New York Jets: Complete Week 5 report card following loss to Philadelphia Eagles

The New York Jets fell to the Philadelphia Eagles by a final score of 31-6 in what was a dismal performance all-around. Here are our complete grades for the team’s Week 4 matchup.

I sound like a broken record but another week and another terrible New York Jets loss.

Once again the Jets had an incompetent offense with Luke Falk under center and the offensive line looked bad even after moving some guys around upfront.

On the bright side, the Jets defense played tough and you can argue that if the Jets offense could put up points, the Jets would’ve had a shot to come out of Philadelphia with a victory.

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As we hit the quarter mark of the NFL season, the Jets still remain winless as it is now time to push the panic button after starting off 0-4. The team’s remaining schedule is the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL so hopefully Jets fans can soon see their team’s first win.

Here is this week’s Jets report card for their sluggish Week 5 showing.

Next: Offense

Offense — F

The offense flat out stunk up Lincoln Financial Field and it has been the same problems week in and week out. Yes, a lot of it has to do with the offensive play-calling but we will get into that later on in the report card.

On Sunday, the Jets racked up just 128 total yards on offense which makes them not just the lowest-scoring offense but the team has the fewest total yards in the NFL as well.

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I will admit when Luke Falk was named the starter two weeks ago against New England I didn’t think he could beat the Patriots in Foxborough, but I thought he would do better than most people said he would. In his only two starts, he did not impress me.

You can make the argument that his offensive line is bad and that leading up to the game against the Eagles he didn’t have a lot of reps with the starting offense because Adam Gase thought Darnold was going to start on Sunday.

However, Falk just hasn’t impressed me in his two starts.

He looks rattled in the pocket and when he did get time to throw the ball he would either dump it off to Bell or hold on to the ball for a long time and take a sack for a loss. Falk ended the day with 120 passing yards and two interceptions.

An even bigger problem is the Jets offensive line. On Sunday, the offensive line was non-existent once again.

After the game, Jets center Ryan Kalil spoke to reporters after the game about the team’s offensive line not performing well these last few weeks.

”You have to be able to protect the quarterback in this league, and that’s just the bottom line. For us, it’s about going to work and fixing the things we have to fix. A lot of it is technique, and that’s what we have to do. People just want to see us get it done, and nobody wants to see us get it done more than we do in this locker room.”

The Jets also moved a few guys around in there starting offensive line by benching right tackle Brandon Shell for rookie Chuma Edoga and they started Alex Lewis in place of the injured Kelechi Osemele.

Unfortunately, replacing some of the starters still did not help the Jets offensive line. But hey the Jets finally got an offensive touchdown after not scoring one since Week 1.

Next: Defense

Defense — C

I’m going to give the defense a “C” because Gregg Williams and the Jets defense played a solid game. They held Carson Wentz to under 200 passing yards as Wentz only had 189 yards through the air.

But there were a few negatives about the Jets defense and one of those negatives was Leonard Williams who still did not have a sack or even a QB hit — he had only one tackle in Sunday’s loss.

After the game, Williams spoke to reporters to talk about the team’s frustrations and the offense not performing like the defense.

“It is frustrating. It would be impossible to deny that. At the same time, this is the not the time to point or kick them when they’re down. It’s more like this is the time to make them rise to the occasion and let them know they can lean on us and let them know we’re a team and it’s all three phases and we have to come together.”

On the positive side of the defense, the linebackers looked impressive for a second week as guys like Neville Hewitt, Blake Cashman, and Tarrell Basham stepped up in the absence of CJ Mosley.

Cashman, Hewitt, and Basham combined for a total of 15 tackles and the linebackers looked fast up and down the field, as they held Eagles running backs to a combined 84 yards rushing.

Last but not least let’s talk about our leader on defense Jamal Adams. If you had to crown an MVP of the Jets for this game it would be Adams who, even knowing the Jets were getting their doors kicked in by the Eagles, still kept playing hard and bringing positive energy to the team.

Adams had a productive game as he was wherever the ball was on every play. After the game, Adams spoke with reporters about the team’s loss.

“I mean, anytime I step on the field, man, I expect to win. We all do. But it didn’t happen. We lost. It doesn’t matter. So I’m frustrated, I’m upset. It is what it is. We’re coming together, we’re making plays, and I’m speaking for the defensive side. Obviously we still can’t give up certain plays, but I thought we played well today. But as a team, we have to continue to play hard.”

Besides the cornerback situation and Leonard Williams, the Jets defense has not been a complete disappointment as they keep playing hard no matter what the outcome is.

Next: Coaching

Coaching F 

The coaching has been bad from head coach Adam Gase. It seems as though he doesn’t make adjustments coming out of the half and the gameplan looks the same week in and week out.

They keep running the ball with Le’Veon Bell even knowing the opposing defense is anticipating the run by stacking men in the box.

After the loss Gase spoke to Brian Costello of the New York Post about the offensive struggles.

“We took our turns as far as what we were doing. Overall, we just haven’t played very well. There’s no way around it. We just haven’t played very good as an offense in general.”

With the news of Sam Darnold being cleared to play on Sunday against the Cowboys, hopefully the Jets offense can wake up and put some points on the board against a Dallas team that has a lot of talent but has struggled in their last two games.

Tight end Chris Herndon will be coming back from a four-game suspension which gives Darnold another weapon on offense.

Brandon Copeland and C.J. Mosley will come back on the defensive side of the ball which can help the Jets pass rush against a Cowboys offensive line which is stricken with injuries.