The Jets were still searching for answers a day later for what happened to their run defense Thursday night in Indianapolis.
The Colts ran for 260 yards, many of those without being touched by a Jets defender. Jonathan Taylor had 172 yards and two touchdowns and the Jets allowed long run after long run. The Colts gained 532 total yards, the second time in three weeks the Jets allowed more than 500 yards.
“Like I said, whether we could have helped the players better play calling to players executing, it’s a collective effort in terms of lack of execution, lack of detail in what we’re asking of our guys, lack of strain, it just wasn’t a good day, all the way across the board, coaches included,” head coach Robert Saleh said. “That’s something that has to get fixed because if you can’t stop the run in this game, and I know it’s a passing league and all that junk or whatever, but if you can’t stop the run it gets ugly in a hurry.
“[Thursday], for the amount of space that was created, it’d be one thing if they were breaking tackles and doing something magnificent, but for the amount of space that was created to get to the second level, coaches, we need to look in the mirror first before we even start talking to our players.”
The Jets are now the worst-ranked team in the NFL both in yards allowed (408.1) and points allowed (31.4).
“Absolutely not good enough, obviously,” defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “It’s a combination of, as coaches we got to put them in better spots to be successful and they got to play better too. So, we are absolutely in this together. That was a collective effort of just not good enough football, especially from a run-defense perspective, something that we pride ourselves on and any defensive coach or player prides themselves on.
“So, it’s absolutely, it’s not good enough. From a coaching perspective, it’s not good enough and from a playing perspective, it’s not good enough.”