Bills’ Problems On Offense Pale In Comparison To Jets’ Dumpster Fire
If only the Jets had the Bills’ problems.
I’ve seen a number of Jets fans taking pleasure in the recent pains in Buffalo, their AFC East Division rival who has lost three of its last four games going into Sunday’s rematch against New York in Orchard Park.
Only the Bills (5-5) have averaged 22.25 points per game in that span while racking up an average of 363 yards per game. Meanwhile, the Jets (4-5) have exceeded the above average point total just once all season and have eclipsed 300 yards of total offense three times in nine games.
The difference in standards is as vast as the Grand Canyon. Buffalo’s main issue has been turnovers, particularly the carelessness in quarterback Josh Allen’s decision-making. However, with their advanced weaponry, headlined by Allen’s arm and legs, they can drive the field on anyone. The Jets? Merely getting a first down is like raking Central Park.
It was Allen’s three interceptions and lost fumble that helped New York overcome the devastation from the loss of quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the fourth snap and a 13-3 halftime deficit to post an improbable 22-16 victory in overtime in the first meeting on opening night.
Allen has since continued to cough the ball up at the most inopportune times, leading the league with 11 picks thrown AND 3 lost fumbles on running plays (Allen’s fumble total ranks better when you include strip sacks, where Jets QB Zach Wilson owns the NFL’s fourth-most fumbles lost with 5). Following the club’s 24-22, four-turnover fest in Denver last week, the Bills axed Offensive Coordinator Ken Dorsey and replaced him with their quarterbacks coach Joe Brady, who once was considered to possess such a promising offensive mind that he was rumored to be in the early mix for the Jets head coaching job that eventually went to the defensive-oriented Robert Saleh in 2021.
Not that I could have guaranteed that Brady would have fared better, but the Jets have absolutely regressed on the offensive side of the ball in the last three years under Saleh’s regime. Saleh’s current mess includes a drought of zero touchdowns in its last 36 possessions, with no touchdown drives lasting longer than one play since the third quarter of New York’s 23-20 loss to Kansas City on October 1--six games ago! Following a pair of crucial defeats to conference foes Los Angeles and Las Vegas, the mood at One Jets Drive had gotten so sour that the offense held a players-only meeting earlier in the week.
That’s probably not a good sign. Saleh indicated that he would change some things for Sunday, but the only overt move this week has been the waiving of Micheal Carter, a well-liked player in the locker room who was on track to be demoted to RB4 and was claimed on Wednesday by the Cardinals. Maybe there will be other tweaks, like a few more snaps for sophomore tight Jeremy Ruckert over the gaffe-prone veteran C.J. Uzomah. Ah, the old moving luggage around the Titanic strategy. Yet Wilson remains the QB1, getting his plays called in from OC Nathaniel Hackett. What could go wrong now?
Have they figured out that it makes sense to keep running back Breece Hall, only their 1A or 1B top playmaker, on the field on third downs, where their conversion rate ranks last in the league by a laughable margin? Will they give Wilson more play-action options, since he averages 3.0 more yards per attempt than on straight dropbacks, the league’s 9th-largest differential, per ProFootballFocus.com. Only seven of the 40 QBs with at least 75 dropbacks this season have used it less than Wilson’s 17.8%.
I shudder when I hear folks who argue that Hackett’s system was geared specifically for Rodgers. They then acknowledge that the Hall-of-Fame-bound QB has the freedom to call plays based on what he sees at the line. What kind of “coordination” is that? In that scenario, it would seem that Hackett’s main job is to make sure the I-pad is charged so Rodgers can review the possession when he gets back to the bench.
Clearly, many of the Jets’ problems go beyond the coaching staff’s pay grade. General Manager Joe Douglas ensured that Wilson would return as QB2 despite two of the worst seasons a quarterback has ever recorded as a starter out of the gate. Douglas, an alleged connoisseur of offensive linemen, saddled the team with an injury-prone and horrendous unit with tragically overrated depth. Who would have thought that tackle Mekhi Becton, who looked like he would pass out from exhaustion during the preseason, would rank second on the team behind guard Laken Tomlinson in percentage of snaps played among Jets o-linemen this season?
And then there were the wide receiver whiffs, with Douglas dealing Mecole Hardman, whose elite speed made him a top offseason free agent target, back to the Chiefs in advance of the trade deadline. As for Rodgers’ buddies Randall Cobb and Allen Lazard, neither has lived up to minimum standards, with Cobb a healthy scratch for the last few games. For now, I’ll give Lazard the benefit of the doubt that he might be playing hurt, because he’s not moving or catching the ball with any confidence.
Undrafted free agent Xavier Gipson, who ran off the first Bills meeting with a punt return touchdown in overtime, has the potential to be a Douglas gem in the weeds, but his 0.61 yards per route run as a receiver, per PFF, isn’t all that praiseworthy. Well, unless measured against Cobb’s pitiful 0.16.
There’s a good chance that all the meetings and tweaks will prove immaterial to Sunday’s contest. The Bills defense may bleed yards at times, but they are the NFL’s fifth-stingiest team when it comes to points allowed per game. If Allen doesn’t give the Jets any short fields to start possessions, it’s still going to be excruciatingly hard for them to reach the end zone. One sack, penalty, or run stuff and it’s give-up-the-possession time.
No, the Jets dysfunction is too vast for anyone to expect them to take advantage of a slumping but talented Bills club, even with another Herculean effort from Gang Green’s defense.
Prediction: Bills 26 Jets 9