Grading the Jets in Week 9 vs. Indianapolis Colts

OFFENSE: The Jets lost Mike White in their second series to a forearm injury. They stumbled a little at the start with Josh Johnson running the offense, but then he got them moving. The Jets’ offense has looked better the last two games without Zach Wilson. They have to hope it will continue when Wilson returns from his knee injury. White threw a touchdown pass before he left. The Jets have scored first-quarter touchdowns in back-to-back games after being held scoreless in the opening period the first six games. Johnson, playing his most snaps since 2018, threw three TDs. All three were in garbage time when the Colts’ defense was playing soft. The Jets totaled 486 yards of offense, their second-highest this season. Their four touchdowns matched last week. Ty Johnson fumbled in the first half when it was still a game, and the Colts turned it into a touchdown. Johnson threw a pick on the final drive.

GRADE: B-

DEFENSE: Hard to decide which performance was worse, the game they allowed 54 to the Patriots or this one. The Jets were dominated on the line of scrimmage. Indianapolis finished with 532 yards of offense, 260 of it rushing. Statistically, this wasn’t as bad as New England. But it was alarming, nonetheless. The Jets are coached by a former defensive coordinator who was among the best in the league. The Jets just couldn’t stop the Colts, at all. Four first-half series, four touchdowns. First seven series, six touchdowns and one drive that stalled on the 1-yard line. The Jets gave up a lot of explosive plays – eight of 20 yards or more, including a 78-yard touchdown run by Jonathan Taylor and 34-yard TD run by Nyheim Hines.

GRADE: F-

SPECIAL TEAMS: Matt Ammendola made his lone field-goal attempt of the game (33 yards) and his three extra-point tries. Thomas Morstead’s punt average was 52 yards, including a 57-yarder. Braxton Berrios had a nice return to start the game – 27 yards – but a holding penalty negated much of that. The return team covered well and delivered some hard hits.

GRADE: B

COACHING: Offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur called a good game for the second week in a row. The offense has been much better, and the ball is being spread around. The Jets eventually need to establish a run game, though. The defensive side of the football was a mess. Saleh said they knew the Colts would lean heavily on the run. Yet the Jets couldn’t stop it. More teams will try to run on the Jets unless Saleh and coordinator Jeff Ulbrich figure out how to get the defensive line to win their one-on-one battles and make plays in the run game.

GRADE: D