Jets Embarrassed in Buffalo

Edition #770

☀️ Good morning ☕

The Buffalo Bills don’t need any help, but we gave them a whole field anyway. Discipline has been a problem for years, but today it bubbled over. 15 penalties called, 113 yards worth of free yardage gift-wrapped and hand-delivered to the Bills in the true spirit of the season.

5 of those fouls came courtesy of personal fouls, one of which came from Aaron Rodgers, the first such foul in his illustrious career. 40-0 down on the road and Tyrod Taylor was finally given a chance, two touchdowns in garbage time against backups ensured we weren’t shut out, but that’s as good as it got.

4 sacks allowed, 2 interceptions thrown, 1 fumble lost, 3 different Bills receivers with a TD, 2 different Bills rushed for a TD, 2 different Bills threw for a TD. It was about as embarrassing as you can get, but if there is one thing we know, it’s embarrassment.

Poorly coached, poor execution, missed opportunities, poor decision making, bad offensive line dealing with injuries, a banged up 40 year old QB who looked as though he’d checked out alone with a lot of the players.

"This locker room's not going to look the same next year, in terms of players and coaches."
Sauce Gardner

Make no mistake about it. A lot of these guys are already planning their off-season. Either hitting that FA market or hitting the beaches somewhere. There is no excuse to get blown out, if you’re all professionals, act professionally. The Patriots went into Buffalo last week and almost walked away with a win, losing 24-21. The Jets walk in and walk out with their tail between their legs.

If there was any doubt that this whole thing needs to be blown up, that disappeared yesterday. You can’t bring Aaron back, you can’t bring Davante back and continue to marginalise Garrett. Unfortunately the restructure of 2021 that fell on its face with a poor QB decision is going to lead into another restructure starting in 2025, which is due to a poor QB decision that fell on its face.

I mean not that you need these but ESPN had a ton of stats on this Jets loss, here are just a few.

• Fewest passing yards Rodgers has ever thrown while tossing multiple picks.

• A team has never been 40-0 down when Rodgers has started.

• Most accepted penalties in a game since 2018, which was an OT game.

• Jets committed 27 penalties in two games against Buffalo this year, the most by one team against a single opponent since 2015.

After the game I listened to Jeff Ulbrich and he sure sounds a lot like Robert Saleh, lot of excuses, lot of "A lot of credit to Buffalo. They got after us in every way." like that was a big surprise and he thought Buffalo were going to role over at home against a divisional opponent. Or that he thought the energy was good but the execution wasn’t. Execution is everything, energy is the absolute bare minimum that a professional athlete should show when getting paid millions to play a game.

But here’s the worst thing about all of it. I wasn’t surprised, I wasn’t shocked and in the end I cared very little. A lot of the guys on this team right now won’t be here next season. A lot of the guys we brought into the team over the last year or two, won’t be here next season.

I’ve now come to the firm conclusion that I’d punt on 2025 by cutting as much deadwood as possible and eating as much cap as possible to limit the impact in 2026 and beyond. Watching a group of UDFA’s play for their futures would be far more entertaining than watching this current group of players who are paid a lot and deliver very little.

"It comes down to complementary football, bro. We're playing a high powered offense. Josh Allen is the MVP runner up, whatever -- a great player. We gotta get shit going -- on offense, on special teams. You keep having our defense go out there. Eventually, they're going to do something good. We're playing a high powered offense. So yes, defense, we need to be better, but we gotta play complementary football."

D.J Reed after the game. He wouldn’t comment on the effort.

Start Tyrod Taylor in 2025. That’s not based on today and his garbage time touchdowns, that’s based on a realistic option for a season that will likely be lost as we re-tool and bed in a new GM and a completely new coaching staff. I don’t want a single one of those coaches back in the building next season, hell cancel their key cards right now, it’s not like they’re earning their salary anyway, you may as well get a local HS coaching unit in and send these Jets coaches to the unemployment line early.

Down just 12-0 at half-time there is everything to play for. The Jets came out in that third quarter and put up 20 yards for three first downs and two turnovers. Slow out the gate to start games, slow to make adjustments, slow to make personnel moves, slow to the football, slow with the football. Slow.

After generating pressure on only 2 of 9 dropbacks (22.2%) in the first half of their Week 17 win over the Jets, the Bills defense forced pressure on 14 of 28 dropbacks (50.0%) in the second half, their second-most pressures in a half this season. Seven Bills defenders generated multiple pressures in the second half, led by Von Miller, who produced eight pressures on only eight pass rushes.

NFL - Next Gen Stats

So I watch these games now hoping for a brighter future. I watch the individual player who I want to be part of the solution. Garrett Wilson had the fumble, but he also eclipsed 1000 receiving yards for the third straight year to start his career. His 7th touchdown grab is also a career high and while he may complain far too much, I think his fire comes from a desire to win. He knows that he’s the best player on the offence and it isn’t even close. So when he’s not being used and the team are losing as a result, he’s going to be pissed. I’m pissed for him. I’m pissed that this situation which was built at the hands of Woody Johnson and Joe Douglas will likely lead to him leaving.

Tyrod Taylor came into the game and threw Garrett the ball, touchdown. That was Wilson’s first red-zone target since week 14. May not sound like a lot, but if you get to the red-zone in any game, and the Jets have, then Wilson should be getting at least one target every single time. If he isn’t, you’re not doing a good enough job.

The loss did improve the Jets draft position, so at least there is that. The Giants win also handed the New England Patriots the #1 pick.

"It's frustrating, but it's going to make those good times coming down the road that much more enjoyable because we went through things like this."

Garrett Wilson