As Bill Parcells would say about a team, you are what your record says you are.
The Jets have their record based on merit. They haven’t played well through the first five games of the season.
They haven’t defended well. They haven’t generated much offense. Special teams have been uninspiring. That’s why the Jets are 1-4 after their 31-13 loss to the Steelers yesterday afternoon at Heinz Field.
Quite frankly, they have played like a winless team through five games.
Go ahead and talk about how hard the schedule is. That’s being in denial about the Jets. The problem is this team is not playing well. They have blown winnable games against the Bengals and Seahawks because they could not make a stop and they could not score in the red zone.
Right now, the Jets have no answers. Most players are at a loss to describe what’s going on. The company line has been there are many games to go.
Maybe, but what if the Jets are just not good enough? It’s something the players are trying to deny.
Five games should give a good feel of what the Jets are. It’s hard to think things are going to change all of sudden next month or December.
The defense was supposed to be the Jets’ strength this season with the defensive line they boast. They also were supposed to have good cornerbacks. That hasn’t happened so far.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger had all day to throw the football yesterday. He wasn’t touched for the most part. All that was missing was him sitting in a chair and drinking pina colada while he was throwing.
Whenever he had time to throw to a receiver or a tight end, he was able to find them wide open.
The Steelers had their way against the Jets cornerbacks. Their wide receivers and tight end would beat the Jets when they had to make a play.
The Steelers running backs had all day to run as a result of the Jets defensive line getting manhandled by the Steelers offensive line.
It’s been par for the course for this Jets defense. They can’t finish. They can’t make plays when they have to. They can’t get a stop at third down. They can’t get to the quarterback.
That’s a mark of a bad team when they display this type of performance. It’s why they can’t be taken seriously as a good team or a playoff team.
Their defense has been the most disappointing aspect of this Jets season so far.
It’s hard to cure what ails them now. This is who they are. Sure they can play better, but it could just be they are not good enough.
If the Jets defense played to their ability, the Jets would have won at least two games already. They could have won against the Seahawks and Steelers.
The defense has not only been the culprit for the Jets.
The Jets offense has been offensive. They have hard time scoring in the red zone. Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick has struggled to throw deep this year.
Outside of Brandon Marshall, can anyone else catch the ball?
All the Jets do is score field goals. They can’t get that much-needed touchdown when they need it. Their third-down conversion leaves so much to be desired. Too often, the Jets go three-and-out on offense.
The only time they score points is in garbage time.
Coaching has become a problem for the Jets. They have not played like a well-coached team this season. It’s easy to tell from watching them play. There are too many errors and penalties conducted by their players.
There is always disorganization on defense and offense when it comes to assignments.
The Jets have come off ill-prepared to start games too often.
Defense is supposed to be Jets head coach Todd Bowles’ forte, but there is no defense to how bad their defense has been this season. The players are overmatched and clueless.
Bowles has proven to be overmatched as a gameday head coach. For whatever reason, he settles for field goals. How about him telling the Jets to punt at fourth down at 4th and 1 in the Jets’ 46 with 7:36 left in the game? The Jets were trailing 24-13 against the Steelers. That was a message that he did not believe in his team coming back and making it happen. He needed to have the Jets try and make it happen.
Not only did Bowles refused to go for it at 4th down in the fourth quarter, he did it couple of times in the second half.
Bowles and his staff never make adjustments in the second half. They run the same plays like throwing a shovel pass or running a prevent defense.
A team takes on the personality of the coach as the saying goes. From watching the Jets this year, they play passive and disinterested. They often come out scared.
Everything is an indictment of Bowles. The performance speaks for itself.
It’s fair game to criticize him. He is the head coach of the team. It’s his job to get a good product out of his players.
No one is saying he should be fired. We are far away from that.
That said, it has to get better or else he will be coaching for his job in 2017.