It can get worse for Jets
They face potential humiliation of being 3rd team to go 0-16
The New York Jets already have set a new low for the franchise. The scary thing is, it can get a lot worse.
They’re 0-9 for the first time in team history, a dubious distinction that has them hurtling toward the unthinkable: a winless season.
For three quarters Monday night, it appeared Adam Gase’s group was going to actually pull off a victory. But a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter evaporated — along with the Jets’ hopes for a win — with New England kicking a field goal as time expired to send New York to a 30-27 loss.
And keeping 0-16 a strong possibility.
“There are seven weeks left in the National Football League season, so if you don’t come to work ready to go, this league will make that very long and very tough for you to survive,” said quarterback Joe Flacco, who started Monday for the injured Sam Darnold.
“So we have to keep our heads up and play this thing out the only way we know how.”
The problem, though, is the Jets have shown only that they know how to lose.
Despite a mostly solid performance against the Patriots, Gase’s offense has struggled
mightily for most of the season while ranking last in the NFL in several key statistical categories. Gregg Williams’ defense also has been inconsistent, with penalties and missed assignments keeping drives alive in key spots.
That all has even the most loyal of Jets fans stuck facing a strange dilemma:
Do they root for a win in the final seven games to end the misery and the potential humiliation of joining the 2008 Lions and 2017 Browns as the only 0-16 teams in NFL history?
Or do they simply keep rooting for more losses so they assure themselves the No. 1 pick — and likely Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence — in the draft next April?
“It is frustrating,” defensive lineman Folorunso Fatukasi said. “But we’ve still got a lot more work to do and guys are
going to make sure that we’re encouraged to get this thing turned around somehow.”
The inept offense showed signs of life against the Patriots, with Flacco throwing three touchdown passes and the 27 points, just two fewer than the Jets had scored in their previous four games combined. No, that’s not a misprint.
The lack of third-down efficiency and TDS in the red zone have been the biggest culprits in the offense’s struggles.
New York’s defense also has been unable to clamp down on opponents. Against New England, the Jets allowed the Patriots to score on all four of their final possessions, with two touchdowns and two field goals. In the fourth quarter, the defense couldn’t get off the field, with New England holding the ball for a whopping 13:36.