards compared to Denver’s five flags for 74 yards.
“A lot of pre-snap penalties which is just unacceptable,” Saleh said. “That’s the stuff that we have to get cleaned up. You’re always gonna have in-play penalties, those are gonna happen, but the pre-snap and post-snap penalties are the ones that are unacceptable.”
Unacceptable, yes, but for some reason they keep happening.
“We got to figure it out. Whether or not we’re ready to handle all the cadence, cadence had not been an issue all camp. Felt like our operation had been operating pretty good. Obviously today it took a major step back,” Saleh said.
Despite the less-than-ideal weather conditions and the overall poor performance, the Jets did have some opportunities to come away with a win, but they failed to convert on those chances at almost every turn.
In the first quarter, after a fumble recovery set New York up in prime territory, the Jets had the ball on the one-yard line and three chances to punch it in. It was going to be four chances after Saleh decided to go for it on fourth down, but a false start penalty forced them to kick a field goal.
“The reality is it was gonna be tough sledding no matter what with the way the rain was coming down, but what’s disappointing is the self-inflicted wounds that come with it, Saleh said. “When it’s wet and it’s bad the way it was today you’ve got to be great with your details and we gave up a lot of yards that we didn’t need to give up.”
Greg Zuerlein could’ve given the Jets the lead late in the fourth quarter with a 50-yard field goal which is certainly no chip shot, especially in the rain, but missed wide right to give Denver its second win of the season.
Before the field goal attempt, Rodgers couldn’t connect with his wide receivers, including Garrett Wilson who had just five catches for 41 yards and a fumble, to make it a little easier for Zuerlein and it appeared nobody was on the same page with receivers nowhere near where the ball was thrown on two separate occasions.
“They’ll start to get in sync,” Saleh said about the quarterback-receiver connection. “Those are things that Aaron is seeing and looking for guys to look in his direction to settle into certain zones and windows, but those will come along. Obviously we want it to happen now, but we’ve definitely got to get in sync quicker.”
Overall, Rodgers played fine, completing 24 of 42 passes for 225 yards and even showed off his 40-year-old legs with 26 yards on the ground on five carries. While it wasn’t his best showing, he wasn’t the reason the team lost.
“We’ll see it on tape, but he was under duress most of the day.” Saleh said on how his veteran quarterback played. “I thought he did a good job getting in and out of the pocket and buying some time and throwing off schedule.
“It was just, like I said, there wasn’t a lot of space out there, especially in the first half the ball was very heavy with the rain, you could see it on their side too they were also having trouble, but the issue wasn’t the quarterback it was, like I said, pre-snap penalties and a lack of execution up front.”
Breece Hall had an uncharacteristically off day, rushing for just four yards on 10 carries in a game New York could’ve leaned on him considering the weather conditions. The running back was also unable to score from the one-yard line and after the game Saleh was asked why he didn’t go with rookie Braelon Allen, who already has two touchdowns this season, in that spot.
“It’s definitely something we can look at,” Saleh said. “It was still kind of early when that play came about and like I said we’re always gonna lean on Breece, he’s our workhorse back and Braelon got a few more carries as the game went on… It’s definitely something to look at.”
If the Jets have aspirations at the playoffs this season which they clearly do, games like Sunday are ones they have to find a way to win, no matter what it takes.
Now, at 2-2 and getting ready to travel to London to take on the 4-0 Minnesota Vikings and familiar face Sam Darnold who is playing at the highest level of his career, questions will begin to surround this team once again as its postseason window gets smaller and smaller.“It’s still very early but at the same time these are games you want to come away with obviously,” Saleh said. “And looking back on it, like I said, we had opportunities we just didn’t take advantage of not a single one of them.”