Jets grades in Week 10 loss to Arizona Cardinals: Defense is putrid, and so is nearly everything else
Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray celebrates his touchdown against the Jets during the second half of an NFL game Sunday in Glendale, Ariz. Credit: AP/Brynn Anderson
OFFENSE: F
The Jets could not reach the end zone and did not have an offensive play that gained more than 15 yards in their 31-6 loss in Arizona on Sunday. The inability to score points on a goal-to-go on the first possession of the third quarter was as ugly as it was crippling. It included two incompletions and a fourth-down fumble by Aaron Rodgers on a sack. Turning it over on downs with 4:39 remaining essentially ended the game. Rodgers targeted Davante Adams 13 times and completed only six of those for 31 yards.
DEFENSE: EXPULSION
The Jets were unable to make a stop in the first half, allowing points on all four Cardinals possessions, yielding a whopping 18 first downs and missing way too many tackles. Arizona faced only four third downs in the half, converted three, and converted a fourth down on the one they missed. The second half wasn’t much better as Kyler Murray scored his second rushing TD in the third quarter. Murray completed his last 17 passes and finished an almost perfect 22-for-24 for 266 yards and a score. The Cardinals averaged 4.6 yards per carry.
SPECIAL TEAMS: B
Practice-squad elevation Spencer Shrader made his Jets debut with his first two career field goals (25, 45) and demonstrated the “live leg” the team wanted to see from the rookie, who had deep touchbacks on all of his kickoffs. Thomas Morstead put one of his two punts inside the 20.
COACHING: F
Relying on carryover from last week’s second half was always a doomed game plan. The offensive play-calling is out of whack. Even after falling behind 21-6 in the second quarter, the Jets were oddly reluctant to take deep shots and wound up with an unsightly three-and-out for minus-9 net yards. They punted with 4:09 left and never touched the ball again in the half. Then, when they had some clear running downs (such as on the goal-to-goes), they were throwing it as if they had MVP Rodgers and not this version. Can someone teach these defensive assistants a tackling drill to pass along to the players?
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.
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