MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Welcome to rock bottom, Jets.
It can’t get any worse than this. The Jets lost to the Dolphins, an organization that does not want to win, on Sunday. The 26-18 loss is one of the most embarrassing losses in Jets history — and that is saying something with this franchise.
The Dolphins entered this game winless at 0-7 with the 31st-ranked offense and 30th-ranked defense in the NFL.
Yet, the Jets were worse.
Put this one up next to the losses to a winless Saints team in 1980 at Shea Stadium or a winless Colts team in 1991. Both of those teams finished 1-15, with their only win coming against the Jets. The Dolphins could finish with that same record, although they do have another game against the Jets this season.
Right now, 1-15 is not unthinkable for the Jets. They do nothing well. You can blame coach Adam Gase. You can blame CEO Christopher Johnson. You can blame the players.
“We’re 1-7. You feel like crap,” Gase said. “We don’t put in all this time and effort to come out here and lose. We’ve got to get things fixed.”
Gase may not have much time to get it fixed. He is now squarely on the hot seat halfway through his first season. You could excuse the losses when Sam Darnold was out with mononucleosis. You could understand when they were playing Super Bowl contenders. This? This is inexplicable. Miami, which has shipped out nearly ever good player in an effort to secure the No. 1 draft pick, entered the game historically bad. The Dolphins exited celebrating their first win.
Fans chanted “Fire Gase” as he exited the field and Jets players were left defending him after this dismal loss.
“Coach Gase is one of the best coaches I’ve ever been around,” Darnold said. “It’s just a matter of going out there as players and executing, staying consistent. He’s putting together great game plans.”
Former Jet Ryan Fitzpatrick tortured his old team with three touchdown passes. The Jets defense could not get him to turn the ball over and gave him wide-open receivers to target with barely any pressure in his face.
The Jets offense drove down the field on the opening drive for the second straight week and then vanished again. Sam Darnold led an 11-play drive that ended with him throwing a 12-yard touchdown to Jamison Crowder for a 7-0 lead. That was the lone touchdown of the day for the Jets.
“You’ve got to give the Dolphins credit,” tight end Ryan Griffin said. “They adjusted and we didn’t. They made some plays, brought some pressure. It took us a while to get back in our groove there.”
Darnold was slightly better than he was the previous two weeks but he had another brutal interception and lost his rhythm after the first drive. He finished the game 27 of 39 for 260 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Darnold now has nine interceptions this season and looks like he is regressing.
The Jets were killed by penalties, committing 10 for 105 yards.
Gase needs to get Darnold fixed quickly. His job may be riding on how well Darnold plays the rest of the way.
It is hard to have any faith in Gase or the Jets right now. The coach desperately wanted to beat his former team, but his current team failed to show up again. If Gase’s Jets can’t beat the lowly Dolphins, who can they beat?
Gase was asked if he is embarrassed by this loss.
“It’s the NFL,” Gase said. “You can be embarrassed by this [bleep].”
Fitzpatrick threw his first touchdown of the game early in the second quarter, a 12-yard strike to a wide-open Preston Williams. It appeared safety Jamal Adams bit on an underneath route and left Williams uncovered.
It was the first of three straight touchdown drives by Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins. The Jets could not stop them on third down and Fitzpatrick marched them down the field. DeVante Parker caught a 17-yard touchdown and Williams caught a 5-yarder for his second score of the day and 21-7 lead.
Vyncint Smith gave the Jets some life with a 78-yard kickoff return and the Jets had the ball at the Dolphins 18-yard line with 1:35 left. It appeared tight end Ryan Griffin scored a 2-yard touchdown, but the call was overturned because the ball moved as he hit the ground in the back of the end zone.
On the next play, Darnold made a terrible decision. He was nearly tackled by linebacker Raekwon McMillan, but decided to throw it up instead of taking the sack. The ball was intercepted by Jomal Wiltz at the 1 and the Jets walked away with no points.
“I just tried to throw it away and it didn’t work out,” Darnold said.
The Jets cut the lead to 21-15 midway through the third quarter, but got no closer. The final humiliation came with 6:29 left in the game when center Jonotthan Harrison snapped the ball past Darnold and out of the back of the end zone for a safety.
The Jets now have to prepare to face the crosstown Giants, another game that will leave their fans embarrassed and angry if they lose.
“We’ve just got to stay together as a group,” Adams said. “It can’t be certain groups in the locker room splitting up. Everybody has to just stay together as a brotherhood because that’s what it’s about. It’s never going to be about anybody else but us. Like I said, we have Adam’s back. That’s our head coach and we’re happy that he’s here.”
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