New York Jets: Immediate response to loss against Miami

Here are some quick thoughts following the New York Jets loss in the home opener to the Miami Dolphins by the score of 20-12.

Back down to Earth, New York Jets fans. They aren’t going 16-0 with the rookie phenom at quarterback. The Jets fell to 1-1 this afternoon after losing to the Miami Dolphins

Here are some quick thoughts immediately following the game:

• The resilience of Sam Darnold was on display once again. He threw another interception, as we all saw, but again he didn’t give up. He kept his team fighting and the team ended up only losing by one score, despite being down 20-0 early on.
• Turnovers can kill. The Dolphins scored 14 points off of turnovers and the game was won by eight points. These Jets aren’t good enough to come back from these types of miscues.
• The Miami Dolphins are a lot faster than they are given credit for. Their offensive skilled position players can fly. On defense they are all over the field. Their team speed is a force to be reckoned with.
• Ryan Tannehill netted more rushing yards than the Jets. That will never be a prescription for victory for this team. They have to run the football as we talked about in the preview. That didn’t happen and they lost.
• Give the Jets defense a lot of credit. They turned the ball over on multiple occasions and did what they had to in order to keep the team in the game.
• The turnovers are killers, but so are penalties. They had lethal penalties, including pre-snap on offense and plays that negated third down stops on defense. Playing undisciplined will kill this team, and getting reckless will do just that.

• Quincy Enunwa is proving to be quite the safety valve for the young Darnold. After a strong game last week he posted seven receptions for a game-high 92 yards against Miami.
• There were key dropped passes as well that stymied Jets drives. Chris Herndon had a particularly memorable one when Sam dropped it right between the eight and the nine. Again, this team is not good enough to recover from those things. Make the easy catches.
• Finally, Kacy Rodgers deserves credit for his play calling. We know the Jets don’t have an elite pass rusher. However, for the second week in a row the Jets have generated a pass rush. Four sacks is impressive for a team without a pass rush.

It’s not all bad. 1-1 is not a bad beginning for this team.