Jets' grades vs. Seahawks: Offense, defense both struggle
Jets running back Breece Hall sits on the bench after a loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. Credit: Lee S. Weissman
OFFENSE: D
The way things started out, with two touchdowns in the first quarter, it seemed as if the Jets were going to run away with it and Aaron Rodgers was going to turn in a vintage performance. Nope. The offense did not score another point in the game, Rodgers was intercepted by Leonard Williams for a pick-six, Breece Hall’s fumble led to a Seahawks field goal, and the game ended with the Jets having a chance at a game-winning drive but never getting inside the Seattle 29.
DEFENSE: D
The Seahawks snapped the ball from the 1 five straight plays to start the third quarter and couldn’t get into the end zone, but that was the last stop the Jets made. They gave up a short-field field goal after the Hall fumble and a dreadful 71-yard touchdown drive in which they committed four critical penalties to allow the go-ahead touchdown. At one point the Jets were playing without any of their top four cornerbacks on the field, all dealing with injuries of various severity. Will McDonald had two sacks and four QB hits.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
The unit almost did enough to win the game on its own with Kene Nwangwu’s 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, a blocked extra point by Samuel Eguavoen, a takeaway on a muffed return when Seattle's Laviska Shenault fumbled a ball that was recovered by kicker Anders Carlson, and 238 total yards in kickoff returns between Nwangwu and Xavier Gipson. But there were blemishes, too, including an extra point that was blocked and the awful 12-men-on-the-field penalty after Gipson came out for a punt when the Seahawks offense stayed on the field.
COACHING: D
Jeff Ulbrich decided not to use his timeouts late in the second quarter when the Seahawks were pinned inside their 20 and it cost the Jets a scoring opportunity when they received the punt with just six seconds left. The interim coach said in hindsight he should have stopped the clock. The Jets were penalized 12 times for 83 yards, an issue that has plagued this team for years but was particularly harmful in this game. Four of the Seahawks’ 16 first downs were converted via penalty.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
