The New York Jets offense went missing in Week 9 as they dropped an offensively challenged affair 13-6 on Sunday afternoon to the Miami Dolphins.
A third-straight loss drops the Jets to 3-6 on the season and all but destroys any sliver of hope that they could contend for the AFC East or a postseason spot.
The Dolphins defense supplied a bulk of the scoring on Sunday afternoon, the lone touchdown in the game’s first 50 minutes coming off a Jerome Baker interception of Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold which was returned 25 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
It was the second of four interceptions thrown by Darnold, who leads the NFL with 14 picks. His struggles headlined a Jets offense that couldn’t get a thing going as it was held to just 282 yards on the day. Darnold was held to 229 yards through the air while completing 21-of-39 of his attempts.
If it wasn’t bad enough that he couldn’t get the offense going, Darnold was having a difficult time just reeling in the snaps from center Spencer Long, who was playing with a dislocated finger. After a number of errant snaps, including one in the fourth that resulted in Darnold scrambling 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage, he was benched for Jonotthan Harrison, though the change did little to change New York’s fortunes.
Brock Osweiler and the Dolphins offense was actually worse than the Jets as they could only accrue 168 total yards of offense as they continue to miss injured starting quarterback Ryan Tannehill.
In total, Sunday’s tilt saw a combined 16 punts on the day, the Jets kicking the ball away six times compared to just 15 first downs. It was the Dolphins which held a 6-3 lead, who got on the board thanks to Darnold’s first mistake of the day.
The rookie quarterback was picked off late in the first quarter by linebacker Kiko Alonso, stymying a Jets drive that made its way into Miami territory. While Alonso was tackled in his own half, an unnecessary roughness penalty by Brandon Shell put the Dolphins in plus territory.
Osweiler couldn’t generate much despite the good field position but Miami did come away with a Jason Sanders field goal from 43 yards out. He would add a second field goal with 1:11 left in the half when the Dolphins’ promising drive that spanned 51 yards over 13 plays stalled at the Jets nine-yard-line.
The Jets finally were able to put something together thanks to a successful two-minute drill. Darnold was able to drive the Jets 45 yards on seven plays in just 51 seconds to halve the deficit at the break after a Jason Myers field goal, his 12th-straight conversion. It was New York’s most successful drive considering they put together just 66 yards in their first five drives of the game.
Myers had an opportunity to tie things up early in the fourth quarter and extend his streak, however, he pushed a 50-yard attempt wide to the right after the Jets were called for a delay of game penalty. The Jets’ 50-yard drive to get Myers into that position was more because of Dolphins mistakes rather than New York’s offense. Thirty yards were gifted to the Jets thanks to a pair of facemask penalties committed by Miami.
Following the Baker pick six to put Miami up 10, Myers answered with a 57-yard field goal to cut the Jets deficit to a touchdown with 5:57 remaining.
Darnold had two more opportunities to draw things level in the final minutes, but both Jets drives ended with interceptions to ice a miserable day for Gang Green.
