Does Anything Ever Change for the Jets? | The Cutting Edge W/JackKnife

Wow, the Jets lost in Foxboro

A little late on this one, but I think that's fair because the New York Jets did what they always do.  That is find a way to outplay an opponent (first half at least) yet still be dominated, give up first downs on multiple third and long situations, have questionable calls go against them despite them already being the worse team, and being undisciplined with stupid penalties as they lost to the six-time Super Bowl losers, the New England Patriots, by a score of 26-19.

However, I don't think I've seen this before.  Despite the Pats having a completely injured and makeshift offensive line, the Jets recorded zero sacks.  Way to follow up the David Bailey breakout game guys!

No excusing the officiating

Yes, the "pass interference" call that negated (what was initially) Omar Cooper Jr's first career touchdown was bad. Yes, the Patriots got a way with holds and what appears to be an obvious hands to the face on fourth and one. It does not change the fact that the team completely imploded when faced with that adversity.  Because even if those calls were correct, the Jets would still find a way to lose this game.

How do I know this?  The fact that they were stopped on fourth and one TWICE this game. One of those drives, they had three straight opportunities to move the chains with one yard to go, but failed to move the ball a single yard on all of them.  That, and when the Jets settled for a field goal and still stopped the Patriots the drive after to force a punt, they, followed it up with a -16-yard drive that set up the Pats for a two play drive that ended with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Dobbs.  Speaking of Dobbs, he was injured that play, didn't come back. Again, not taking advantage of a Patriots team that was really testing their depth. 

Oh, and don't forget the true staple of the Jets.  Failing to get so much as a field goal when they have the ball with two-minutes left in the first half.  True indicator of what this team would be able to do if they had the ball at the end of the second half of a potentially game-winning/tying drive.  So even if by some miracle they did recover that onside kick, the Jets showed us what would have happened if they were to run the two-minute drill in that situation. 

Can't make full momentum swings

Or at the very least, the Jets only have one momentum swing in them. The defense for a short period was able to hold the Patriots.  Gang Green forced three turnovers. Two via fumble, one via downs.  The one on downs was the only one they truly took advantage of as Geno Smith would throw Cooper Jr. a 48-yard touchdown pass, thankfully the officials let him keep it this time.  That was the best they could do.

After Bailey forced a fumble on the next drive that was recovered by Jamien Sherwood at the New England 29, the offense is set up to tie this game!  Too bad the best they could do is set up a field goal to cut the deficit to four.  Stalling in the red zone again, a Jet tradition unlike any other.  

A third opportunity came in the 4th. quarter.  It came after Smith (who went 20-for-30, for 252 yards, and a touchdown) finally threw his first interception of the year.  Sherwood forced a fumble deep in Jet territory that Minkah Fitzpatrick recovered, which was great play considering it was after a 39-yard pass to DeMario Douglas.  Once again, the Jets stall. This time, they make it just shy of the red zone at the Patriots 22-yardline before settling for a field goal. 

Okay, that's 13 points off of turnovers.  Well if the Jets offense was truly explosive, maybe they could have at least gotten two touchdowns and a field goal instead of just settling for one trip to the end zone.  It's indicative of how ineffective they are considering the touchdown came from near midfield, but couldn't punch it in again when they were near the red zone.  The stink in this organization seems to mostly come on the offensive side of the ball, and considering they can't score where a majority of NFL teams score from, it just goes to show that nothing's really changed. 

We see this every year

Not since the Jets shocked the Patriots in January 2011 and knocked them out of the playoffs, have they looked remotely competent when they play in Foxboro.  I'm not counting week 18 of the 2023-24 season.  That was the end of the Bill Belichick era and garbage time for both teams in bad spots.  Difference is, the Patriots are a competent organization, and now how to rebuild quickly as evident by their recent success.

I don't want to hear excuses of the missed calls, bad calls, the Patriots cheating, etc.  Robert Kraft knows how to run an organization and Woody Johnson doesn't.  When replacing Tom Brady, who lost to Mark Sanchez in that playoff game in 2011, the Patriots only had one dud in Mac Jones before landing on Drake Maye.  Meanwhile the Jets still can't get competent quarterbacks to save their lives.  To make things even worse, if the Jets were in a position to land him, Arch Manning had a questionable last couple weeks with Texas. 

So I'm just gonna stop it here.  We've seen this story before.  Bad organization goes against competent organization that actually cares and gets stomped out.  Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting something different, and that's what Jet fans do when we see the Jets take the field at Gillette Stadium.  We've seen it for the past decade and a half. 

Next week is at home against the winless Miami Dolphins.  No matter who wins, the Jets lose.  If they win, they further cement the Dolphins position in the tank-a-thon.  If they lose, well, they lose to the winless Dolphins.  

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