Jets' Brady Cook struggles as offense goes nowhere in loss to Saints
New Orleans Saints cornerback Alontae Taylor sacks Jets quarterback Brady Cook during the second half on Sunday. Credit: AP/Gerald Herbert
NEW ORLEANS — The Jets’ defense made an appearance Sunday after two no-show games, but the offense looked as if it spent too much time on Bourbon Street.
It was a rough performance by Brady Cook and his offensive teammates. They were ineffective, sloppy and undisciplined in a 29-6 loss to the Saints at the Superdome.
The Jets struggled all day to get anything going offensively. Their only points came on two field goals by Nick Folk. Cook was sacked eight times and the offense had five penalties for 50 yards.
“We just didn’t get in a rhythm,” left guard John Simpson said. “I think the penalties definitely played a big part in that.”
In Cook’s second straight start, the undrafted rookie completed 22 of 35 passes for 188 yards. He had two turnovers — a lost fumble and an interception on fourth down in Saints territory with the Jets down 19-6.
Aaron Glenn said he never considered replacing Cook with Tyrod Taylor.
“Brady did some good things, but also there were some things that he has to do better,” Glenn said. “We cannot turn the ball over. We all know that. He knows that as a quarterback anyway. His hand’s on the ball all the time, and he has to protect it.”
The Jets (3-12) totaled only 195 yards of offense. Breece Hall rushed for 54 yards on 16 carries and Isaiah Davis had four catches for 52 yards.
The Jets have two games remaining in this dreadful season. They will close out their home schedule next week against New England.
Despite the lopsided score, the defense was markedly better than it was last week, when it gave up 48 points to Jacksonville. After that game, Glenn fired Steve Wilks and named Chris Harris the defensive coordinator.
Glenn was impressed that Harris didn’t “panic” or “second-guess” anything in his time calling plays in an NFL game.
The Jets got a takeaway — only the defense’s third of the season — on the Saints’ second play of the game. They also held New Orleans out of the end zone until the final minute of the third quarter. The Jets allowed four first-half touchdowns in Jacksonville and the Jaguars scored on eight of their first nine possessions last week.
“The main thing was just us as players being together and then also having that chip on our shoulder from the last two games,” linebacker Quincy Williams said. “Just emphasizing we got to play fast, we got to jump on them early.”
The defense gave the Jets good starting field position twice, at the Saints’ 37 thanks to the takeaway and at the New Orleans 45 after stuffing the Saints on fourth-and-1. The offense converted those two sudden changes into one field goal.
“Not enough points,” Cook said. “Not enough sustained drives, putting our defense on the field way too often, and too many punts.”
The defense did have its bad moments, too. The Saints, winners of three straight, came out throwing and had little trouble driving up and down the field.
The Saints (5-10) attempted 50 passes and completed 33. Rookie Tyler Shough set career highs in completions (32), attempts (49) and passing yards (308).
Chris Olave caught 10 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns, one from Shough and the other from backup quarterback Taysom Hill late in the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.
Charlie Smyth kicked five field goals. The Saints punted only once.
“They had too many plays on our side of the field,” Glenn said. “Field position wasn’t as good as I want it to be, and us as a team and as a staff want it to be.”
The Saints led 9-6 late in the third quarter. Then Shough found a wide-open Olave for a 23-yard touchdown with 41 seconds left to put the Saints up 16-6. It capped a 12-play, 93-yard drive.
Instead of answering quickly, the Jets gave the ball right back to New Orleans. Cook was sacked on third down and fumbled, and Chris Young recovered it at the Jets’ 46. Five plays later, the Saints extended their lead to 19-6 on Smyth’s 50-yard field goal.
Cook committed another turnover on the next series. The Jets went for it on fourth-and-6 from the Saints’ 39, and Cook’s pass intended for John Metchie III was intercepted by Jonas Sanker at the 27 and returned to the Jets’ 44. The Saints converted that into a 39-yard field goal.
The Jets converted a fourth down on the next series, but it ultimately ended on their side of the field with Cook being sacked for a 14-yard loss.
“It sucks that you lose the game,” Glenn said. “But we have to get back to work next week. Continue to play with effort and continue to find ways to help put our guys in positions to be successful.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
