The New York Jets battled for most of the afternoon, but ultimately came up short and suffered a 26-19 loss to the New England Patriots. The Jets fall to 2-4 on the season while the Patriots improve to 4-2.
It was more of the same as some self-inflicted wounds as well as poor play calling by both offensive coordinator Frank Reich and head coach Aaron Glenn that sealed their fate. On the bright side was Omar Cooper Jr's return after missing four weeks with an ankle injury. The rookie scored his first touchdown as a Jet and finished with 103 yards on six receptions.
Here is Jets Wire's report card for the team's Week 6 loss to the Patriots:
Passing Offense: C+
Geno Smith had a good day throwing the football and should have had a touchdown pass on the opening drive to Omar
Cooper Jr. However, it was called back due to offensive pass interference on Tim Patrick which forced the Jets to settle for a field goal. It was yet another in a long line of self-inflicted wounds by this team that hurt them in the end. Geno did throw a 48 yard touchdown to Cooper Jr. to cut the deficit to a touchdown on their first drive in the second half. While the ball was a little underthrown, the rookie made a great catch.
While Cooper Jr. was brilliant, Garrett Wilson was relatively quiet in this game, finishing with only 44 yards on four receptions. GW was tied with Mason Taylor in targets with six, which is a bit odd for the team's best offensive player. Smith threw his first interception of the season early in the fourth quarter after the Patriots scored a touchdown on the previous drive to put them up 23-13.
Rushing Offense: C
Braelon Allen was solid running the football (17 carries, 74 yards) and averaged just under five yards a carry. On one sequence, he used his physicality to run over Patriots safety Kevin Byard for extra yardage. Since Breece Hall's injury, Allen has established himself as a strong RB1 and it will be tough to keep him off the field when Hall returns.
The Jets short-yardage offense is becoming increasingly frustrating to watch each week and there is simply no creativity from Frank Reich in these situations. On two consecutive drives, the Jets went for it on fourth down and could not convert. That is inexcusable. While Reich deserves plenty of heat for calling the same tired play on fourth down, the offensive line should be able to get one yard to keep the offense on the field.
Passing Defense: C
After sacking Deshaun Watson eight times last week in their win over the Browns, the Jets didn't get to Drake Maye once, giving him plenty of time to pick apart the secondary. What made that even worse was the Patriots were very weak on the offensive line and lost two starters during Sunday's game, including Alijah Vera-Tucker. It's disappointing that Glenn couldn't dial up any creative blitzes to frustrate Maye or at least take advantage of an inexperienced offensive line who seemed to have very little trouble picking up the Jets pass rush.
Azareye'h Thomas had a bad missed tackle on Hunter Henry that set up a touchdown from Maye to DeMario Douglas right before halftime to put the Patriots up by two scores. Maye finished with 235 yards passing and three touchdowns on the afternoon. Jamien Sherwood was one of the bright spots on the Jets defense as the linebacker finished with 11 tackles, one tackle for loss and a fumble recovery.
Rushing Defense: C
While New England didn't have a 100 yard rusher, Corey Kiner was huge in the fourth quarter, carving up the Jets run defense to set up a field goal late to put the Patriots up by 10. The defense kept both TreVeyon Henderson and Rhamondre Stevenson in check as both backs combined for only 67 yards on 21 carries. But 42 of Kiner's 57 yards on the ground came on the drive that resulted in a field goal and put the game out of reach.
Special Teams: A
It's amazing to see what Chris Banjo continues to do with his field goal kickers. Jason Sanders had another excellent day, making all four of his field goal attempts, including three in the second half to keep the Jets within striking distance. Since that horrible miss in Tennessee, Sanders has made 10 straight field goals and Jets fans don't seem to miss Nick Folk anymore.
With that being said, it may be time for some changes to the kick return unit as Kene Nwangwu was very ineffective, averaging just over 20 yards per return and lacking that explosiveness that made him dangerous.
Coaching: C
This season has brought a different kind of frustration in that now the Jets look like a team that competes each and every week, but can never seem to get over the hump. Glenn had some questionable decisions, especially going for it on fourth down on two consecutive drives and getting stopped. Against teams like New England, it's always better to walk away with some points to cut the deficit. The Jets continue to call the same exact play each and every time on fourth down. You can blame that on either lack of execution or an arrogant coaching staff who refuses to change their philosophy.
Patrick's pass interference penalty on Cooper's first touchdown was brutal and cost the Jets an opportunity to punch the Patriots in the stomach early. Reich's terrible play calling with under two minutes to go in the first half gave New England too much time to score and that's exactly what they did with Maye's touchdown to Douglas. In fairness to the Jets, the roughing the passer penalty on David Bailey was weak and felt like a gift to the Patriots.
The Jets are 2-4, which is exactly where we all pegged them to be through six games. They are getting better and there is plenty of talent on both sides of the ball. They must clean up the mistakes as well as the dumb penalties. The coaching staff needs to make adjustments and they need to give different looks in short-yardage situations. The Jets return home for two straight games against the Dolphins and Raiders. 4-4 is definitely within reach. But, they'll only get there if they get out of their own way and if they stop outsmarting themselves and outsmart the other team.
This article originally appeared on Jets Wire: Report Card: Jets Lose To Patriots, 26-19, in Week 6
