NY Jets: Top 3 takeaways from Week 4 loss to the Denver Broncos

NY Jets

The NY Jets lost their fourth straight game to begin the season falling to the Denver Broncos.

What is there to say about this NY Jets team anymore? They are a poorly-coached team with a poorly-constructed roster that produces poor results each week.

In essence, they are a bad football team. And that doesn’t seem to be changing any time soon.

The Jets fell to a dreadful 0-4 after a 37-28 loss to the Denver Broncos. A previously 0-3 Broncos team that was on the road traveling across the country on a short week while starting a quarterback who had thrown eight career passes prior to the game, all in the previous week.

And yet, they were still the favorites. The Vegas oddsmakers knew just how bad this Jets team was and still is.

In reality, the Jets didn’t deserve to lose this game by only nine points. Their defense surrendered 37 points and they scored just one offensive touchdown — courtesy of a fluky Sam Darnold 46-yard run.

On most days, that production leads to a blowout. But the Jets were bailed out by an inexperienced opposing quarterback and an automatic kicker that helped make the game seem closer than it really was.

The Jets are a really, really bad football team — likely one of the worst the NFL has seen in years. And with 12 games still remaining, it’s hard to pinpoint many, if any, future victories.

So what is there to say about yet another woeful loss? We take a look at three takeaways from the Jets’ fourth consecutive loss to start the 2020 season.

Next: 3. The positives

NY Jets Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

3. The positive takeaways for the NY Jets

Let’s start out with some positives, shall we?

Wide receiver Jamison Crowder returned after a two-game absence with a hamstring injury and he looked quite good in his return. The former Washington wideout hauled in seven catches for a team-leading 104 yards marking his second consecutive 100-yard outing to begin the year.

On an offense full of castoffs and stop-gaps, Crowder is one of the few legitimate weapons the Jets have. Perhaps the same could be true for the speedy Jeff Smith who made his season debut and tied for the team lead in catches with seven for 84 yards.

Smith entered the game with just one catch in one career game, but he made his presence felt on Thursday. The former Boston College quarterback was one of the few receivers to consistently get separation and he looked like someone who can contribute on a weekly basis.

On defense, the likes of Bryce Huff and John Franklin-Myers played particularly well in rotational roles. Huff played a career-high 60 percent of defensive snaps and tallied two pressures and two run-stuffs.

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Meanwhile, Franklin-Myers was exceptional as a pass-rusher racking up a whopping six pressures on just 19 pass-rush snaps. The former fourth-round pick has shined this season and he should continue to receive more snaps as a result.

And how could we not shout out kicker Sam Ficken who connected on all five of his field-goal attempts including one from 54 yards out. Ficken remains a perfect 8-for-8 on the year and 5-for-5 on extra-point attempts.

It wasn’t all bad for the Jets on Thursday. It was just mostly bad.

Next: 2. More and more injuries

NY Jets Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

2. More and more injuries for the NY Jets

Brief glimpse of positivity aside, it was more of the same from the Jets on Thursday. And that wasn’t just confined to their on-field play.

Just as the team was beginning to get healthier, they were bitten by the injury bug once more. Perhaps none more notable than the injury suffered by quarterback Sam Darnold.

Late in the first quarter, Darnold went down hard on his throwing shoulder as a result of an Alexander Johnson sack. He would leave the game for a few plays only to return the next drive and finish the game.

However, head coach Adam Gase revealed that Darnold had suffered an AC joint sprain in his right shoulder which very well could force him to miss time. Despite the extended week off, it’s very possible that he misses next Sunday’s game.

The decision to reinsert Darnold was scrutinized almost as much as the decision to do the same with prized first-round rookie Mekhi Becton. Becton wasn’t considered healthy enough to start as he too was dealing with a shoulder injury.

However, the Jets kept him active as an emergency option, and that emergency option was called on just four plays into the game when his replacement, Chuma Edoga, went down with an injury of his own.

Becton would last 16 snaps, clearly in agony, before removing himself from the game.

The Jets also saw the likes of cornerback Blessuan Austin (calf) and wide receiver Lawrence Cager (hamstring) leave early with injuries as well. Austin’s might not be too bad, but it’s unlikely we see the promising Cager for a while.

All in all, another injury-riddled week of Jets football. Blame it on Gase, blame it on the MetLife Stadium turf, it really doesn’t matter at this point.

Next: 1. The entire coaching staff must be fired

1. The entire NY Jets coaching staff must be fired

Perhaps the most abundantly obvious takeaway from Thursday’s game is that the Jets are not a very well-coached team. And that’s putting it rather mildly.

The offense was mostly incompetent despite facing an ailing Broncos defense. Their only offensive touchdown came courtesy of a 46-yard scramble from their quarterback. The unit was 0-for-3 in the red zone.

That falls on Adam Gase and the entire offensive coaching staff.

Meanwhile, this was perhaps the worst showing from a Jets’ defense in a long time. Not only did they allow 37 points to a Broncos team without the likes of Courtland Sutton, Phillip Lindsay, and Noah Fant for a lot of the game, but they did so to a team starting Brett Rypien at quarterback.

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But they weren’t just bad. Oh no, bad we could live with — we do it every week with the offense. This week, however, the defense was an undisciplined trainwreck.

Gregg Williams’ unit committed a whopping six personal fouls on Thursday, something that infuriated opposing head coach Vic Fangio and many of the Broncos players. There’s no defending some of the shots the Jets took.

Williams has lost control of the defense and it’s painfully obvious. Look past the brash demeanor and you find a man whose defense is a shell of what it was last year and continue to commit boneheaded penalties.

The entire Jets’ coaching staff deserve to be fired. Are there some promising pieces? Sure.

Special teams coordinator Brant Boyer has made a name for himself over the past few years and defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson is held in high regard by the organization.

But they will be casualties of the organizational cleansing that awaits this coaching staff in the offseason.

There will be no survivors.