Jets’ struggling offense sputtering to finish under Bates
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. >> Jeremy Bates knows what the New York Jets are doing on offense just isn’t cutting it.
The offensive coordinator has heard all about it, taking his fair share of criticism from fans and media the past several weeks.
“This profession is about grinding,” Bates said Thursday. “You’ve got to move to the next week. You can’t look at last week and lose sleep on it. You’ve got to turn the page.”
The problem for Bates and the Jets has been that the story has been pretty much the same, week after week.
New York has scored one or fewer touchdown on offense in a franchise-worst five consecutive games, all losses during the Jets’ current six-game skid. And, with the way things have been going — or, not going — the 22 points they put up during a 2622 defeat at Tennessee last Sunday could be considered a scoring outburst.
It was the most New York has scored since beating Indianapolis 42-34 on Oct. 14, its most recent win. Before last Sunday, the Jets scored 17, 10, 6, 10 and 13 points in their previous five games.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” Bates said. “We’re not happy with our outcomes, but the opposing team is not going to feel sorry for us. So we’ve got to keep working.”
New York has been limited to one field goal on 17 fourth-quarter possessions over its past four games. Eight of those drives ended with punts, five with interceptions, two on downs and one missed field goal — a rarity during a season in which kicker Jason Myers has been one of the team’s MVPs.
“We haven’t scored in quite some time consistently and we get stuck every time we get there,” coach Todd Bowles said. “Thank goodness for Myers, but that’s not enough to win ballgames.”
There have been whispers for weeks about some unhappiness in the overall game plans on offense, and veiled criticisms by some prominent players.
“I still have a job right now,” wide receiver Quincy Enunwa said after the Jets’ loss to Tennessee. “I’d love to say what my opinion of that is, but I’ll just keep that to myself.”
The Jets have the league’s 30th-ranked offense, and few expected New York to be a powerhouse with rookie Sam Darnold learning on the job while starting at quarterback.
But, the No. 3 overall draft pick has missed the past three games with a foot injury and veteran Josh McCown has been no better at getting the team into the end zone.
There has not been an offense-led TD drive in seven quarters, a span that dates to the first quarter of the Jets’ 27-13 loss to New England when Jermaine Kearse caught a 16yard pass from McCown. Other than that, it has been lots of field goals by Myers — seven, in fact — and a pick-6 interception return by Trumaine Johnson.
“As playmakers, we just have to step up and make plays,” running back Isaiah Crowell said. “We’re doing a great job of moving the ball, but for some reason we just couldn’t get into the end zone. We just have to make more plays.”