NY Jets steal a win in Week 8 despite abysmal offensive performance

The NY Jets defeated their cross-town rival, the New York Giants, just like we all thought, right? Not really. The Jets won an ugly football game riddled with penalties, injuries, and poor offensive play, but at the end of the day, a win is a win.

Penalties

The Jets shot themselves in the foot multiple times in this game. The defense only allowed 10 points on the day, three of which came after Zach Wilson fumbled on the Jets' first drive of the game, already putting the Giants in field goal range.

The first drive after halftime saw both Quincy Williams and Jermaine Johnson picking up unnecessary roughness penalties that would result in a Giants touchdown. Micheal Clemons also picked up a costly neutral zone infraction call that gave the Giants a first down on 4th-and-5. 

In total, the Jets committed nine penalties, costing them 85 yards. This is starting to become a theme for the Jets, and it almost cost them this win. 

Injuries

The injuries are piling up for the Jets. They lost both Connor McGovern and Wes Schweitzer, which forced Xavier Newman to come in at center fresh off the practice squad. After already losing Joe Tippmann, they were down to their fourth center.

If Tippmann is not back soon and McGovern and Schweitzer’s injuries are serious, maybe Ben Jones, who is still a free agent, could be an option. The Jets had reported interest in Jones for a lot of the offseason.

They also lost Al Woods for the season with a torn Achilles. The Jets have now had a player tear their Achilles in three of their four wins. Aaron Rodgers against the Buffalo Bills, Alijah Vera-Tucker against the Denver Broncos, and now Woods against the Giants.

Offense

Even with the injuries, the Jets offense was simply not good enough. Zach Wilson, Nathaniel Hackett, the offensive line, the wide receivers — none of it was good enough. 

The Jets were 2-15 on third downs and, for a majority of the game, looked worse than the Giants with their third-string quarterback in.

Wilson took several bad sacks and missed some throws, but the receivers were not much help either. Garrett Wilson played well, but even he had a drop in a big spot, although that may have been a pass breakup. Allen Lazard had a couple of drops, as did Breece Hall.

But someway, somehow, after Graham Gano's missed field goal, Zach Wilson got them in field goal range to tie and then got them there again to win. It was ugly and in no way sustainable, but the Jets squeaked this one out and are now 4-3 instead of 3-4.

With the trade deadline approaching, the Jets are in dire need of a No. 2 wide receiver and offensive line help.