THE BIGGEST LOSERS
Jets become NFL’s last winless team with another flat ‘effort’
The Jets can only hope Trevor Lawrence does not own a TV … or have internet access.
Maybe then the Clemson star quarterback won’t know what awaits him if he declares for the NFL draft this spring. Maybe then the presumptive No. 1 pick won’t be aware of how putrid the Jets are, how hopeless this franchise looks and how far it has to go before contending again.
Because if he watched Sunday’s 24-0 loss to the Dolphins, another year in the ACC might look awfully appealing. Who would want to join this team?
The Jets were noncompetitive … again. This time it was against a team they were supposed to be able to compete with. Instead, the Dolphins looked like Super Bowl contenders. The Jets are now 0-6 and you have to be delusional to look at their schedule and think they can win a game. It is the second time in franchise history they are 0-6. The other time was 1996, when the team finished 1-15.
“It sucks,” beleaguered head coach Adam Gase said. “Everybody is just trying to do everything they can to win a game and just haven’t been able to do it.”
With wins by the Falcons and the Giants earlier Sunday, the Jets were left as the only winless team in the NFL. The only question now is when, not if, Gase will be fired?
“I’m not even thinking about it,” Gase said of his job security. “I have to focus on making sure our guys are ready to go when we get back in the building on Monday and Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and then get ready for this next game.”
The Jets looked lifeless and clueless Sunday at Hard Rock Stadium against a Dolphins team that is not all that good and did not play all that well.
Joe Flacco made his second start at quarterback and could do nothing. He finished 21 of 44 for 186 yardss and one interception.
The Jetsets were dismal in nearly every way.ay. The offense failed to convert its f irst 12 third-down tries, hadd six three-and-outs and 10 punts.s. The defense made the Dolphinsns look like the Chiefs with threeee first-half touchdowns before settling down. Special teams joined the partyy with terrible penalt i e s and byy a l l o w i nn gg long returns.urns.
The offense did not convertvert a third down until thee 10:47 mark of the fourth quarter.
“You can’t f--king wait until the fourth quarteruarter to f--king want to start playingaying ball, man,” a frus-frustrated Frankrank Gore said. “You can’t start slowow in this league. When you’ve got the chance to make a play, we’ve’ve got to make the play. That goeses for me, that goes for everyone on the offense.” The loss put the exclamation point on a tumultuous week for the Jets. It began with Le’Veon Bell complaining about his role, then Gase talked about giving up play-calling duties before deciding to keep them. The Jets released Bell on Tuesday night. Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams blamed Gase and the offense for the defense’s struggles.
Gase said he and Williams talked about what the defensive coordinator said on F r i d a y. That conversation did not occur on the field before the game, as CBS indicated.
“I wasn’t happy about it,” Gase said. “We talked about it. Right now, I feel like our players are doing such a good job trying to get things righted. Everything we say, it matters. He understood. We’ve got to set the right example. ”
With all that swirling, it was not surprising to see the Jets looking like a mess.
In the first half, the Jets punted sisix times with f ive three-andououts. Flacco brought nothing in hhis second start in place of Sam Darnold, who has a sprained AC jointo in his right shoulder. He acactually took a 28-yard sack in the fofourth quarter when the Jets had a prayer of scoring.
“We’ve got a lot of things to fix on offense,” Gase said. “We just have to make the plays when they’re there to be made and we’ve got to protect the quarterback better.”
While the Jets offense was sputtering, the defense was struggling to stop Dolphins quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who carved up Williams’ unit in the f irst half before the defense settled in and played better in the second half. Fitzpatrick threw two interceptions, one an acrobatic catch by Marcus Maye, who pinned the ball against his backside.
Fitzpatrick threw three touchdowns to give the Dolphins a 221-0 lead at halftime. It would hhave been 28-0 if not for a Brian
Poole interception just before halftime.
The Jets had six penalties in the first half, two on special teams and three personal fouls, which have plagued them.
The Jets say they are not giving up and still believe they can turn this around.
“It’s a new day, a new week,” Maye said. “I don’t think anybody has the mindset of giving up. I know I definitely don’t. We’ve just got to try to improve from this week. I know it sounds like a broken record almost, but each week in the NFL is a new week, it’s a clean slate. We’ve just got to find a way to get it done.”
It was the f irst time the Jets were shut out since last year’s 33-0 l oss to the Patriots on “Monday Night Football” in the “ghosts” game. It was their second straight loss by at least 20 points and third this season.
The only hope for Jets fans now is the idea of getting the No. 1 pick and being able to draft Lawrence, the Clemson quarterback who looks like a generational talent.
If there are any Jets fans in South Carolina, you might want to steal Lawrence’s TV.