An absolute beat down by the Detroit Lions

The New York Jets played a lackluster preseason game against the Detroit Lions where they failed to even score a touchdown.

A lack of offense was prevalent once again as the New York Jets fell to the Detroit Lions 16-6. Christian Hackenberg got the start over Josh McCown and failed to impress. It was almost expected that McCown would get the start over Hackenberg, but Todd Bowles and company are showing us that they clearly want to get a good look at the second year pro.

Hackenberg had a mediocre first impression as it’s fair to say he regressed big time against the Lions. Playing the entire first half, Hackenberg failed to impress completing just 2 of his 6 passes while fumbling on the first possession, and nearly getting intercepted by Glover Quin on the second.

It wasn’t until the Jets first drive of the second quarter that the offense moved the chains on a 12-yard run by Hackenberg. On the next play, he completed his first pass of the night on a screen to running back Bilal Powell which he turned up the field for 17 yards. Aside from that, the Jets offense was quiet until the fourth quarter when they capitalized on a 12 play 79-yard drive that resulted in a Ross Martin 31-yard field goal.

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Bryce Petty then led the offense on another scoring drive during their next possession, but it once again ended in just three points.

Petty played the entire second half and did put up decent numbers while throwing an interception in the end zone with just five seconds remaining. He did seem to find a nice rapport with rookie tight end Jordan Leggett, who caught three passes for 43 yards.

It was an unsteady night for the quarterbacks, which only heightens the chance of McCown being the Week 1 starter. It was also another quiet night for the running game as outside of a few burst up the middle runs by Powell, the group was held in check by the Lions front seven.

The offensive line failed to generate any consistency which hindered their ground game. Saturday was another reminder that establishing a run game will be a battle the Jets fight all year, and until they find a rhythm in the passing game, they will struggle mightily to put up points.

As far as the defense goes, the first team looked solid only allowing one sustained drive that resulted in a Matthew Stafford touchdown pass to Marvin Jones. Outside of that they forced a couple three and outs and held the Lions to a field goal on their first drive after they began with terrific field position. The secondary did look rather vulnerable at times but the front seven did a good job of keeping the run game in check for the most part. The two standout players again came from the linebacker corps, as Demario Davis and Josh Martin each recorded a sack and a tackle for a loss.

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While it is only the second preseason game, it appears as if the Jets are going to have to rely on their defense a lot to keep them in games this season, with what looks to be a very ineffective offense. With a lot of young players on that side of the football, some growing pains should be expected, and hopefully, the results improve in the upcoming games against the Giants and Eagles before they count for real in September.

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The New York Jets played a lackluster preseason game against the Detroit Lions where they failed to even score a touchdown.

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