Week 1 was, well, not good for the Jets. There weren’t exactly too many positives from this game, but there weren’t certainly some thoughts we can take away from the game. Let’s talk about some of them.
It's going to be a long September
If this is what we can expect from the Jets offense without Zach Wilson and Duane Brown, it’s going to be a long first month of the season until both of them are back. That’s even if Brown is able to come back in Week 5. Or at all.
Sure, Joe Flacco threw for over 300 yards. But he threw the ball 59 times. FIFTY. NINE. TIMES. He averaged 5.2 yards per attempt. He had a QB rating of 74.6. If you’re into ESPN’s QBR, his number 15. 15 out of 100.
Corey Davis did lead the Jets in receiving Sunday, but he still is having some issues with drops. Even Michael Carter dropped a sure touchdown in the fourth quarter, though the game was already out of reach.
We’ll see if the Jets makes a change at the quarterback position, but even if they do, how much of a spark would Mike White or Chris Streveler bring? If the rest of the offense is struggling and the line can’t keep the quarterback clean, it won’t matter much who is under center.
Robert Saleh is right, there's no moral victory
Teams like to talk about moral victories after losses. Maybe the ball took a weird bounce, or something weird happened and the game slipped away from you.
There were no moral victories here. Robert Saleh said that after the game and he is absolutely right.
This was supposed to be the year the Jets took a step forward. The year all their young talent started to come together and build more of a foundation. The year they were going to hang with teams and keep games competitive.
Not many people expected the Jets to beat the Ravens Sunday. That’s ok. But they at least thought the Jets would stay somewhat close to the Ravens. Sure, they did in the first half, only trailing 10-3 in the locker room. But games are two halves and the second half was about as ugly as you can get. The wheels fell off in the third quarter. The backbreaker was the 55-yard touchdown bomb to Rashod Bateman, After that, the Jets just looked lost.
The defense looked good, absolutely. But overall, hard to feel good about this one. The Jets absolutely need to at least stay competitive with the Browns next week, who won a crazy game against the Panthers in Week 1.
Defense has come to play
The Jets gave up three deep touchdown passes to Lamar Jackson, including a 55-yard bomb to Rashod Bateman and two passes to Devin Duvernay. But the physicality at all three levels was evident.
The defense did all they could to keep the offense in the game and give them every opportunity possible. Kwon Alexander, Sauce Gardner, DJ Reed and Jordan Whitehead were among the bandleaders. C.J. Mosley recorded 11 tackles to lead the way.
Even rookie Jermaine Johnson got in on a sack of Lamar Jackson and Micheal Clemons saw decent playing time Sunday. This is a group that is going to grow and get better and give the Jets chances to win games. The offense just has to do their part and…well, keep your fingers crossed.
Michael Carter isn't going away anytime soon
Yes, he dropped a sure touchdown pass. That shouldn’t overshadow the good day Michael Carter had.
Carter totaled 100 yards and caught seven passes Sunday. The first play of the game was a run of almost 20 yards. Breece Hall had a nice run of his own, but also lost a fumble.
That’s not to say the Jets will completely forget about Hall. They spent a second-round pick on him and they will use him. But perhaps we shouldn’t be so quick to assume the Jets will stop utilizing Carter as well.
