With Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills lurking for ‘Thursday Night Football’, Todd Bowles needs to clean up these issues with his New York Jets.
By Robby Sabo
A 28-23 victory against the Jacksonville Jaguars is hardly a conquest to brag about. Had last Sunday’s game gone on for another quarter, this incredibly shaky win for the New York Jets could’ve been a big, fat loss.
While a win in the National Football League is just that, a win, there’s no skating around the most obvious issue at hand.
These Jets have played far differently the last three weeks.
After a phenomenal 4-1 start to the Todd Bowles era, not even the swiftest pressure on the brakes could put a halt to this exhibit of sloppy play and poor fundamentals Gang Green has showcased as of late.
It all started with the New England Patriots. After getting off to a hot start up in Foxborough, future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady proved to be too much. The literal difference in the game came down to the Pats having Brady, and the Jets still in search for their version of Brady.
Tom Terrific led his offense on two critical touchdown drives in the 4th quarter. No matter the level of defense or the look they provided, Brady ended up the difference in the 30-23 victory. In that type of game, the weight must be carried by the offense against a suspect New England defense. Ryan Fitzpatrick and company simply couldn’t get the job done.
While it can easily be argued New York played well in the game, the following week against the Oakland Raiders took all positive hope away. By far, this was the Jets worst defensive performance.
There was no rhyme or reason, Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders pounded the Jets into submission. Carr finished 23-of-36 for 333 yards and 4 TD. Latavius Murray ran 20 times for 113 yards. The Raiders offensive line dominated the Jets usually stout defensive front.
Unfortunately for Bowles and the Jets, this is only the gloss-over of the situation. When digging deep into the crux of the matter, many concerning issues lurk.
Here are the Top 5 areas of concern for the New York Jets heading into Thursday night’s matchup with Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills:
