ROCKY ROAD
Jets’ misstep in Denver should have Bowles treading lightly
TODD Bowles and the Jets are deep into the portion of their schedule when every move the head coach makes and every game his team plays is going to be a referendum on whether he should stay or go as Jets coach.
Sunday was a mark against Bowles.
The 23-0 loss to the Broncos featured many of Bowles’ worst qualities as a coach and was fuel for those who would like to see the brothers Johnson make a change at the end of this season.
I have felt since the offseason that Bowles would ultimately be judged by how the Jets finished. The bye week created a natural six-game home stretch that I think will leave ownership feeling one way or the other about their coach. That is now a bit complicated by Josh McCown’s injury. You can argue that it will be difficult to get an accurate read on this team if Bryce Petty struggles.
However, that won’t change Sunday’s damage to Bowles’ case. The Jets came out flat on the road … again. That has been a recurring theme during Bowles’ time as Jets coach. He made several questionable ingame decisions, another Bowles issue.
It was the first shutout the Jets have suffered under Bowles and a historically bad offensive performance, totaling 100 yards, the second-fewest in franchise history.
The game should not cause an overreaction, like immediately deciding Bowles should be fired. You can’t forget this team played well last week in a win over the Chiefs and even pretty well two weeks ago in a loss to the Panthers. Plus, the Jets have been in nearly every game this season.
Still, this loss has to give ownership pause.
The Jets looked ill-prepared and uninterested in playing. It was the second time this season the Jets had a loss like this coming off a nice win. They also failed to show up in Tampa Bay last month following a big win over the Bills. These kinds of losses have popped up during Bowles’ tenure. The most memorable one was the final week of the 2015 season in Buffalo when Rex Ryan’s Bills knocked Bowles and the Jets from playoff contention.
Bowles seems unable to get his team to play on the road the way it plays at MetLife Stadium. The Jets are 1-5 on the road this season and 9-14 away from home in Bowles’ three years. Two of those wins in the first year come with asterisks — one was in London against the Dolphins and the other was “at” the Giants.
If you look at those nine road wins, they have come against bad teams. Only one finished with a non-losing record — the 2015 Colts, who were 8-8. The combined record of the teams the Jets have beaten on the road are 34-91. This year, their lone road win came over the 0-13 Browns.
Then, there are Bowles’ ingame decisions. A few stood out Sunday. The first came at the end of the first half when Bowles failed to call a timeout to give his offense the ball with about a minute left and two timeouts. Bowles said he felt his team needed to get into the locker room and regroup. That is a defeatist attitude. He also mentioned McCown was banged up. Then, he should have been out of the game.
In the fourth quarter, Bowles waved the white flag. The Jets were down 23-0, but eight out of the 12 plays they called were runs. Two were runs on thirdand-7. The Jets punted with 39 seconds left, down 23 points. Why? Who cares if you give the Broncos the ball back at your own 16 with 32 seconds left? They would have just taken a knee.
Bowles is 10-20 in his last 30 games after a 10-5 start to his Jets career and is going to miss the playoffs for the third straight year. I still expect he will be back in 2018 as the Jets coach, but this should not be an easy decision for Christopher Johnson and his brother Woody in England. Another loss or two like Sunday’s could leave the Jets feeling like it is time for a change.