The Jets spent the last few weeks taking pride in winning ugly.
Coach Robert Saleh boasting “they don’t ask how, they ask how many [wins]” at the end of the season. Injured quarterback and key team leader Aaron Rodgers echoed that sentiment in multiple interviews later in the week, comparing the situation to golfers not having pictures on a scorecard.
The Jets deserved credit for winning tough games against the Broncos, Eagles and Giants to climb above .500. But those games were also major warning signs about red-flag problems with this team.
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The inability to score touchdowns. Their penchant for making huge mental mistakes in big spots. Their slow starts and their overconfidence any time they experience some measure of success.
Monday night, the Jets crashed back to reality with a brutal 27-6 loss to the Chargers with the entire country watching. It turns out grit doesn’t matter if you start slow, commit a never-ending stream of bone-headed penalties, and can’t score touchdowns — no matter how good your defense is.
And that’s the thing: the Jets defense was good on Monday night. Quite good, holding Chargers star quarterback Justin Herbert under 100 yards for most of the game and keeping the Jets within striking distance until they finally, understandably, cracked in the fourth quarter.
The good work of the defense didn’t matter because Zach Wilson wasn’t good — as we’ve all come to expect. It didn’t matter because they were outplayed and overmatched in the first quarter. Again. They’ve been outscored 61-12 in the first quarter this year, after the Chargers outscored them 14-0 thanks to a special teams blunder and two early turnovers.
And most concerning, the Jets seem to be scoring only when they’re lucky, because they can’t sustain drives. The Jets now have three offensive touchdowns in their last four games (they didn’t have one against the Chargers) and all of them have come on…
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