A sloppy defensive outing vs. Bears negates multiple would-be Jets interceptions

Technically, the New York Jets ended their nearly two-year interception drought by picking off four passes on Sunday afternoon. 

Only one of those turnovers will show in the final box score, and the Jets have no one to blame but themselves. Aaron Glenn’s defense had three interceptions brought back on penalties, with only Minkah Fitzpatrick’s second-quarter pick surviving the yellow flags.

Incredibly, the Jets’ penalty total (12 for 76 yards) finished remarkably close to their time of possession (17:15). 

“That’s what I’m really pissed at more than anything,” Glenn told reporters. “Just the penalties and those times where we create those opportunities to get the ball back and that’s what I’m thinking about; anything else is white noise to me.”

Aaron Glenn and the New York Jets have all but erased any remaining goodwill

The NFL is so dysfunctional overall that the typical “lol Jets” memes didn’t resurface despite everything that went wrong Sunday. Why pick on a defense that allowed nearly 500 yards and drew eight of the 12 penalties? Tyson Bagent and Kyle Monangai did enough work there.

Longtime NBC announcer Cris Collinsworth used to say that “holding happens on every play,” and we don’t disagree. But Sunday’s penalties included two facemask calls, illegal touching, and two defensive holding calls, the second of which was called on rookie cornerback D’Angelo Ponds’ would-be interception. 

We know terms like “fundamentals” and “the little things” are cliché buzzwords best saved for press conferences, but it’s clear the same issues from Glenn’s first season have returned in full force. You cannot win games when you make self-inflicted errors.

Forget the fact that Bagent is a backup quarterback who missed last week while in concussion protocol. He threw two interceptions on the same drive, one to Ponds and one to Brandon Stephens, and neither went through because of penalties. Not even teams that hover around .500 make those kinds of mistakes.

Glenn and general manager Darren Mougey did all of the right things this past offseason, and we praised the second-year coach for being genuine in a way that neither Robert Saleh nor Adam Gase ever managed. At what point, though, do you start wondering whether the current leadership group can fix the systemic organizational problems?

Just remember that, for as passionate and fiery as Glenn is, he’s not the one in the secondary or the trenches. He and his staff were instead tasked with teaching those “fundamentals,” and it’s too late to restart classes.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow