The Jets fell to 2-2 tonight with a 34-17 loss in Baltimore to the Ravens. The defense accounted for 7 points. The special teams accounted for 7 points. The offense allowed 21 points for Baltimore. It was that kind of a night.
Join me after the jump to recap this monstrosity.
The Bad:
Mark Sanchez: We will get to the offensive line in a minute. Sanchez has to shoulder the majority of the blame, though. Of the three touchdowns Baltimore's defense scored, two were 100% his fault. The first came on New York's first offensive snap. The Jets were spreading the field. Sanchez had to know he was not going to have help. He needed to get the ball out quickly. Once his first read was not there, he had to either throw it away or just drop to the ground. He held it too long, the Ravens rushed more than the Jets could block, and it ended in a strip sack for a touchdown. The interception in the third quarter was just a really, really dumb throw. He rushed it so that he could not pick up the corner jumping the route. Yes, he was under pressure, but again you just drop to the ground in that spot. Even if it kills the drive, you are still in field goal range, and a field goal in that spot makes it a 7 point game with Baltimore's offense looking horrendous.
We have not even gotten to Sanchez throwing the ball. He threw a ton of ducks. Something just did not look right when the ball was leaving his hand. He finished 11 of 35 for 119 yards and that interception. There were some bad exchanges that had a lot to do with the center, but Mark did him no favors on the bad shotgun snap.
Offensive Line: I cannot really write about these guys individually because all six guys who saw significant time were horrible. I blame Sanchez more, but these guys also deserve a heaping portion. On almost every play somebody was blowing an assignment. Part of it was missing Nick Mangold. One example came on a play where Colin Baxter needed help, Brandon Moore blocked down, and Ray Lewis looped around with a free path to hit Sanchez. Baxter was also really bad. I mean really, really bad. It was bigger, though. We saw even very good linemen like D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Brandon Moore blow assignments. All six players up front on at least two plays did something horrendous, either blowing an assignment or creating a penalty. It was just brutal.
Brian Schottenheimer: I have praised Schotty early in the year. That will not happen this week. Now I am not sure there was any plan that could have created a functional offense given the way these guys played, but I was extremely unimpressed with what the Jets showed. Why not maximize your strengths and attack the other team's weaknesses? Schotty seemed to play into Baltimore's strengths and his own weaknesses. Why not try more of what worked in the first half last week? Where were the bootlegs? Where were the moving pockets? Where was the screen game to LT? The Jets were always going to have a tough time up front without Mangold playing man against man with Baltimore. Use the mobility of this group. Slow down the pass rush. Give Sanchez easy completions against a ballhawking defense to get him into his comfort zone. Give the line some confidence. Baltimore's corners were aggressive on the short stuff because they had so much faith in the pass rush that the Jets would not be able to hit any long developing routes. Max protect more and take a shot down the field.
Dustin Keller: I counted three passes in traffic he probably should have had. On one he clearly heard footsteps. We talk a lot about Keller being underutilized. At the end of the day, Keller has been responsible for a lot of his own inconsistency. He sometimes misses passes because he looks afraid out there.
Santonio Holmes: He should have been open more. He could have hauled in a few more passes in his direction.
Rex Ryan: Calling a timeout just to yell at the officials over the call is really dumb. It's really, really, really dumb. The Jets might have needed that timeout. Yell at them during a commercial. Rex has to keep his cool better.
Eric Smith: Coverage was an ugly thing.
Jamaal Westerman: He was very quiet subbing for injured Bryan Thomas.
Donald Strickland: Burned thrice in coverage.
Nick Folk: He hit a 40 yard kick as he should have, but the kickoff out of bounds lands him here.
Marquice Cole: Blew a chance to bury a punt deep.
Jeremy Kerley: Not catching a punt allowed the Ravens to bury a punt deep.
Josh Mauga: Lost in coverage.
The Good:
Joe McKnight: The kickoff return was the best offensive play for the Jets. It is a shame Billy Cundiff did not give him more chances. He also pressured Joe Flacco and forced the throw that resulted in the interception. I guess Rex was not joking last year when he said McKnight looked great in practice with the defense.
Defensive Line: Even though the Ravens padded their rushing stats against a worn down Jets front in the second half, they only ran 2.8 yards per carry. Nice work by Sione Pouha, Mike Devito, and Ropati Pitoitua.
Muhammad Wilkerson: I want to give him special mention because he did a ton of dirty work. He was where the Jets needed him to be, shedding blocks and coming in from the back side. He is still developing too.
David Harris: He threw himself in there with 7 tackles and had the key interception and return.
Aaron Maybin: Was in the defensive backfield on a few plays and got his first career sack on a strip of Flacco. I am still not sure how much he helps long term. The sack was really a coverage sack, and he was done once a blocker put a hand on him. You have to love his motor, though.
Calvin Pace: Active getting into the backfield and forcing a fumble.
Jim Leonhard: Made some nice plays in coverage.
Darrelle Revis/Antonio Cromartie/Kyle Wilson: Baltimore receivers had 3 combined catches. The penalty on Cromartie was bogus.
Plaxico Burress: One of the few bright spots on offense with 3 catches for 33 yards.
LaDainian Tomlinson: It will never show up in the box score, but he did fantastic work as a pass blocker. As ugly as the protection was, it would have been much worse without LT.
John Conner: He had some good runs when the Jets needed them.
Some will panic. There is much to fix. This team is not a lost cause, though. We are a quarter of the way through the season. If the offense plays like this consistently, it is a lost cause. If it plays like it did in the first three games, the Jets are going to have a good year. Lost in this was an incredible performance by the defense. It was not a good performance. It was absurdly good. The Ravens averaged 3.7 yards per play. They only scored 10 points. The defense scored 7. The Ravens turned it over 3 times. Their quarterback hit less than a third of his passes. Last week was a defensive meltdown. This week was the offense's turn.
We will have much more tomorrow to make some sense of it, but try and sleep well.