It's Week 2 of the NFL season and were already back talking about how the New York Jets are the same old song and dance. I am currently watching Mike Greenberg rant about Zach Wilsons performance on #ESPN's #GetUp, and how the Jets should call the Vikings and beg them to trade Kirk Cousins.
Let's begin with Sauce Gardner. Sauce was battling fans after the loss to Dallas, especially those who called out his coverage of CeeDee Lamb. To be clear Sauce did not cover Lamb all game, and that is part of the issue....why can Sauce only play one side of the field, and not shadow the opposing teams #1 WR.
Lamb had a monster game on Sunday. The Cowboys wideout recorded 11 catches for 143 yards while torching New York all over the field. According to NextGenStats, the Cowboys targeted Gardner four times but for only 18 yards. Gardner was credited with giving up a touchdown in the second quarter. He also had a dropped interception that would’ve been returned for a touchdown to only add to the frustration.
Dallas had 5 drives of 10+ plays Sunday, here's how the Jets offense responded each time: 3 plays, -2 yards, 2:16 3 plays, 6 yards, 0:54 11 plays, 59 yards, 1:48 (into halftime) 2 plays, 12 yards, 0:43 3 plays, 15 yards 0:47. Not great! But when your Defensive Rookie of the Year is deleting his twitter account after two games, you got bigger issues. Yes, that right Sauce deleted his twitter. Thats charmin soft!
Now let's move onto running back, Breece Hall.
After receiving just four rushing attempts on Sunday, Breece Hall made it clear that he wanted more touches but understood why the Jets went away from the ground game late.
“I only got four touches. That’s why we struggled,” Hall said to Zack Rosenblatt of the Athletic. “It is what it is. We just got down early today and just abandoned the run…That type of stuff happens, you feel like you’ve gotta get back in the game and it just slips away.”
I really don't think Breece Hall getting 4 touches is why the Jets struggled. Dalvin Cook also had 4 carries and had less yards. They couldn't get the run going because Dallas swarmed the line, and the Jets line sucked yesterday. Hall later went on Twitter and tweeted out four football emojis, representing the four touches he received during the game, but like Gardner, quickly deleted it.
It’s the first public comments of players on the Jets voicing their frustration following an outcome of a game. It’s not the first in recent years though. Last season, Garrett Wilson and Elijah Moore both complained about a lack of targets in the passing game. Moore was traded during the offseason to Cleveland.
New York is 1-1 and as Saleh is adamant that the Jets are rolling with Wilson, he likewise underscored Sunday that they can't allow things to get rolling in the wrong direction. "It won't snowball," Saleh said. "It's not going to snowball." Yeah okay buddy.
Despite Zach Wilson throwing 3 INT's the locker room seemed to have his back after the loss. But the Oline sucks, Breece Hall is coming off an ACL injury and Saleh had said hell be on a pitch count, especially in a game they were down early. They need to shape up and they need Aaron Rodgers leadership back. Shoutout Garret Wilson tho.
