BLEAK HOLE
Jets tank one on the chin in Oakland
Josh McCown gets hit hard by Mario Edwards during the Raiders’ 45-20 demolition of the Jets. The Jets hung tough in the first half until a muffed punt handed the Raiders an easy score and the rout was on in the second half as Gang Green took another step toward the No. 1 pick.
OAKLAND, Calif. — The Raiders call their home stadium the “Black Hole.” That could also be used to describe this Jets season.
Gang Green dropped to 0-2 after a 45-20 thrashing by the Raiders on Sunday at the aforementioned Oakland Coliseum. It is the first time the Jets have opened a season 0-2 since 2007.
The Jets kept it close for nearly 30 minutes and then got their doors blown off in the second half. They gave up second-half touchdown runs of 43 and 52 yards, had a costly special-teams turnover and had to watch Marshawn Lynch dance on the scoreboard in the fourth quarter.
“We’re not good enough to cor- rect our mistakes and win the game,” coach Todd Bowles said. “We’ve got to play pretty good, sound football and at times we didn’t.” No, they sure did not. The Jets defense got humiliated again, giving up 410 total yards and 180 rushing yards — 95 of those yards coming on two plays. The Jets have now given up 818 total yards and 370 on the ground in two weeks. Big plays again killed the Jets. They allowed six plays of 20 yards or more and the two long runs for touchdowns.
“There is no explanation for it,” linebacker Jordan Jenkins said. “We shouldn’t be allowing games like that to happen if we’re supposed to be the run-stopping defense that we are. We have to find ways to eliminate that. It’s getting to the point where it’s getting out of hand.”
Derek Carr threw three touchdowns to Michael Crabtree. Lynch added one and Raiders fans had a party.
Carr completed 23-of-28 passing for 230 yards and the three touchdowns. Lynch ran for 45 yards on 12 carries and one score. Oakland averaged 6.7 yards per rush. In the fourth quarter, Lynch did a crazy dance on the sideline that was shown on the scoreboard, whipping the crowd into a frenzy.
As ugly as the final score was, there was a moment in the first half when it felt like the Jets might make this a game after cutting a 14-0 deficit to 14-10 in the second quarter.
Everything swung in the Raiders direction just before the half. The Jets stopped the Raiders just before the two-minute warning and forced a Marquette King punt. That is when the game slipped away.
Kalif Raymond stood at his own 10-yard line, looking into the sun and trying to catch King’s punt. The ball bounced off his hands and Johnny Holton recovered it for Oakland at the 4-yard line. Three plays later, Lynch scored his first touchdown as a Raider and gave his hometown team a 21-10 lead going into halftime. So, the Jets went from having momentum and a chance to take the lead before the half to handing over the momentum and trailing by 11.
It was a mistake the Jets could not afford. In a moment of honesty after the game, Bowles admitted his team’s margin of error is slim.
“It’s very small,” Bowles said. “As we come together, we’ve got to make sure that we’re on point on everything. We can’t afford to give games away and give plays away and try to make up for them.”
A Chandler Catanzaro field goal made it 21-13 early in the third quarter, then things got out of control. Wide receiver Cordarrelle Patterson took a third-and-1 handoff up the middle, made Jets cornerback Juston Burris whiff on a tackle and was gone for a 43-yard touchdown. Jalen Richard scored on a 52-yard touchdown of his own early in the fourth quarter and the blowout was on.
“[There were] probably like five plays where we pretty much caused ourselves to lose the game,” Muhammad Wilkerson said. “That’s basically two weeks straight, critical plays where we had a miscommunication or whatever the case may be. It’s on our hands. It’s our fault.”
After playing well early, the Jets offensive line collapsed and Josh McCown (17-of-25, 166 yards, 2 TDs) started taking hits. Safety Karl Joseph blitzed him and forced a fumble in the fourth quarter. A Morris Claiborne pass interference call set up Carr’s third touchdown pass of the day to Crabtree and a 42-13 lead.
The Raiders jumped out to a 14-0 lead on two Crabtree touchdown receptions against cornerbacks Buster Skrine and Juston Burris, respectively. The Jets answered, though, with a 34-yard touchdown pass from McCown to Jermaine Kearse and a 46-yard field goal by Catanzaro.
Then, Raymond fumbled and the game changed.
The Jets were remarkably upbeat after the game considering the lopsided score.
“We might have grown as a team with this loss,” Bowles said. “The guys started believing in each other, and they played hard. We just can’t have the mistakes here and there.”