The New York Jets' Week 1 outing against the Tennessee Titans inspired a lot of confidence in their offensive infrastructure. Frank Reich dialed up a solid offensive game plan, and the players executed it well. They may have left some points on the board, but it was still a solid game nonetheless.
It seems like Reich and company may have overplayed their hand in Week 2, though. In the overtime loss to the Green Bay Packers, the Jets offense failed to move the ball efficiently on the ground, and everything essentially relied on Geno Smith making a play with his arm.
While Smith was able to make some plays, the offensive operation still wasn't as good as fans expected after last week's outing, and it may be thanks to some decisions on personnel usage.
Remember when the Jets were being praised for maximizing their tight end usage against the Titans? 0-5 personnel and all that jazz? Yeah, well, Week 2 was a whole other story, even with their injuries at the wide receiver position.
Why did the New York Jets not utilize their tight ends in Week 2?
The Jet Press's Justin Fried shared some of the splits from the Jets' personnel usage in their Week 2 loss, and quite honestly, it makes little to no sense.
"After going heavy on 12/13 personnel in Week 1, the Jets were in 11 personnel a whopping 69.4% of the time in Week 2 (7th highest). The running game really suffered, partially as a result. The Jets had 1 (!) yard before contact on Sunday and had a 34.8% run stuff% (4th highest)."
Despite going into the game with four healthy wide receivers, the Jets consistently ran plays with 11 personnel, featuring three wideouts, one running back, and one tight end. You would think that, with the injuries and the strength of a deep tight end room, they would've leaned into what worked so well for them in Week 1.
The Jets were praised all week, and even went somewhat viral, for their 0-5 personnel usage last Sunday against the Titans. They had all five of Kenyon Sadiq, Mason Taylor, Jeremy Ruckert, Jelani Woods, and Andrew Beck on the field for a play.
With only three viable wide receivers healthy for the game against the Packers, fans expected to see some more action out of Sadiq and Taylor. Instead, Sadiq saw only three targets, and Taylor didn't even have a pass thrown at him.
It was just another thing that made no sense from the coaching staff on Sunday, and it is something that has to change if they're going to turn things around against the Detroit Lions in Week 3.
The wIde receiver position isn't expected to receive much more help outside of a possible Sterling Shepard practice squad elevation, so Reich should go back to the drawing board this week and find ways to get his big bodies on the field.
