The Stink From The Jets’ Offense Is Beyond Offensive

As the clock was winding down on the Jets’ desultory 27-6 defeat to the visiting Chargers on Monday night, it looked like New York might be able to at least finish off a multi-play touchdown drive, something they haven’t done since the third quarter of the Kansas City game on October 1.

On second-and-goal from the 6-yard line, Jets quarterback Zach Wilson found tight end C.J. Uzomah wide open in the middle of the end zone. Uzomah went down to his knees so the ball could hit him between the eight and the seven on his jersey. He dropped it. On his last-ditch effort after running out of bounds for no gain on third down, Wilson completed a pass to tight end Tyler Conklin—two yards short of the goal line. Every glutton-for-punishment Jets fan still watching smacked his forehead in disgust.

I’d like to say that sequence encapsulated the night’s performance, but it barely scratched the surface of the staggering ineptitude from the Jets’ offense since that Chiefs aberration. Even when facing the NFL’s lowest-ranked passing defense on Monday night, Gang Green looked like a team whose offensive personnel and coaching staff had just met for the first time at pregame warmups.

They couldn’t block. Of the route-runners, only Garrett Wilson had any chance of separating from Chargers defenders. The football might as well have been laced with oil with all the drops and fumbles from the skill position players. The play-calling was, to put it kindly, illogical and unimaginative. And, as we’ve known for three years running, the quarterback stinks to high heaven. As the old joke goes, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”

The raw stat totals from Monday night are misleading, artificially augmented by garbage time gains. What mattered were all the negative plays. Wilson may have not thrown any picks, but he was sacked eight times for 57 yards lost and fumbled twice. The Jets were flagged eight times for 40 yards, which doesn’t count the negated gains, some of which were substantial. The bottom line: Six points. It’s not nearly good enough.  

You’d think Jets fans would be used to this by now. I mean, the list of godawful QBs who have come and gone since the glory days of Joe Namath 50-odd years ago runs pages. We’ve been treated to some short-term wonders like Vinny Testaverde, Chad Pennington, and Ryan Fitzpatrick every decade or so, but for the most part, Gang Green’s offenses, even after the league rigged the rules in their desire to boost scoring, have been slogs.

With this iteration, if you don’t assist them by committing turnovers and breakdowns, the Jets simply are unable to drive the field to score. They had previously won three games in a row where their only touchdowns came on an explosive first play of a possession. Oh, they might move the ball a bit, but it’s a virtual guarantee that something will happen to stall the possession before they reach the end zone. It might be a penalty that puts them behind the chains. Or a dropped pass. Or a sack, a fumble, or a strip-sack fumble, which has become way too frequent in the last six weeks.

The Chargers converted Wilson’s two fumbles into 14 points. Add in a punt return touchdown after the Jets opening possession (a three-and-out, of course) and that was all that was needed for the Chargers to have a happy fight back to L.A. despite the team’s own meager 191 yards of total offense produced.

At least Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh didn’t try to snow us with the “We’re so close” spin after Monday’s wretched performance. Close? To what? They’re about as close to offensive functionality as New York is to Los Angeles.

Saleh wanted the media takeaway after the debacle to be “self-inflicted wounds.” He might be technically correct, but it’s hard to seriously take that as some kind of anomaly when this has been a recurring issue all season, with very limited exceptions.   

I get it, the Jets didn’t plan for this. The offseason trade for Hall-of-Fame bound QB Aaron Rodgers, with his buddy Nathaniel Hackett installed as Offensive Coordinator, was supposed to lift New York out of the figurative Dark Ages. Only Rodgers ruptured his Achilles on the season’s fourth snap and suddenly they were stuck with Wilson again.

Most NFL teams forced into going with their QB2, outside of the few Gardner Minshew’s around the league, inevitably take a step back. But this far down the tubes? Only the Giants, who are down to their third quarterback, have looked worse on offense in the last few weeks.

Every game it’s the same thing—let’s establish the run by diving into the middle of stacked boxes. Let’s not use play-action or have Wilson roll out, where he can maybe buy an extra second to find an open target. No, better to keep making him drop straight back, where he has no working internal clock or any inkling of where the rush is coming from. Were we supposed to be jolted when the Jets opened up with a no-huddle tempo? All that accomplished was that the offense got off the field quicker, sparing the national TV audience whose eyes were glazing at the putridity.

Saleh typically assigns blame everywhere when talking about the team’s deficiencies, but it really starts at the top with him and General Manager Joe Douglas, who made awesome use of his ample 2022 Draft capital but has otherwise whiffed when it came to evaluating offensive talent, including Wilson and his beloved offensive line. Of Douglas’ three veteran wide receivers he signed in offseason free agency, Mecole Hardman has since been traded, Randall Cobb was a healthy scratch on Monday, and Allen Lazard dropped a couple of passes and committed three penalties.

At 4-4, New York is still in the playoff hunt, but after this loss, it’s fair to wonder, “Who are we kidding?” For a second straight season, the utter mess that is the Jets’ offense is threatening to override an impressive effort on the other side of the ball to derail their aspirations.

It’s beyond a shame. I hate regurgitating this refrain, but it rings true: It’s Same Old Jets.

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