Who Fell Flat in Jets Week 2 Loss to the Bills?

Following their Week 1 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the New York Jets looked to get back on track against their AFC East rival, the Buffalo Bills. Unfortunately for the Jets, that would not be the case. They delivered an utterly embarrassing performance against the Bills, falling to Buffalo, 30-10. With how bad the Jets played, the fact that they only lost by 20 is a win.

Unlike last week, where they played an outstanding game on offense but the defense couldn’t hold up, this week saw neither side play well. Fields looked lost, and the defense was nonexistent. The offense finished with not much to show for until Jeremy Ruckert picked up his first career touchdown in garbage time. Nonetheless, who fell flat in the Jets’ Week 2 loss to the Bills?

3. Jets Offensive Line

Kicking off the list of who fell flat in this loss is the Jets’ offensive line. This one came as a big surprise. After an excellent performance in Week 1 against T.J. Watt and the Steelers, the Jets’ offensive line took a monumental step back in this game. The reason this surprised fans is that the talent is there, and we saw what this line was capable of in Week 1. Unfortunately, this was a game the entire offensive line would like to forget.

The Jets’ offensive line struggled to create any opportunities that they had in Week 1. This included failing to create any holes for Breece Hall. Hall finished the game with 10 carries for 29 yards. This is a far cry from his performance in Week 1, where he carried the ball 19 times for a whopping 107 yards. This is in large part due to the offensive line not being able to open up any alleys for the versatile back.

The Jets’ offensive line also failed to protect well for Fields. This majorly affected Fields’ horrific performance. If you can’t win the battle in the trenches, you won’t win many games, and that’s just how it goes in the National Football League. Unfortunately for the Jets, this proved to be true, as the Bills had their way with the Jets’ offensive line. This was sadly just a complete breakdown for the offensive line. However, thankfully for the offensive line, the defensive line didn’t prove to be much better.

2. Jets Defensive Line

The Jets’ defensive line was flat-out embarrassed on Sunday. The Bills’ offensive line just bullied the Jets’ defensive line all afternoon. This allowed the Bills’ running back, James Cook, to have a massive game. Cook finished the game rushing for 132 yards on 21 carries. He even broke free for a 44-yard touchdown. Cook averaged roughly 6.3 yards per run, which is way too much for an NFL defense to give up.

Per the NFL Next Gen Stats, Cook rushed for a whopping 127 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries, where he averaged 7.0 yards per carry, when he rushed in between the Bills’ tackles. The middle of the Jets’ defensive line was gashed open by Buffalo’s offensive line. Buffalo has always had a good offensive line, and this didn’t come as a surprise. However, we expected to see the Jets’ front line put up more of a fight than we saw today.

As a matter of fact, Will McDonald, who has been one of the best pass rushers on the Jets and even in the league, finished with a sub-25.0 PFF tackling grade. He was invisible as a pass rusher in this one. As for the rest of the line, Jermaine Johnson was injured and left early with an ankle injury, and Michael Clemons, along with the other Jets’ defensive line depth, proved to be more trouble than he’s worth. This was a downright awful performance for the Jets’ defensive line, which had a fantastic game in Week 1.

1. Justin Fields, QB

Arguably, the player who fell the fastest and the worst in this game was Justin Fields. This was a tough pill to swallow after how good Fields looked in Week 1. Despite the loss in Week 1, Fields commanded the Jets offense and took control. He kept the Jets in the game against Pittsburgh and even put up 32 points. So, naturally, fans were left wondering how Fields would follow that stellar performance up? Sadly, they got their answer today, and it was a scene Jets fans knew all too well.

Sunday’s performance was arguably Fields’ worst performance in his entire professional football career. What’s most interesting about this is that he played arguably the best game of his entire professional football career just seven days prior. Before leaving the game with a concussion early in the fourth quarter, Fields connected on just three of his 11 pass attempts. He had 27 yards through the first three quarters. For an NFL quarterback, this is truly abysmal.

To make matters worse, Fields now looks to be missing some time due to a concussion. When he can return, the Jets desperately need the quarterback that they saw in Week 1. The playoffs seem like a very far-fetched pipedream, but if we can see Fields return to form and perform like he did in Week 1, the Jets can get some wins under their belts. For now, the Jets are 0-2 and are looking ahead to a date with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers next Sunday.

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