Grading the Jets: Failure on both sides of the line of scrimmage
Safety Marcus Maye, right, was the Jets' most active player in Sunday's loss to Buffalo. Maye, shown here riding Bills quarterback Josh Allen out of bounds for one of his two sacks, had 10 tackles, two passes defensed and a forced fumble. Credit: AP/John Munson
OFFENSE: Adam Gase said the offense was "atrocious" last year. That word definitely applied Sunday in the Jets' first game of 2020. Sam Darnold played poorly right from the start. The Jets opened the game, and season, with three straight three-and-outs. Darnold was 1-for-6 for zero yards in those series. He threw an interception on the fifth series, which started with a delay of game penalty out of a television timeout.
Are you kidding me?
The truth is the Jets were awful in all facets of the game. They ran 53 plays to 81 for the Bills. Buffalo dominated the time of possession, 41:16 to 18:44. Quarterback Josh Allen’s 57 rushing yards were five more than the Jets had as a team.
Losing Le’Veon Bell to a hamstring injury early in the second half hurt, but he wasn’t having a big game, anyway.
Darnold and Chris Herndon had costly turnovers. More was expected, especially from Darnold. The Jets disappointed in their opener.
GRADE: F
DEFENSE: The Bills made it look too easy against Gregg Williams’ defense. This unit was top 10 last year. Some faces are different — Jamal Adams is in Seattle now — but they just played soft and undisciplined Sunday. Allen really got to do whatever he wanted. He had his first career 300-yard game (312), two passing touchdowns and one rushing score. The Bills got in the red zone on eight of their first 10 possessions, and they punted just once in the game. The Jets did force two Allen fumbles, and safety Marcus Maye had a terrific game with 10 tackles, two sacks, two passes defensed and a forced fumble. But the defense was only a little better than the offense.
GRADE: D-
SPECIAL TEAMS: Rookie Braden Mann had a decent debut. His first NFL punt was 58 yards. But his last one was just 37. He averaged 46.3 yards on six punts. The Jets’ coverage teams didn’t perform well. Former Jet Andre Roberts had a 31-yard kickoff return and he averaged 13.8 yards on five punt returns. Sam Ficken made his only field-goal attempt and both of his extra-point tries.
GRADE: C-
COACHING: The Jets were overmatched and outclassed in all areas. So much was made about how the offense would be different because Darnold and others were in the system for the second year. Gase has yet to look like the offensive genius he was touted to be. Darnold looked like a rookie. The defense made some adjustments in the second half, but it really was a one-sided game.
GRADE: F
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