The Jets followed up their comeback overtime win in Miami with what was simply a bad performance, losing 34-0 to the 49ers. Now 2-2, the Jets have bigger issues than just this loss as wide receiver Santonio Holmes went down with what the Jets called a foot injury early in the fourth quarter. As the offense’s lone true playmaker, it is horrible news for a team that will now struggle for even playoff consideration.
What we learned …
1. Replacing Revis
In the first game without Darrelle Revis, the Jets secondary perhaps wasn’t as bad as feared, limiting the 49ers’ big-play threats. It did get off to a rocky start on the Jets’ first defensive play of the game as the man who stepped into the starting lineup with Revis down, Kyle Wilson, was flagged for a defensive pass interference. The unit did have its struggles against an efficient 49ers offense, allowing Alex Smith to spread the ball around efficiently. But at least the performance showed some potential for the secondary to survive the rest of the season without its star player.
2. That’s a spicy Wildcat
All week long, there was speculation that the Jets would have to unveil a bit more of their Wildcat offense with Tim Tebow this week, but it was the 49ers who showed the better version of the offense. The 49ers inserted Colin Kaepernick under center with success. On the 49ers’ second series, Kaepernick took off for a nifty 17-yard run through the left side of the Jets’ defense and then in the second quarter, his 7-yard touchdown run gave the visitors a 7-0 lead. They even tried a deep pass out of the package to Randy Moss that went incomplete. It was better than the Jets’ version of the offense, which was used just three times. The best play from the wrinkle came in the second quarter when Tebow completed a nine-yard pass on third down to Dedrick Epps — that the tight end then promptly fumbled.
3. Sanchez isn’t the answer
Mark Sanchez has been awful since a scintillating Week 1 performance against the Bills when he had a 123.4 quarterback rating. Sure his running backs have been inconsistent and on Sunday he was without tight end Dustin Keller and wide receiver Stephen Hill, but something is amiss with the “Sanchise.” He was 13-for-29 for 103 yards on Sunday, but worse than that he was marred by terrible decisions. There was an inexplicable scramble in the red zone inside two minutes left in the first half where Sanchez let the ball dangle out of his hands and it was stripped. Then there was a poor interception on the first series of the third quarter, followed by questionable throws on the Jets’ second series after halftime. It is fast becoming clear that the Jets can’t win because of Sanchez, but he really needs to make sure he’s not losing games for them. Right now, that can’t be said.
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
