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A lot went wrong for New York, a mediocre attempt to open the season

This was close to the worst-case scenario for the New York Jets.

After a rousing rendition of the national anthem by the MetLife faithful, the Jets came flat and faceplanted after halftime.

Maybe it wasn’t as ugly as some of last season’s outbursts, but the second half really made Jets fans shake their heads and sigh, “Same old Jets.” (How can anyone contradict that sentiment after watching the 24-9 final?)

While it’s too early to overreact to one match against a projected top team in the AFC, it’s reasonable to wonder what went so wrong.

Yet it was not all poor. Without having access to the tape or the deeper tracks, here are some impressions from week 1.

The good

Fighter Jets Defend

The running defense, which was expected to be the weakest link in this Jets team, passed the first test. The Ravens only managed 63 rushing yards. Lamar Jackson was limited to 17 yards on six attempts. While the absence of JK Dobbins, Gus Edwards and Ronnie Stanley (and later Ja’Wuan James) slowed the Ravens’ multiple attack, the Jets’ front seven held up much better than expected throughout the game.

There were still a few folds later in the game, but this is an encouraging sign for a team with the Browns on tap next week.

Sauce + Reed = top combo

Those stats tell a story of a potentially dominant one-two punch at cornerback. Sauce Gardner was in step with Mark Andrews on a break in the end zone. The rookie’s hands rose just as Andrews did to disrupt the pass.

Meanwhile, DJ Reed seemed to have his share too, taking down a jumping intercept of Lamar Jackson and generally giving up nothing.

Even Bryce Hall, whose touchdown is allowed for Devin Duvernay, who fans say had a bad game, had strong coverage of the game.

You can take that stat as a sign that Hall doesn’t have good ball skills, which is one of the reasons the Jets drafted Sauce. But eventually Hall got his hand there and was as close as he could get. Sometimes you just have to tilt your cap towards the receiver.

Beginners…for the most part

We already talked about Sauce, which looks just as good as the Jets expected. Garrett Wilson barely played in the first half, but made some good plays on the ball in the second, especially with the ball in his hands. Jermaine Johnson had a sack and was instrumental in determining the lead. Michael Clemons did his part inside out. Max Mitchell held his own, although he got run over a few times in the run game.

Week 1’s most disappointing rookie was Breece Hall, who flashed a few times but was inconsistent. Michael Carter surpassed him and generally outplayed him. Hall also had a bad clumsiness that wiped out a moving Jets drive and put the game pretty much out of reach.

Jeremy Ruckert, as expected, was inactive. Whether that stays that way in week 2 after Lawrence Cager led to an interception of Joe Flacco by falling remains to be seen.

Defense Line

While it wasn’t busy every day, the Jets certainly moved a lot more than they did last season. Quinnen Williams, John Franklin-Myers and Jermaine Johnson were the main attackers early on. The Jets need this unit to get constant pressure to win games this season. The money and design capital spent on this unit appears to be paying early dividends.

The bad

Attacking line

This was a major concern after the line got very little play time together. It now looks like Duane Brown will be missing out on a lot of time as head coach Robert Saleh said he hopes Brown can play again this season.

The Jets allowed pressure throughout the day and failed to open consistent holes for their running backs. Most disappointing was the lack of interior space, especially the playing of Laken Tomlinson.

Max Mitchell held out as best he could, but George Fant’s play in the left tackle left much to be desired. While we’ll take a closer look at the film to find the culprits of each piece, the left side of the Jets line seemed to let them down.

Joe Flacco

Joe Flacco threw over 300 yards in knockout time at 5.1 yards per attempt. He pitched an early pick, and his immobility at age 37 led to sacks and an inability to throw sacks that a more mobile QB might have found workable.

The Jets again played a very conservative game, refusing to break open the attack and shoot into the field. It’s fair to wonder what this game would have looked like with the much more mobile and more armed Zach Wilson.

free security

This was one of the Jets’ biggest known weaknesses, and it showed up on tape. While we don’t know exactly what each command was, the deep touchdown pass to Rashod Bateman in which rookie Sauce Gardner pointed urgently to Lamarcus Joyner to pick up the deep ball.

It could have been a Cover 4 match, in which case it could be Jordan Whitehead’s fault, but Sauce’s signal to Joyner makes you wonder. There were several throws where the free safety appeared to be out of position. It puts Joyner’s long-standing hold on the safety start position in question.

the ugly one

Kicker and punter

The Jets held onto Braden Mann after an up and down 2021 season. Mann’s 42.2-yard gross average at six points belies how poorly he played. His 20-yard shaft after the Jets’ first drive of the second half swung the game irrevocably in Baltimore’s favor. It set the Ravens up at the 44-yard line from the Jets, who promptly converted the Ravens for the touchdown pass to Duvernay over Hall.

Meanwhile, Greg Zuerlein won the preseason kicking competition but made that look questionable in Week 1.

He missed a 45-yard field goal that could have put the game at three in the second quarter. He coupled that with a late extra point miss when the Jets scored a touchdown in penalty time. After years of spades that got a brief reprieve from Eddy Pineiro last season, it looks like the kick position is still unresolved in East Rutherford.

faults

The Jets had a lot of trouble in all three phases of the game last season, but the dagger was the influx of mistakes in every game. This season opener was no different.

Drops from Corey Davis and Elijah Moore, an interception when Lawrence Cager fell, and fumbles from Tyler Conklin and Breece Hall turned the game heavily in Baltimore’s favor. When you face a team of superior talent, the first task is to take care of the football. The Jets didn’t today and that came back in the final standings.