SINKING SHIP
Bowles on the hot seat as Jets suffer ugly loss to lowly Bills
EAST RUTHERFORD >> Same old Jets?
Nah. This was worse. Way, way worse. Gang Green embarrassed themselves in a noncompetitive, unwatchable 41-10 loss to the equally inept Buffalo Bills on Sunday afternoon in front of an announced crowd of 77,982 at MetLife Stadium, with far, far fewer actually in the seats to watch a game in which the home team was out of it from the very beginning.
“It was a disappointing loss, it was tough,” said Jets head coach Todd Bowles, who refused to discuss what is at best some very unstable job security after the game.
“We haven’t been a part of one of these in a long time, I think since a night game in Indianapolis a few years ago. We didn’t coach well in any aspect of the game. We didn’t play well in any aspect of the game. Everything that could have went wrong, went wrong.”
Matt Barkley, who hadn’t played since Week 17 of the 2016 NFL season and was the Bills’ fourthstring quarterback signed off the street just two weeks ago, needed just 49 seconds to give Buffalo a lead they’d never relinquish. He hit Robert Foster down the right sideline for a 47-yard gain play over returning cornerback Trumaine Johnson, and LeSean McCoy ran it in on the next play from 28 yards out to give the Bills a 7-0 lead.
The Bills, who combined to score 31 points in their last four games combined, managed to post that in the first half alone against the hapless Jets. Buffalo outgained Gang Green 186-1 in the first quarter — the Jets lowest yardage output in one quarter in a home game in 27 years — and ended up putting up 313 total yards in the first half, which the most they’d had in a first half since at least 2001.
A perfectly executed fake punt led to Jason Croom recovering a Zay Jones fumble in the end zone to make it 14-0 with 2:12 left in the first quarter, Stephen Hauschka kicked a 54-yard field goal early in the second to make it a 17-0 game, offensive tackle and Rahway native Dion Dawkins caught a wideopen pass on a tackle-eligible play to extend the lead to 24-0, and McCoy struck again with a oneyard touchdown run late in the first half to make it 31-0.
Game over.
A 55-yard Jason Myers field goal as time ran out in the half didn’t prevent the Jets from getting heartily booed off the field. The Bills had eight offensive touchdowns all season entering the game, and put up four on the Jets defense in one half.
“Honestly, we didn’t expect to come out there like that,” said safety Jamal Adams. “We didn’t expect this game to go like that. We didn’t come out there and execute. We played bad - all three phases. It’s as simple as that.”
Barkley — who finished the day having completed 15 of his 25 passes for 232 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions — handed the ball off to McCoy and backup Marcus Murphy for the majority of the rest of the game. McCoy ran for 113 yards to give the Bills their first 100-yard rusher of the season, while Murphy had 14 carries for 69 yards in a supporting role.
As for the Jets, their offense struggled to move the ball all day. Isaiah Crowell had a largely meaningless 5-yard touchdown run in the third quarter that was essentially erased on the next drive when Barkley and Jones connected for a touchdown pass.
Josh McCown, making his first appearance of the season with Sam Darnold sidelined due to a foot injury, performed poorly, albeit with little time to throw the ball thanks to an offensive line that was getting dominated at the line of scrimmage. The 39-yearold finished the day 17-for34 for 135 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.
That made the decision to keep Davis Webb, just elevated from the practice squad, on the bench late in the game, a curious one. Did Bowles consider putting him in the game?
“No,” was all he could offer to a reporter who asked.
Then again, he surely didn’t see this team being 3-7 heading into the bye week, with the New England Patriots awaiting them when they return two Sundays from now.
“(We’re) not in a great place,” Bowles said. “Going into a bye week 3-7, things aren’t looking up. You just have to try to get to the next game as best as possible and try to get a win. You don’t look at the rest of the season. You just look at the next game. We have to play New England. We’ll try and go 4-7. It’ll be a tough game and a tough task. At the end of the day, we’ll take a hard look at everything this week and try to recap and re-evaluate everything that we’re doing and try to put together a win when we get back.”