New York Jets: Week Five Report Card

Let’s get to the report card grades for the New York Jets from the 31-0 stomping the received at the hands of the Chargers yesterday.

Oct 5, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; New York Jets quarterback

(7) runs during the second quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

QUARTERBACKS: F The quarterbacks did nothing. Geno Smith and Michael Vick had a combined stat line of 12-31 for 74 yards and one interception. It wasn’t only on them, but the Jets’ quarterbacks were never able to get anything going.

Oct 5, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; New York Jets running back

(33) is stopped by San Diego Chargers free safety

(32) and strong safety

(bottom) and defensive back

(right) during the second quarter at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

RUNNING BACKS: D I give the Jets’ running back group a little higher grade than an F because Chris Ivory still ran for nearly five yards per carry. That was a tough feat to attain with how badly the Jets’ offensive line performed. It was only nine yards per carry, but the Jets’ couldn’t run the ball much after the game got out of hand. Chris Johnson, by the way, did fumble the Jets first interception of the season back to the Chargers.

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Not a failure, but not by much.

Oct 5, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers inside linebacker

(53), San Diego Chargers cornerback

(26) and San Diego Chargers strong safety Marcus Gilchrist (38) defend a pass intended for New York Jets wide receiver

(11) in the third quarter of the game at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

WIDE RECEIVERS AND TIGHT ENDS: F When your leading receiver, in this case Jeremy Kerley, led the way with three catches for a whopping 24 yards, it was not a good day. These guys did not help the Jets offense one bit. They weren’t getting open all game long, leaving Smith and Vick with nobody to throw to on many occasions.

Oct 5, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; New York Jets center

(74) during the second quarter on the bench against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

OFFENSIVE LINE: F I wanted to give a different grade, but no report card has ever included a “Z”. The offensive line was the worst I have seen the Jets’ offensive line look in a long, long time.

Oct 5, 2014; San Diego, CA, USA; San Diego Chargers quarterback

(17) pass over New York Jets defensive end

(91) in the third quarter of the game at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

DEFENSIVE LINE: F Despite the fact that the Jets’ line did apply SOME pressure to Philip Rivers, I cannot give them a higher grade. Sheldon Richardson did add one sack to the mix, but they were gashed against the run. They made Branden Oliver look like a guy someone has actually heard of. The running defense was the strength of the Jets. It wasn’t in this one, that’s for sure.

Sep 7, 2014; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets linebacker

(97) tries to get past Oakland Raiders tackle

(69) at MetLife Stadium. The Jets defeated the Raiders 19-14. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

LINEBACKERS: D+ Calvin Pace added two sacks today, running his total for the season to 3.5. There ends the positives. Again, the pounding they took on the ground reflects on the entire Jets’ defensive unit. They were caught in bad mismatches in the passing game, and couldn’t stop the run.

Only Calvin Pace kept the grade from an outright F.

Sep 14, 2014; Green Bay, WI, USA; Green Bay Packers wide receiver

(87) catches a 33 yard pass with New York Jets cornerback

(27) defending during the second half of a game at Lambeau Field. Green Bay won 31-24. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Wierzbicki-USA TODAY Sports

DEFENSIVE BACKS: F The Jets got torched today through the air, not that we were surprised. Dee Milliner actually wasn’t terrible, other than a third down conversion that he allowed. But, Rivers was 20-28 throwing, that cannot reflect in any grade for the Jets’ defensive backs other than an F.

SPECIAL TEAMS: C The only special teams player we saw much of was Ryan Quigley, and overall he wasn’t bad, punting nearly 50 yards per punt and dropping four out of eight punts inside the Chargers’ 20. However, nobody else in that unit did anything, Saalim Hakim did nothing on his many kickoff returns.

There you have it, a bad day for the Jets on offense, defense, and special teams. Other than that, yesterday was a great day.