Inside an ultraquiet Land Shark Stadium visitors' locker room, Bryan Thomas sat at his stall, staring blankly into space almost in bewilderment.
Like everyone else who was a part of the defensive debacle that surrendered 21 fourth-quarter points to the Dolphins, the Jets linebacker had an incredulous look, wondering just how they could've have squandered three fourth-quarter leads.
The Jets' defense has talked big since the beginning of training camp, fueling hype they were already on their way to becoming the Baltimore Ravens North. However, 60 minutes of atrocious defense in their mind-numbing, 31-27 last-second loss to Miami with millions tuned in on "Monday Night Football" quelled that bravado - for now.
Defensively, the Jets were downright offensive.
"Man, I'm just disappointed," Thomas said. "As a defense, we let our offense down. They were out there scoring points, moving the ball, getting us out of jams left and right. We have to get off the field as a defense. I just feel like that was embarrassing out there."
We're reaching an early critical moment for this football team. The Jets have hit their first rough patch this season. Every year you see teams get off to great starts that sputter once they hit adversity. Their next opponent, the Buffalo Bills, did just that a year ago. With games against the hapless Bills and Raiders on the horizon, this team has a chance to get healthy really fast. You hope they use this as motivation.
Do you think the loss was a bump in the road or the start of a year unwinding?