By Andrew Martinez
Correspondent
Following an electric finish to Monday Night Football in week one, the New York Jets fell to 1-1 after a disappointing 30-10 blowout against the Dallas Cowboys. Here are a few takeaways from that game.
Jets are sorely missing Aaron Rodgers
With the absence of Aaron Rodgers, New York turned to Zach Wilson to lead the offense. The former second overall pick struggled, to say the least, throwing for only 123 yards and three interceptions.
As good as their defense is, with them only allowing 18 at the half and keeping it a close game, those interceptions really hurt their chances of containing that Dallas offense. With those turnovers, it is really hard to win a game when Sauce Gardner and company have to start defending inside their own territory.
With the Jets limiting Dallas to five field goals, the defense was doing all it could and desperately needed the offense to play some complementary football. As talented as those pass rushers are on the other side of the football, it is hard to not wonder what Rodgers would have done, who is 8-3 against Dallas. Perhaps Rodgers would not have been as careless with the football, and when you do not turn the ball over, there is a big chance of you winning the game.
Some key penalties defensively really made the game out of reach
Towards the end of the first half, Dallas was marching down the field. Still being a one possession game at 10-7, Dak threw a broken-up pass on third down, and it looked like the defense was getting off the field. However, the passer penalty on John Franklin-Myers extended the drive for the Cowboys putting them at first and goal.
Then, on a third-and-goal situation, yet another penalty occurred, allowing Dallas to get another crack at the end zone, where they eventually scored a touchdown and got a 2-point conversion, putting them up by two possessions at 18-7.
At the end of the day, those two penalties really ended up mattering and can be the big difference between a loss and win.
Breece Hall needs to be leaned on more
Having an explosive debut last week with 147 yards from scrimmage on 11 touches, it seemed like Hall was trending for another monster game. However, he definitely did not, and the Jets completely abandoned the run game very early on, allowing them to struggle with four turnovers on the day.
Despite only being down by one score at the half, running back Breece Hall was almost nonexistent the whole game, rushing only four times the entire afternoon. Zach Wilson had more carries, and Wilson having more carries than Breece Hall is not a winning formula for this team.
It is no secret that the Jets offense is not the same offense without Aaron Rodgers. They need to change their philosophy and start running the ball more with Hall and Dalvin Cook. This team still has some elite playmakers in the backfield and they need to start taking advantage of that fast this season.
With the right offensive scheme, the Jets are still a wild card contender for the seventh seed in the AFC. The New York Jets will be back at MetLife to take on Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots this Sunday, Sept. 24 at 1:00 p.m.
