Jets outmatched by the 49ers team they want to become
Gang Green kicks off a highly anticipated season with a disappointing 32-19 loss to the 49ers. Plus, how this was not the team that Jets fans were sold on.
What’s Up with the Jets? 🛩️
The Jets (0-1) got smashed by the 49ers (1-0) by a score of 32-19 in their season opener (box)
QB Aaron Rodgers finally played in his first full game with the team and went 13/21 (61.9 percent) for 167 yards, a touchdown and an interception
RB Breece Hall struggled to get anything going on the ground in his season debut, averaging just 3.4 yards per carry – Hall had a total of 93 all-purpose yards with a rushing touchdown
WR Allen Lazard led the team in receptions and yards, hauling in six catches for 89 yards and two touchdowns
With the two scores, Lazard has already surpassed his season total in touchdowns from all of last season
WR Mike Williams only played four snaps in the loss, and none in the second half
The Jets defense was only able to rack up three sacks on Monday night – just one from their defensive line – and forced zero turnovers in the loss
CB Michael Carter II exited the game after re-aggravating the ankle injury he dealt with over the summer
According to the team, Carter could have returned to the game but was held out to be cautious
With 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey surprisingly not playing on last night, Niners back-up Jordan Mason rushed for 147 yards on 28 attempts (5.3 yards per carry) and a touchdown
New York’s defense allowed eight straight scoring drives to end the game – that is the first time that has happened over the last 45 seasons in the franchise’s history (Elias Sports)
‘Aaron Rodgers: Enigma,’ a new documentary series, was announced yesterday and will premiere on December 17th (Netflix)
Game Balls 🏈
OFFENSE
🏈 Garrett Wilson: I know Allen Lazard led the Jets in catches and yards while racking up a pair of touchdowns – which we may not see him do at any point for the rest of this season – but I’ve still got to hand this one to the Jets WR1.
While it was inconsistent, we got a glimpse of how truly special the Aaron Rodgers-to-Wilson combo can eventually be as the receiver caught six balls for a total of 60 yards. On their first touchdown drive of the game, Rodgers and Wilson were humming before Breece Hall eventually drove the ball into the end zone.
DEFENSE
🏈 Haason Reddick: The Jets defense was atrocious on Monday night, playing one of the least competitive games on that side of the ball in the Robert Saleh era. It was an incredibly disappointing way to kick-off the season for a unit that is supposed to be this team’s number one strength.
That’s why I’m giving the defensive game ball to Haason Reddick, because it would appear that he may have won his standoff with the Jets after last night’s performance. New York’s defensive line only generated one sack, and it was by Michael Clemons during garbage time. Overall, the Jets barely pressured Brock Purdy all night and were even worse against the run. You’d have to think this gives Reddick a pretty big leg up in his negotiations. He was the most impactful defensive player of the week for the Jets despite not playing a single down.
Play of the Week 📺
There weren’t many bright spots for the Jets last night, so this one had to go to the first touchdown of Aaron Rodgers’ tenure in New York. 364 days after his debut with the team, Rodgers finally delivered a ball into the end zone late in the third quarter to his old friend and Green Bay teammate Allen Lazard.
In vintage Rodgers fashion, he headily took advantage of a free play and delivered a strike down the seam to Lazard who was able to get into the end zone to cut into the lead. It was the 18th touchdown of Rodgers’ career on a free play, the most in the NFL since the 2008 season.
A Look at the Standings 📈
The Jets lost on Monday night, while the Dolphins, Bills and Patriots all won their games on Sunday afternoon. Here’s how the AFC East looks after Week 1…
This was not the Jets team that was advertised… ✍️
The lead-up to Gang Green’s season opener on Monday night felt like an eternity. For Jets fans this was far more than the normal wait you experience between seasons, because for all intents and purposes, they never got a real chance at having a season last year.
At minimum, this has been a 546 day wait dating back to the day that Aaron Rodgers announced on The Pat McAfee Show that he intended to play for the New York Jets. If you wanted to, you could argue that this wait extends even further beyond that as this organization is still seeking their first return to postseason football in over 13 years.
After such a long wait and so much anticipation, this fan base and the rest of the football world were finally able to sit down and watch the re-debut of Aaron Rodgers in New York. And while it was not nearly as catastrophic as the original, things certainly did not go the way most people were expecting in Week 1.
While Rodgers played a fine game overall — completing 61.9 percent of his passes on limited attempts with a touchdown and an interception on a deflected pass – he has yet to actually finish a game wearing the green and white. Last season, of course, that was due to his devastating Achilles tear. This time around, however, it was because of incredibly poor play from those around him.
Plain and simple, the Jets got their asses kicked in every phase by the 49ers on Monday night. They were completely dominated in the trenches on offense and defense, an area that should be this team’s strength, as they struggled to run block all night long while applying virtually zero pressure on Brock Purdy or back-up running back Jordan Mason, who was filling in for the unexpectedly injured Christian McCaffery.
Breece Hall was a non-factor in the running game and fumbled the very first completion of Rodgers’ tenure with the team – which at this point feels very appropriate for this franchise. Allen Lazard was the Jets leading receiver. And the defense was a special level of atrocious, allowing themselves to get shredded by a back-up running back and surrendering eight straight scoring drives to end the game – something that apparently has never happened in Jets history since they began keeping track of those statistics.
And don’t even get me started on the complete and utter coaching mismatch, as Kyle Shanahan put Robert Saleh and the rest of the Jets staff in the damn blender. It’s not the first time we’ve seen this happen under this regime, either. The Niners are a team that the Jets see themselves as trying to become, and yet they got their asses kicked by them up-and-down the field last night.
“They got put in the phone booth and they got beat up,” analyst and former player Willie Colon said on SNY’s Jets Postgame Show.
It’s not the end of the world that the Jets lost last night – they were playing against a Super Bowl caliber team that’s been there before, and at the end of the day it’s only one game in September. But what does sting and scare the bejeezus out of Jets fans is the fact that it felt so damn familiar when this season was advertised as one that was going to be something different.
Three yards of offense in the second half? That’s some Zach Wilson shit. That shouldn’t be happening in the Aaron Rodgers – ever. I don’t care who they’re playing or what the circumstance is, it simply cannot happen.
It’s that brooding feeling of familiarity that felt so frustrating and disheartening last night, as the most negative of fans and the rest of sports media so quickly went back to the “Same Old Jets” well. And while I don’t like to break out that phrase often these days because I feel like it’s just lazy at this point, it is something that this franchise has to earn their way out of. As of right now, they have not done what it takes to outrun that moniker.
There’s so much more analysis that could go into this, and I did give some expanded thoughts in our Week 1 episode of Just Jets: The Podcast, but at the end of the day it all comes down to how this game felt. For the time being, it felt no different than it felt at any point last season, or the one before it, or the one before that. Therein lies the problem.
“We’ll be better. I’ll be better,” Rodgers told reporters after the game. For all our sake, they sure better be.
It’s only one game, and the trajectory of the season, for now, remains the same. But things can get late pretty early in this league. So the Jets better do whatever it takes to make sure they can become they team they told us they’d be.
Next Week’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Jets (0-1) at Titans (0-1)
Where: Nissan Stadium – Nashville, TN
When: Sunday, 1:00 PM EDT
Where to Watch: CBS
Around the NFL 🏁
The Dolphins overcame a 14-0 deficit to defeat the Jaguars on a 52-yard field goal from kicker Jason Sanders as time expired
The Bills had an exciting comeback of their own, rallying to beat the Cardinals 34-28 after trailing 17-3 earlier in the game
The Patriots shocked football pundits with a 16-10 win over the Bengals behind a shutdown effort by their defense, giving Jerod Mayo the first win of his head coaching career
Lions RB David Montgomery scored a game-winning touchdown in overtime to defeat the Rams, 26-20
Giants QB Daniel Jones struggled mightily with two interceptions (one for a touchdown) as Vikings QB Sam Darnold picked the New York defense apart for a lopsided 28-6 win
On the same day they gave QB Dak Prescott a record four-year, $240 million extension, the Cowboys dismantled the Browns 33-17 in Cleveland
I checkout in the beginning of the 4th quarter. Three things i took from last night. 1) With all the hype given to the Jets, they are not an elite team like the 49er's. 2) They better get on the phone with Riddick and get him in ASAP. 3) Troy Akeman finally said what most sane followers of the Jets knew, in the past 3 years the Jets may have had the worst quarterback play in the history of the NFL. Don't be jumping off buildings yet, let's see what happens over the next 3 or 4 games.