The 2020 season kicked off with the New York Jets heading to Buffalo to face the division rival Bills.
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: The Jets start abysmally slow, the defense plays lackadaisical, and then show up to score some points only to fall short in the long run.
The New York Jets fall to Buffalo Bills 27-17 in season opener.
Jets Defensive Woes
Josh Allen led the Buffalo Bills to three straight touchdowns on their first three drives. Allen launched an air raid against the secondary, throwing for 312 yards, two scores, and zero interceptions. He also fumbled twice. Allen was also the Bills leading rusher (57 yards). Everyone knew the key to the game would be to contain Josh Allen. The defense didn’t.
Pierre Desir and Bless Austin looked scared or loose. Zero pass breakups, and lax in coverage. No forcing tough catches. They looked more ready to allow the catch and make the tackle, rather than not allow the catch in the first place. (Bless Austin did force a fumble against Allen. McDougald recovered.)
Marcus Maye Dominates
Positive note: Marcus Maye played a whale of a game. After having the best camp of any Jets player, Maye truly came into his own. 10 tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss, two pass breakups, and a forced fumble.
It was a welcome sight for Jets fans to see him playing so well. The rumors were Maye would start to play more in the box during camp. There was concern he wouldn’t even play due to ankle issues. #20 left his name all over that game. It’s just unfortunate his effort went in vain.
Jets Offense Arrives Late
5 players caught a pass against Buffalo. The offense was one dimensional, and the one dimension they had wasn’t great. The run game was ineffective, and the passing game couldn’t get moving. Sam Darnold threw 60% for 215 yards.
Jamison Crowder, despite essentially dropping his first three targets went for seven receptions on 13 targets. This amassed 115 yards and a touchdown.
In Chris Herndon‘s return, he was six receptions on seven targets for a whopping 37 yards. His longest reception was 18 yards. This was capped by a fumble that ended a drive to put the Jets within one score in the 4th quarter. Welcome back to the league, Chris.
Breshad Perriman was a nonfactor (3/5 for 17 yards), and Chris Hogan never found a ball.
Where Do The Jets Go From Here?
The play calling was atrocious. Screens, screens, and more screens. A nightmare for Jets fans, looking eerily like last season during the first half of the season. If Adam Gase is on the hot seat, it looks like he doesn’t care if he keeps his job or not. The run game couldn’t get going. The offense dropped everything. The defense missed a double-digit amount of sacks. They had the pressure, but couldn’t finish.
There was no preseason to get everyone in NFL gear. The Bills are a legitimate playoff team. It was a tough start. But you need to break some eggs to make an omelet. Watch the film, fix it, and move onto next week.
49ers @ NY Jets 1:00pm on Fox Sports
Go Jets.
Further analysis of this game will be available later this week on The J.E.T. Show presented by Full Press Jets and the Full Press Coverage Network. “Full Press Jets” on Spotify and Apple Podcast.
