NY Jets: Top 3 takeaways from Week 2 loss to the 49ers

The NY Jets don’t have much to be optimistic about following their Week 2 loss to the 49ers.

What is there really to say about the NY Jets at this point? They waltzed into Sunday’s Week 2 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers looking to put an embarrassing opening-week performance behind them.

Instead, fans were treated to more of the same following another disgraceful loss in which the team showed no signs of life or competitiveness.

We’re only two weeks in, but the season is, for all intents and purposes, over. Perhaps the Jets can string together a win or two over the next 14 games, but it’s unlikely to be more than four.

This is a very bad football team. How bad? We’ll get to that specifically. But it’s clear that there isn’t much going right.

The offense has shown few signs of optimism and even though the unit is dealing with a few injuries — primarily at the already-thin wide receiver position — there is no excuse for the level of play we’re seeing.

Meanwhile, the defense has taken a major step back and now looks closer to a bottom-five unit than the top-10 unit they were last year. Even the special teams has looked rusty with inconsistent kick and punt coverage.

Everything is bad right now. This team is bad. But for the sake of continuity, we did our best to provide three takeaways from this ugly game.

Next: 3. Quinnen Williams shines

3. Quinnen Williams plays his best game with the NY Jets

Let’s start with the positives — well, one positive at least.

Amidst all the offensive and defensive incompetency, one player managed to shine and it was someone who Jets fans have been waiting on for over a year now.

2019 first-round pick Quinnen Williams put together the best game of his brief NFL career making a number of plays on the defensive side of the ball, both against the pass and the run.

Williams broke through in the first quarter dominating left guard Laken Tomlinson on a bull rush en route to his first sack of the season. He didn’t wait long to pick up his second either.

Early in the third quarter, Williams exploded off the line of scrimmage and beat both Tomlinson and All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams on another powerful bull rush where he was being held by the latter.

Williams finished with a team-leading seven tackles (at the defensive tackle position nonetheless) with two sacks and three tackles for loss. It was a dominant display of football from Williams and it came against a very good 49ers’ offensive line.

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After an underwhelming rookie season, Jets fans were certainly expecting big things from the former No. 3 overall draft pick in his sophomore campaign. And while one game doesn’t necessarily mean he’s in for a breakout season, it certainly is encouraging.

Williams was near unblockable at points in this game and if not for a poor showing from the Jets’ secondary and linebackers, his performance would have been even more impactful.

Without any semblance of an edge rush presence, Williams is the key to unlocking the Jets’ lackluster pass rush. And more games like this will go a long way towards living up to his hefty draft status.

Next: 2. The Jets are the worst team in the NFL

2. The NY Jets are the worst team in the NFL

Now that that’s out of the way, it’s time to talk negatives. Or really, it’s time to talk reality.

The Jets are the worst team in the NFL. That much seemed evident going into Sunday’s game and their Week 2 matchup pretty much confirmed that notion.

No team is even close to as bad as the Jets are. Not with their roster construction, not with their coaching staff, and not with just general competence. The Jets trump them all.

The Jets aren’t playing to win games. They’re kicking field goals down three touchdowns in the third quarter. They’re punting while down in the fourth quarter just trying to reach the end of the game.

This isn’t a competitive football team. Come to think of it, it’s hardly a football team. The remaining 31 teams are playing football and while the Jets may claim to be doing the same, it’s hard not to think they’re playing a different sport than their opponent each week.

The offense can’t move the football and the majority of the time it doesn’t seem like they’re even trying to do so. Meanwhile, the defense is clearly gashed and not fielding more than a handful of quality NFL starters.

The likes of Marcus Maye and Folorunso Fatukasi and mixed in with perennial backups like Alec Ogletree and Tarell Basham.

There is no roster worse than the Jets’ right now and when compounded with arguably the worst coaching staff in the league, you have a recipe that’s ripe for the worst team in the NFL.

The Jets aren’t going to remain competitive in many games this season. Hell, it’s hard to imagine the current iteration of this team winning a single game.

This is the worst Jets team that we’ve seen in ages — maybe ever. And it likely isn’t going to get much better.

Next: 1. Adam Gase must go

1. The NY Jets must move on from Adam Gase

The biggest problem with the Jets’ organization remains the man calling the shots. If it wasn’t clear from the moment they hired him, or if it wasn’t clear following a disastrous 1-7 start in 2019, it seems pretty clear now.

Adam Gase is not and has never been the man for the job. He’s a joke of an NFL head coach. The fans know it, NFL analysts know it, and worst of all, the rest of the league knows it.

From horrendous play-calling and offensive gameplans to a complete lack of motivation and fundamentals, there is nothing redeemable about this Jets team.

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Make all the excuses you want. The roster is awful. The injuries are piling up. Gase isn’t the sole person to blame for this mess of an organization.

But he represents far and away the biggest problem that can be solved. There is no sense in waiting, there is no reason to wait for the Jets to no-show a handful more games.

It’s time to move on from Adam Gase now. Quite frankly, it’s been time for a while now and the hire was doomed to fail from the start — something that seemingly everyone in football knew expect for team owner Christopher Johnson.

Adam Gase makes the Jets worse — much worse. They are a bad team that becomes incompetent with him as their leader.

And until the Jets pull the plug, they’ll continue to remain the most inept team in the NFL.