New York Jets: Mistakes doom team in loss to Philadelphia

The New York Jets (2-1) lost their first game of the season 24-17 to the Philadelphia Eagles (1-2) in a disappointing performance. The Jets couldn’t get their offense going with multiple short drives to start the game allowing their defense to ware early in the game.

Another reason the Jets couldn’t get their offense going was the ineffectiveness of their running game. Though Chris Ivory was active for the game; he didn’t see a snap. The Jets finished the day with 47 yards rushing and the Eagles finished with 123 yards on the ground…flip the script much?

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The most underrated aspect of this game? The Eagles running game, but more specifically Darren Sproles.

ESPN Jets writer Rich Cimini attempted to warn the Jets before the game in his write up articles about the dangerous all-purpose threat and he was right. Sproles came from the grocery store and bought extra shake-and-bake and used every ingredient on his way to an 89 yard punt return touchdown that increased the Eagles lead to 10.

The forgotten man in the Eagles’ backfield, Ryan Mathews, galloped for over 100 yards and torched the Jets’ run defense all-day long. Despite the fact DeMarco Murray surprisingly didn’t play in this one, many thought the Eagles would struggle running the football against the vaunted defense of the Jets, but that wasn’t the case.

Sep 27, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Philadelphia Eagles running back Ryan Mathews (24) stiff arms New York Jets strong safety Marcus Gilchrist (21) to gain extra yards at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Steven Ryan-USA TODAY Sports

Back to that struggling offense for the Jets; without Ivory and Decker, the Jets consistently struggled to move the ball throughout the game. Finally when the Jets’ offense showed sparks of life late in the second quarter, we witnessed “the worst play in NFL history” according to Brandon Marshall.

After a nice throw by Ryan Fitzpatrick and catch by Marshall, he continued running for yards when Marshall tried to pitch the ball to a trailing Jeff Cumberland. Ill-advised decision as the Eagles recovered said-pitch and marched down the field and punched in another touchdown to increase the lead to 24.

Marshall wasn’t the only Jet to make a mistake in this one as Fitzpatrick tossed three interceptions and he continued to struggle throwing the deep ball. Cimini reiterated some of the errors that led to the Jets’ winning streak being abruptly halted in his post-game reaction article.

Fitzpatrick’s feel-good story came to a hard conclusion, as he was intercepted three times, struggled with his deep ball and had a few passes tipped at the line. Fitzpatrick was forced out of his comfort zone and had to play catch-up, attempting 58 passes. You can’t win when Fitzpatrick is throwing 58 times in a game. He needs help from the running game and the defense, and neither of those areas stepped up.

The Jets’ defense finally came crashing back down to earth, after 10 takeaways through the first two games the Jets defense only managed one takeaway late in the game. The Jets’ offense was spoiled through the first two weeks of the season working with multiple short fields due to the defense helping them out.

Unfortunately, the Jets didn’t catch those same breaks in this game. Something to be nervous about is the lack of a natural pass rush for the Jets; Sam Bradford had all-day and played a major part in the Eagles notching their first win, that is certainly something to keep an eye on moving forward.

This team now take their first loss of the season; the next question is how will they respond to this in-season adversity? Up next for the Jets is a trip to London for their first AFC East divisional game of the season against the Miami Dolphins before heading into their bye week in Week 5.

Next: New York Jets: Ryan Fitzpatrick discusses Week 3 loss

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