LONDON – The Jets fell 27-20 to the Falcons here on Sunday and now are 1-4. Here are some thoughts and observations from across the pond:
1. When a team selects a new head coach, the next most important hire is who that coach selects to run the opposite side of the ball from his own expertise. So when the Jets picked Robert Saleh, who was a defensive coordinator, it was critical that he find the right offensive coordinator. In my opinion, a new head coach is better off selecting a veteran coach for that position. There will be enough growing pains for a first-time head coach himself. He should have someone running the other side of the ball with experience. For instance, the Sean McVay hired Wade Phillips as his defensive coordinator when he became the Rams coach and they went to the Super Bowl. Todd Bowles hired Chan Gailey as his offensive coordinator with the Jets and had early success.
Saleh hired Mike LaFleur, a 34-year-old who had never called plays in the NFL before. I’m not saying LaFleur will never be a good offensive coordinator. He might become a very good one. But right now you can see him struggling to find his way and it is hurting the Jets. On Sunday, the Jets got outcoached in the first half. Falcons coach Arthur Smith went the veteran route for his defensive coordinator, luring Dean Pees out of retirement. Pees began coaching in 1979. LaFleur was born in 1987. Advantage Pees. Pees has been the defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick, John Harbaugh and Mike Vrabel. As Rex Ryan used to say, he has pelts on his wall.
The Jets offense looks lost right now. This is not entirely LaFleur’s fault. Zach Wilson must make better throws. Corey Davis must catch the ball. The offensive line needs to open holes in the running game. However, LaFleur bears plenty of blame. The offense looks ill-prepared at the beginning of games. He has not been able to give Wilson the answers to the test when defensive coordinators like Pees, Vic Fangio or Belichick throw things at him to confuse him.
LaFleur may become a really good offensive coordinator someday. Until then, though, it looks like Saleh hired a friend who may not be ready for the job. The Jets are going to have to go through the pain of him learning on the job.
2. The Jets’ struggles early in games is mind-boggling. It is hard to imagine a team being this bad at the start of a game. We all know that offensive coordinators script the start of games. LaFleur may want to just pick plays out of a hat from now on. The first drive of the game should look crisp. These are your favorite plays against that team. These are plays that the offense practices repeatedly between Wednesday and Saturday. Under Adam Gase, the Jets actually started games off well on a lot of occasions. They usually just fell apart after that. But that made more sense. At least you could see they entered the game with a good plan. They just failed to adjust, which was a whole other problem. This group seems to be failing when it comes to building the game plan.
Digging in on the first quarter statistics paints an ugly, ugly picture: 0 points, 79 total yards, five first downs, 2-for-11 on third down (none converted since Week 1), 42 total plays run, 68 rushing yards, 11 net passing yards. QB Zach Wilson is 5-of-18 for 34 yards with two interceptions in the first quarter.
The Jets will spend the bye week searching for answers to why they are starting slow. They better find them because they can’t keep playing from behind every week.
3. Matt Ryan picked the Jets defense apart early and late in the game Sunday. Ryan showed the formula for beating the Jets defense. Get the ball out quickly, flood the middle of the field and take a few deep shots. It sounds easier than it is to pull off. But Ryan negated the Jets pass rush with how quickly he got rid of the ball and it is something the Jets can expect to see, particularly from veteran quarterbacks.
Saleh’s defense is not particularly complicated or exotic. It relies on creating pressure on the quarterback and disguising coverages. Veteran quarterbacks are tough to fool. The good news for the Jets is they don’t see a lot more of them. Tom Brady looms at the end of the season and he tears apart nearly every defense so we know how that will likely go. Josh Allen is playing at an extremely high level right now, so that one might be rough. Other than those two, though, the schedule features mostly young quarterbacks or journeymen.
One thing that stood out watching Ryan was his anticipation. Watching it live, I often would not even see the receiver when he threw the ball and then the receiver would break free. He knew where his receiver would be before he got there. It is an area that Zach Wilson needs to improve on. He is waiting on receivers. That created the interception on Sunday. Wilson needs to anticipate more and throw to the spot.
4. The week would not be complete without a Denzel Mims development. Mims played just eight snaps but had two catches for 33 yards, including a 27-yard catch late in the game. You can see Mims’ ability, even in these small doses. He looks like a different type of athlete out there. He is a big man that runs really fast. That stands out. It is baffling that the Jets are not using him more with the way this offense is going.
That being said, I noticed something Sunday that I think could be an example of what the coaches don’t like from Mims. My seat at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was about 20 rows up from the Jets sideline. It was an amazing perspective. It also allowed me to observe some things.
After a series, the players split off into position groups and go over things with their position coach. I noticed on a few of these occasions the wide receivers were gathered around coach Miles Austin, but Mims was standing 50 feet away talking to an inactive teammate. Mims probably would argue he did not need to be in the huddle because he was not even in on that series. But it is a bad look. Just stand there and listen. You can see other players who are not involved in the game doing that with their position groups.
People have asked: what did Mims do? From what I have gathered, there is no big incident that led to the Jets coaches not trusting him. But it is little things that add up. Mims needs to do everything to win over the coaches right now, even a little thing by being attentive on the sideline.
Revealing stat
After gaining just 64 yards rushing Sunday, the Jets now have 370 this season. There are five players in the NFL who have more rushing yards than the entire Jets team – the Titans’ Derrick Henry (640), the Browns’ Nick Chubb (523), the Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott (452), the Jaguars’ James Robinson (387) and the Bengals’ Joe Mixon (386).
Surprising snap count
Elijah Moore played just 23 snaps (41 percent) in his return from a concussion on Sunday. Moore had no catches but did draw a key pass interference penalty. Moore was such a monster in the spring and early in training camp, it is puzzling how he has had such little impact so far.
Game ball
No one on the Jets deserves one this week. Let’s give it to the people of London, who were terrific hosts for the NFL. Tottenham Hotspur Stadium is the nicest stadium I have ever seen and the staff was extremely helpful and pleasant. Also, a shout out to the Marriott Marble Arch crew that took good care of the Jets beat writers for our trip.