Three takeaways from the Jets in Week 1 vs. the San Francisco 49ers

1. The Jets' defense looked slow and unprepared.

This was disturbing. The 49ers are a talented and diverse offense and they have an extremely creative play-caller in Kyle Shanahan. But they were without their best player and last year’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year, Christian McCaffrey, and still racked up 401 yards of offense, with 180 coming on the ground. The Jets were pushed around up front and let Jordan Mason look like a Pro-Bowl back. He had 147 yards rushing with a touchdown and that was after two long runs and another touchdown were negated by penalty. The Jets were a top three defense last year. They looked nothing like it on Monday night. They allowed the 49ers to score on eight straight possessions. This was alarming. They also didn’t have much of a pass rush, which is not surprising when you consider all they lost from last season and Haason Reddick is still holding out. They moved Quinnen Williams outside on some passing downs. It didn’t make much of a difference.

2. The Jets’ offense needs work.

There were some things to like and a lot that wasn’t good. Let’s start there: In the first half Breece Hall and Garrett Wilson were the only two Jets to touch the ball. Aaron Rodgers threw a pass to Allen Lazard on the first series that he dropped, but still – there needs to be more diversity. They need to spread the ball around. Tyler Conklin didn’t catch a pass until the final series when Rodgers was on the bench and Tyrod Taylor ran the offense. The Jets never went to rookie Braelon Allen, which they could have and probably should have in some short yardage situations. Hall was stuffed on a two-point conversion and on a third-and-1. The 6-foot-1, 235-pound Allen might have been a good option there. But the Jets never established the run game anyway. Rodgers led an impressive 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive in the first quarter, which provided a glimmer of hope. The Jets had five series of three plays or fewer, though. They ran a total of 49 plays. It was too reminiscent of last season.

3. The Jets are not in the 49ers' class.

The Jets have openly talked about their belief that have the roster to compete for a Super Bowl. The 49ers were in the Super Bowl last year. The Jets are not close to being on San Francisco’s level. The Niners are a complete team that didn’t have their No. 1 producer and just welcomed back Trent Williams and Brandon Aiyuk from long holdouts and they still were able to dominate the Jets. It’s only one game. The Jets will grow and fix some of their issues and Rodgers will get sharper. He hadn’t played in a game in a year. Rodgers had some beautiful throws and also some he would like back. A player like him will have far more good than bad. The Jets didn’t lose this game because Robert Saleh decided not to play his starters in the preseason. The Jets lost in lopsided fashion because the 49ers are a better team, have better coaching and have been together for a long time. The Jets have work to do to close the gap.

By Al Iannazzone

al.iannazzone@newsday.comAl_Iannazzone

Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.