A picture of the 2023 New York Jets might be the perfect photo in the dictionary to describe the word “insanity” (doing the same thing over and over but expecting different results).
New York’s offense squandered big plays with crucial penalties and a costly interception – grounding them in a 16-12 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders Sunday night. Vegas received major contributions from Josh Jacobs (116 yards rushing) and a late game interception from Robert Spillane to move to 2-0 under interim coach Antonio Pierce.
Gang Green’s offense appeared to come out hot to start Sunday’s contest by putting up their most yards in the first quarter (110) all season. Despite the offense moving the ball consistently though, key penalties from different members of the offense stalled three different scoring drives. In total, the Jets were called for eight penalties on the night for 83 yards of lost ground.
The worst of which came when the Jets seemingly scored a touchdown in the second quarter but a hold on CJ Uzomah (his second of the game) forced the team to kick their third field goal of the game. New York would head into the half with just a 9-6 lead because of it.
“What’s frustrating are the different ways we are creating to not get in the end zone,” Jets head coach Robert Saleh said. “We’re generating offense, we’re moving the ball. We’re just not finishing our drives the way we need to.”
It was in the second half though where the Jets offense would cool off entirely. The touchdown drought from either team would end when rookie tight end Michael Mayer outjumped Jordan Whitehead in the red zone to give the Raiders a 16-9 lead.
While Zach Wilson led a field goal drive early in the fourth quarter, his late interception to Robert Spillane in the final minutes of the fourth quarter ended any hope of a Jets comeback win again.
Wilson’s costly interception negated what seemed to be an improved game from him compared to previous weeks. New York’s signal-caller went 23-39 passing for 263 yards and his interception. Wilson added 54 yards on the ground which led the team in rushing.
“I thought he did alright,” Saleh said of Wilson. “There were a couple of plays I’m sure he wants back. i thought the linebacker made an unbelievable play on the interception. We converted third downs at the best rate we have converted the, To give a full assessment on Zach it would be fair to ask everyone around him to play a little better.”
The bigger issue though? The offense did not score a touchdown on Sunday night, extending the futil output to 11 straight quarters without getting into the end zone over the last three games. Add in the fact that New York committed eight penalties and it all adds up to Gang Green’s second straight loss.
With the loss, the Jets fall to 4-5 on the season and in 13th place in the AFC Playoff picture. A win would have moved them as high as eighth in the standings. The Raiders, meanwhile, move to 5-5 and stay in the thick of the playoff race themselves.
