FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Not all losses are created equal. But for a team looking to improve on the scoreboard, even a hard-fought loss to a division rival isn't good enough for the New York Jets and head coach Aaron Glenn.
Gang Green battled hard, but similar mental and physical mistakes cost them dearly in a 26-19 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.
"I don't think anybody feels good about being 2-4, but I do feel good about the effort that we played with," Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said. "I do feel
good about a number of things that we're doing. There are just some things that we have to get ready to fix."
It appeared New England was going to run away with the game after one half of play. They led 17-3 and took advantage of several coaching mishaps by the Jets. But New York clawed its way back in the third quarter to cut the deficit to four going into the final frame.
From there, though, New York failed to take advantage of opportunities and ended up losing to a Patriots offense that saw three touchdown passes by Drake Maye. The loss drops them to 2-4 on the year.
Despite the loss, there were still plenty of studs from the Jets, and a fair share of duds. Let's go through the list now.
Stud: Braelon Allen
The best overall player on the day for New York was Braelon Allen and it wasn't close. New York's power back repeatedly ran Patriots players over and kept the Jets offense on schedule for most of the afternoon.
In total, Allen recorded 78 yards rushing on 17 carries and added 26 yards receiving on two catches. That comes out to 19 touches, 104 scrimmage yards, and 5.4 yards per touch.
And the coaching staff was thrilled.
"Braelon was doing a hell of a job, and he was popping those runs," Glenn said.
The more Allen plays like this, the more obvious it is that the team needs to split his carries with Breece Hall when he comes back from injury - not keeping him just a situational back.
Dud: Jets coaching
New York's coaching staff may have been pleased with their running game, but it's clear how much of a hindrance they were for the entire roster on Sunday. Any football game can be chalked down to coaching and players executing.
The problem is the Jets executed. New York's coaches didn't put them in good positions to succeed, though.
Here was my tally on some of Glenn's biggest mistakes from the afternoon.
- Challenging a first quarter completion by A.J. Brown. New York won the challenge, but it was an inconsequential play in the grand scheme of things. New England scored a touchdown on the very next play.
- Not kicking a field goal on fourth-and-1 at the Patriots 30 and down by four. New York could have taken the points early, but instead got stuffed in one of multiple fourth-down failures.
- Running out of shotgun on second, third, and fourth and short on the ensuing drive. There was really no creativity, and the fact they didn't trust Geno Smith to pick up the first down passing didn't make much sense.
- Using David Bailey out in zone coverage against Brown.
And that was all in the first half. All in all, the coaching staff does get credit for making adjustments to start the second half. New York never quit, and the fact that they had the Patriots battling late in the fourth is a good step.
But it wasn't just Glenn who struggled. Offensive coordinator Frank Reich has watched his starting offense get players healthy, and be unable to do anything with the new pieces. New York has failed to put up more than 20 points in each of their last three games. He also has struggled to find answers when teams send pressure.
2-4 is 2-4. Aaron Glenn is 5-18 as a head coach. Frank Reich's offense is among the worst in the league. Until those numbers change, there will be concern if New York has the right man in charge.
Stud: Omar Cooper Jr.
What a debut for Omar Cooper Jr. The rookie out of Indiana missed the last four weeks due to an ankle injury suffered on opening day. In his first full game as a member of the Jets, the 30th overall pick caught six passes for 103 yards and his first career touchdown.
"I feel great. I was grateful that God blessed me a lot to have that opportunity," Cooper said. "It was a great feeling, felt good to
finally be able to be back out there."
Cooper is the second Jets rookie to record 100 yards receiving after Kenyon Sadiq recorded one in a Week 3 loss to the Detroit Lions. If Cooper can build off this performance, it should make New York's offense an explosive group moving forward.
This was an encouraging breakout for the rookie receiver after missing so much time.
Stud: Jamien Sherwood
Not a lot went right for the Jets defense on Sunday, especially within the line of scrimmage. One player who did perform well, though, was linebacker Jamien Sherwood. The veteran linebacker has struggled to start the season but was one of the Jets' better defensive players on Sunday.
He led the team with 11 tackles, one for a loss. He also added a fumble recovery and a quarterback hit.
His best play came late in the game. Maye found Demario Douglas for a deep completion, one that seemed to be a sure-fire touchdown. But Sherwood chased after the receiver and ended up forcing a fumble on the play. Sherwood never gave up on the play. That's something Glenn and the rest of the defense will appreciate.
After a slow start, Sherwood is starting to play pretty well. On Sunday, he might have had his best game in years.
Dud: Jets' Interior Lines
New York's coaching staff was horrible all game. One group who was just as bad if not worse was their interior line.
The Jets needed to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball if they had any hope of pulling off an upset. Offensively, the team gave up three sacks, struggled against pressure, and failed on multiple short-yardage situations. Defensively, the Patriots bracketed Will McDonald and David Bailey and dared their interior defensive linemen to make a play.
The collective of Jowon Briggs, Harrison Phillips, and T'Vondre Sweat was nonexistent when it came to generating pressure. Just as they have been all season.
"It's hard to explain, to be honest with you, because I have all the confidence in the world in our front and being able to cause havoc," Glenn said. "I give them credit, they did a good job of chipping and thumping and doing all they can to our edge guys, and that was their deal. We've got to do a better job of now getting some of this interior pressure."
This group needs to play a lot better moving forward.
Stud: David Bailey
New York's defensive line was a disaster all game. They were blown off the ball, and got minimal pressures all game. In fact, second-overall pick David Bailey put up a goose egg in sacks after a three-sack day the week prior.
Still, Bailey found a way to be impactful. The edge rusher forced a fumble midway through the third quarter deep in Patriots territory. He has improved in run defense, and while he wasn't as dominant compared to past weeks, the fact Bailey's bad game still saw a big play made is a really good thing for the Jets.
Especially since the Patriots made it a goal to make sure he wouldn't beat them all game.
Dud: A.J. Brown
A.J. Brown spent the better part of the last two seasons crying about his desire to be one of the greatest receivers of all time and needing an elite quarterback to do so. Turns out, even having an elite quarterback didn't exactly help him on Sunday.
Brown dropped four passes and was easily New England's worst offensive player on the field. He's missed the last few weeks with an ankle injury so rust could have played a part in his poor performance.
But from not celebrating with the team when they scored a touchdown, to so many dropped passes, it might have been one of the worst games of Brown's career.
Dud: Garrett Wilson in Frank Reich's offense
Make no mistake, the Jets may have a major problem on their hands when it comes to Garrett Wilson. The star receiver has been a consummate professional throughout the four losing seasons he's been with the team. Even to begin this year, he has been relatively patient as the new offense gets installed.
Sunday's performance showed just how frustrated the receiver is. And it's not his fault either.
Wilson saw just six targets on the day and just two going into the fourth quarter. While he finished with four receptions and was followed by Patriots star cornerback Christian Gonzalez, New York did very little to get the ball into his hands.
"I try and reason it in my head because we've got a whole other fourth quarter and I know that the game can change at any moment," Wilson said after the game. "Just try and keep playing my role, waiting for that moment that they want to call on me."
And that's a reflection of offensive coordinator Frank Reich's poor ability to scheme players open for success. Unless things change, it may not be long before Wilson questions his future standing with the team going forward.
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