A Jets football team hamstrung by injuries was
virtually lifeless on a cold, rainy Chicago afternoon as the Bears did more
then enough in a 24-10 victory that sent Gang Green’s season into no man’s land
at 3-5.
Offensively the Jets did absolutely nothing (to put it bluntly)
against a Bears defense that was missing the stud outside linebacker, Khalil
Mack, who was nursing an ankle injury.
The Jets managed only 207 yards off offense with 12 first downs, and
were an anemic 3-of-14 on third downs. Sam Darnold wasn’t good, but the Jets
rookie found himself playing with a supporting cast that wouldn’t be good
enough for a CFL roster let alone the NFL.
Two weeks ago, Darnold had Quincy Enunwa, Robby Anderson and
Terrelle Pryor to throw to. Now he is was stuck with Deontay Burnett, Charone
Peake and preseason’s fumble-extraordinaire Trenton Cannon. The only veteran in
the lineup was Jermaine Kearse, but he never got into a rhythm with Darnold who
found himself either throwing into tight coverage or overthrowing guys. It was
rough.
Of the Jets first eight possessions, only once did they move into
Bears territory, and that was on a drive that stalled at Chicago’s 43-yard line
before New York settled for a 53-yard field goal to cut the Bears lead to 7-3.
The only time the Jets looked remotely competent offensively was
early in the fourth quarter when Darnold hit Burnett on a 29-yard completion to
the Chicago 18-yard line, and finished the drive with a 16-yard score to tight
end Chris Herndon to make it 17-10, giving Gang Green some flickering hope.
That hope was quickly dashed when Bears quarterback Mitchell
Trubisky managed a brilliant 8-play 79-yard drive that ended in a Jordan Howard
touchdown to put the game away.
Defensively, the Jets played well to an extent on Sunday. Give the
unit credit for holding the Bears to just seven points, and minimizing the big
plays after Tarik Cohen ate New York’s lunch on a 70-yard touchdown via a
Trubisky screen pass that gave Chicago an early 7-0 lead.
While Trubisky did throw for two scores, he had his issues dealing
with the various blitzes that Todd Bowles was sending his way. The good news
for the Jets is they got a little bit healthy on the backend with Marcus Maye
making a surprise appearance with a banged up thumb. Maye recorded seven
tackles. He was expected to miss a month, but played hurt. Jamal Adams was all
over the field, and stayed in the game after getting winded.
The only problem the unit had was the fact they were on the field
for way too long, a direct result of the Jets anemic offense.
Speaking of Bowles, it was another bad game for the Jets head coach.
He showed no conviction to move the football into field goal range when the
Jets got the ball back with 0:24 and two timeouts in his pocket before halftime.
The Jets had time to find a way to get into range for Jason Meyers, but just
sat on the ball.
Then with 5:37 to go in the
game, and the Jets down two scores, Bowles decided to punt the football back to
the Bears – a virtual surrender move with the game still hanging in the
balance. That is not the first time Bowles has punted with his team still in
the ballgame. It is one of the many questionable moves made by the Jets head
coach over the years.
At 3-5 the Jets are right where they were a year ago, in no-man’s
land. With a difficult game coming up in Miami next week, the Jets season is
starting to slip slide away.
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