MIAMI — The New York Jets lost their third straight game on Sunday, this one an ugly 13-6 defeat by the Dolphins. Here are some thoughts and observations from the game:
1. This was the first game where I thought Sam Darnold tried to force throws, and that resulted in interceptions. He has thrown interceptions in other games that bounced off receivers’ hands or came as the result of a poor route. These were on him.
One of the biggest knocks on Darnold coming out of USC was that he turned the ball over. Right now, he is living up to that reputation. He has 14 interceptions, four more than anyone else in the NFL. You understand rookies are going to make mistakes and throw picks, but it was the type of interception Darnold threw Sunday that has to give the Jets some short-term concern. They have to figure out a way to stop this regression. I believe Darnold will be fine in the long run, but right now the Jets have to fix their offense.
It is understandable why Darnold feels as if he has to be the hero and make a play. No one is playing well around him. The offensive line has been terrible for the last two weeks. The wide receivers are not getting open, and the running backs have not done much either. Darnold appears to be trying to put the team on his shoulders. He is not ready for that.
That being said, the Jets have to let him play through this. The idea that some have floated of benching him is crazy to me. The Jets chose this path in August when they decided he was the starter. The 2018 season became all about Darnold’s development, whether the Jets can admit that publicly or not. They have to live with the good and the bad and help him through the tough spots. They are in one of those tough spots now. He has to play his way out of it.
2. A football locker room is an interesting habitat. The offense and the defense are basically separate teams that come together for three hours each week and then separate after. You rarely see offensive guys and defensive guys hanging out together. They attend the team meetings together, but the rest of the week they are separate, for the most part.
That can lead to division in the locker room. It has happened to the Jets in the past. In 2011 and 2012, the defense really came to resent the offense. The defense felt it was doing its part and the offense was losing games.
These current Jets are at a critical point where it feels like the defense could start pointing fingers at the offense. Players swore after the loss that would not happen to this team, but no one expects it to happen.
I did not think Todd Bowles helped matters by pointing out the defense had no takeaways, so the unit played a part in the loss. I believe his motivation was to not put this loss entirely on the offense. But guess what? It was.
Bowles could lose defensive players with this kind of talk. They played a great game, gave up just six points, and now Bowles is telling them they did not do enough? That could not have gone over well with a prideful bunch.
3. Well, it did not take long for Jeremy Bates’ honeymoon to end with Jets fans. After the last two weeks, it sounds like fans want Paul Hackett or Brian Schottenheimer back.
I criticized Bates for his lack of imagination last week against the Bears, and he deserves it again this week. I thought against a crappy Dolphins defense, the Jets would be able to line up and run their offense. I was wrong. Once Bates saw how much trouble they were having, he should have tried a gadget play. He did call one reverse to Robby Anderson, but it failed miserably. I would like to see a flea-flicker or a double pass. Something to give this offense a spark. Even the Patriots were using trick plays against the Packers.
Bates has to do something to get this offense out of its funk.
4. There are a lot of reasons this loss was brutal. But the one I keep coming back to is how the Jets have mostly been given a pass this season. Their fans have been very understanding about where they are as a team. They give Darnold a lot of slack to make mistakes. When the Jets lose on the road to the Jaguars or the Bears, fans seem to realize those are better teams with better players right now.
But a loss to the lowly Dolphins with Brock Osweiler at quarterback stings. The Jets played terribly on offense, and they were still in the game in the fourth quarter. They really needed one good offensive drive (and not a pick-six) to win the game, and they could not get it.
That is tough to swallow even for the most understanding fan, who figured this season would be another rebuilding year.
Surprising snap count: Running back Elijah McGuire played his first game of the season and was in there for 36 snaps (55 percent), the most of any running back. Isaiah Crowell was in for 23 snaps. McGuire struggled like the rest of the Jets offense on Sunday, but expect him to have a big role down the stretch.
Revealing stat: Points scored on Sunday: Patriots 31, Rest of the AFC East 28. That is all you need to know about this division.
Game ball: Outside linebacker Jordan Jenkins was in Brock Osweiler’s face all day. He had two sacks and now leads the team with 4½ this season.