Darnold and Gang Green just as bad with 36-7 ‘L’ in Indy
Gase's lifeless Gang blown out by Colts for third straight ugly defeat
INDIANAPOLIS — It’s time to start watching Clemson games, Jets fans.
With the team looking hapless and Sam Darnold playing one of the worst games of his career, the idea of picking No. 1 and taking Trevor Lawrence feels more real than ever. That and a new coach are the only things you have to look forward to right now. It’s certainly not watching this team for 13 more weeks.
Darnold threw three interceptions, two returned for touchdowns, in a 36-7 loss to the Colts on Sunday, another embarrassing loss that dropped the Jets to 0-3 and gave further proof that they are the worst team in the NFL. This year, the worst team in the NFL will get the reward of the No. 1 pick and the ability to draft Lawrence, Clemson’s star quarterback.
Darnold is not making that Year 3 leap everyone was hoping for. On Sunday, he took a giant step backward. “I obviously didn’t play well enough today,” Darnold said. “I didn’t execute well enough. Obviously, the turnovers cost us big time.”
There is not much left for Jets fans to dream about. This team is going nowhere. Adam Gase looks like a dead coach walking. His offense stunk again, failing to even reach double digits. The Jets have lost by a combined 57 points in the first three games. The Colts defense outscored the Jets offense 16-7, a reversal of Super Bowl III. The Jets could use Joe Namath and
Weeb Ewbank right now.
An ESPN report before Sunday’s game indicated that the Jets’ brass was examining Gase in Sunday’s game and Thursday’s game with the Broncos and suggested a change could be made if things don’t go well. A league source said that report was not accurate, but if the Jets stumble Thursday against an 0-3 Broncos team starting its backup quarterback, you’d have to think all options are on the table.
“I’m going to do what I always do, come back to work tomorrow and try to get things fixed,” Gase said. “That’s something I can’t worry about. I’ve got to focus on getting our guys ready.”
As bad as Gase has been, Darnold also deserves plenty of blame for this one. Darnold made a few nice plays, including a touchdown pass after a scramble, but the mistakes outweighed the good moments, as they have for most of his career. Darnold had backups playing at wide receiver, but his decision-making still makes you wonder if he’ll ever be the quarterback the Jets hoped when they took him
No. 3 overall in 2018.
“I’ve just got to play consistent,” Darnold said. “I’m not playing consistent enough to play well in this league.”
On Sunday, Darnold became the first Jets quarterback to throw two pick-sixes since Geno Smith in 2013. Darnold finished the game 17 of 29 for 168 yards with one touchdown and the three interceptions for a QB rating of 47.0.
“I thought we were trending in the right direction after last week,” Gase said of Darnold. “We’ve got to go look at this and figure out what went wrong and figure out a way to fix it quickly. I thought last week he was very efficient. He was doing a lot of right, better than the week before.”
While two of Darnold’s interceptions resulted directly in touchdowns, it may have been the one that was not a pick-six that was most costly. Trailing 17-7 in the second quarter, the Jets moved inside the Colts’ 10 in six plays. On first-and-goal from the 7, rookie wide receiver Lawrence Cager was open for a split second when Colts cornerback Xavier Rhodes mistakenly dropped off of him. Darnold saw it and threw toward Cager in the end zone, but Rhodes recovered and made the interception.
The Jets never seemed to recover. It was their last play in Colts territory in the game.
“If we score a touchdown there, it’s a whole different ballgame,” Darnold said. “I can’t make mistakes like that.”
The Jets defense was nearly as dismal as the offense. It had no pass rush and no pass coverage. That led to Philip Rivers (17 of 21 for 217 yards, one touchdown) slicing up the defense. Rivers got to watch the end of the game from the bench as the Colts put backup Jacoby Brissett in for mop-up duty.
Any thoughts of the Jets getting out to a quick start ended with Darnold’s second throw of the game. Rhodes intercepted the pass intended for Cager and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 Colts (2-1) lead not even three minutes into the game.
Darnold rebounded on the next series, engineering a 14-play drive that ended with a spectacular touchdown pass to Braxton Berrios. On the drive, Darnold used his legs effectively. He scrambled for one third-down conversion and then kept the play alive on the touchdown. It looked like he was going to be sacked but evaded the rush somehow and then squirted out to his right and found Berrios for the 16-yard touchdown to tie the game at 7-7.
That was the last good moment of the day for the Jets, though. Rivers threw his 400th career touchdown and the Jets kicked a field goal as Indy went up 17-7. That came before Darnold’s end-zone interception. Indianapolis dominated the second half, outscoring the Jets 19-0. The Jets had just 72 yards in the second half.
“You don’t want to go out there and get your ass kicked,” Gase said. “It’s frustrating.”