The Number One Concern For The Jets After Their 30-10 Loss To Dallas
After their walk-off win vs. the Bills last Monday night, the Jets failed to get anything going in Dallas on Sunday afternoon.
New York struggled on both sides of the ball in this game and it just felt like they were facing an uphill battle pretty much all afternoon. In no particular order, the defense, Zach Wilson, and the offensive line are just a few examples of what to be concerned about after Sunday’s loss to the Cowboys. Here I will be addressing my number one takeaway and most concerning part from Week Two.
The Offensive Game Plan Was Disturbing
After the stat line that Zach Wilson finished with on Sunday, 12/27, 170 yards, TD, and 3 INTs, you would think he’d be the hands-down number one issue for me. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still a huge part of the problem, but the offensive game plan that we witnessed this week was more concerning in terms of how this team views their starting quarterback at this point in the season.
All week we heard New York’s “commitment” to Zach and that they really see an improvement in the third-year quarterback. While that still may be true to a certain extent, the Jets did not do a good job in showing us their vote of confidence in the former second-overall pick.
In this Nathaniel Hackett-led offense, the Jets stuck with the conservative game plan that we saw last Monday night against Buffalo. I was fine with that approach last week due to the situation of Zach getting thrown into the game at a moment's notice, but this time around you had a full week of preparation. Going into this game with that type of intent was a recipe for disaster, especially when you have Micah Parsons and the rest of the Dallas defense on the other side of the ball.
The Jets failed to move the ball on Sunday and took practically no shots downfield until the later parts of the game. New York played from behind all afternoon, so there was no reason not to stretch out the field at various points throughout the game. It was very telling that the Jets were coddling Zach to a certain extent again this week. I’m not saying he should’ve thrown the ball fifty times, but when the run game isn’t working the way you want it to and the game keeps getting away from you, you have to do your best to not be so one-dimensional.
The irony of all this is that I actually thought the Jets made a decent attempt to establish the run game in the earlier parts of the contest. That attempt of course failed miserably with Breece Hall, Dalvin Cook, and Michael Carter totaling nine, seven, and eight yards rushing respectively. The offensive line was no match for the Cowboys front and Micah Parsons made sure everyone knew that. Credit to the Dallas defense there but with that being said, I saw this as a missed opportunity for Hackett to start airing the ball out earlier in order to try and back up the Cowboys' defense.
Closing Thoughts
I understand that the risk may outweigh the reward in terms of letting Zach loose, but at this stage in his career and in a season where the Jets may move on from him at any point, New York should be more willing to take those chances since the alternative does not seem to be making a difference anyways.
The bottom line, the Jets' offense was just unable to stay on the field with the exception of one drive at the end of the first half that ended in a field goal and Zach Wilson running for 36 yards. Other than that and the Garrett Wilson touchdown drive that took one play and lasted nine seconds, the Jets did not move the ball farther than 25 yards all day. Just pitiful.
We saw the Jets find success last season by leaning on their defense and run game despite not having consistent quarterback play. Well, it’s safe to say that New York did not find the same success in those areas this week. The defense was far from perfect but in my opinion, the offense deserves a portion of the blame for simply not being able to stay on the field.
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