The Jets enter their Week 3 matchup against the Patriots with their season in flux: Aaron Rodgers’ torn Achilles immediately changed the outlook, and the team subsequently has shown two vastly different sides.
The fate of their season now relies upon which version they resemble more.
There was Week 1, when they rallied valiantly after Rodgers’ injury in a 22-16 comeback win over the Bills.
The Jets’ blueprint — the one they envisioned when constructing this roster — was on display, Rodgers aside. They ran for 172 yards, led by Breece Hall’s 127. Their “we come in waves” defense wreaked havoc, sacking Josh Allen five times and forcing four turnovers.
But then there was Week 2, when that identity went missing in a 30-10 loss to the Cowboys. The Jets rushed for just 64 yards, sacked Dak Prescott just one time and did not force a turnover.
The Jets have shown that even with Zach Wilson at quarterback, they have a pathway to victory over any opponent with their ferocious defense and punishing run game. But they’ve also shown that when those go missing, disaster usually follows.
“We got our ass whooped early,” safety Jordan Whitehead, who recorded three interceptions in Week 1 against the Bills, told Sports+ after practice earlier this week. “It was an eye-opener. For me, it just makes me hungry. Nobody wants to feel like that. I’m not happy that it happened, but I’m happy it happened early enough for us. After a big win [against the Bills], everyone’s feeling good, it was like a get-back-to-reality type of thing, like ‘let’s lock in.’ It was good that it happened like that.”
Whitehead is confident the extreme emotional highs and lows have brought the Jets somewhere in the middle, where they can re-discover the identity they envisioned.
That identity will be needed to finally beat the Patriots, who have won the past 14 games between the rivals. Dating back to 2014, the Patriots have won 17 of the past 18.
The Jets forced just one total turnover in their two losses to New England last year. Though Patriots quarterback Mac Jones is usually conservative and hard to create turnovers against, he already has thrown two interceptions this season.
“They don’t really have a complex offense,” star cornerback Sauce Gardner said. “It’s pretty simple for the quarterback to get, the gap scheme, everything is really simple. But they excel at it. What they try to do is get other people to mess up and make mistakes. They just do everything right.”
Two roads lie in front of the Jets: one where they finally slay the Patriots and fight and scratch their way into the playoffs, and one where the wheels fall off and their strengths go missing.
Through the first two games, they’ve already taken one step down each road.
Now with a heavily anticipated test in front of them on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS), where will the next step be?
“Everybody knows how we feel about each other in this locker room, we feel that we’re a great team,” cornerback D.J. Reed told Sports+. “Give credit to Dallas, we played a great team last week. But that’s last week, they beat us, we’re 1-1 right now. We’re looking forward to this game to be 2-1, 2-0 in our division.”
The rundown Giants
The Giants keep getting run over.
Their run defense failed one of the biggest tests of the season Thursday night, conceding 141 rushing yards to the 49ers in a 30-12 loss at Levi’s Stadium.
Superstar Christian McCaffrey led the way with 85 yards and a touchdown, and Elijah Mitchell added 42 yards.
The Giants placed an emphasis this offseason on improving their rush defense, one of their biggest weaknesses last year.
They made inside linebacker Bobby Okereke their most expensive free-agent signing, and also signed veteran defensive linemen Rakeem Nunez-Roches and A’Shawn Robinson. On the eve of the season, they traded a seventh-round pick for hybrid linebacker Isaiah Simmons.
But the Giants’ offseason plan has not yet gone to plan. Entering Thursday’s night’s loss, the Giants had surrendered 273 rushing yards, seventh-most in the league. They also had allowed 4.6 yards per carry, the eighth-worst, along with five rushing touchdowns — second-worst.
Instead of being a new strength, the rush defense already has emerged as a critical deficiency, often prohibiting the Giants from getting needed third-down stops.
Now, the offense was deficient in this one, too.
Daniel Jones (137 yards, one touchdown, one interception) failed to spark the Giants, and the absence of Saquon Barkley — who said on the Amazon Prime Video broadcast he is dealing with a mild high ankle sprain — was felt keenly as they netted just 29 yards on the ground.
Today’s back page
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Misery loves company
It’s been a big week for franchise implosions. Several of the biggest teams in sports are in crisis.
Let’s take a look:
Chicago Bears
Where to start?
Defensive coordinator Alan Williams resigned on Wednesday, citing health and his family.
But prior to his resignation, rumors emerged that Halas Hall, the team’s headquarters, and Williams’ home had been raided by the FBI. The Bears vehemently refuted that Halas Hall was raided, but notably did not do so about Williams’ home. ESPN’s Pat McAfee took to the air on Thursday and cited sources saying Williams’ home was raided.
Williams’ personal attorney Andrew M. Stroth spoke to reporters Thursday and denied there was a raid on his home.
Meanwhile, quarterback Justin Fields created plenty of headlines when he bluntly said “coaching” when asked why he’s become more robotic in his third season. Later in the day, he gathered the media again to clarify he wasn’t blaming his coaches.
Fields has struggled badly this year, completing 60.6 percent of his passes for 427 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions through two games.
Manchester United
The storied football club has released more statements this season than it has wins.
United sit 13th in the Premier League table with just six points (two wins, three losses), and on Wednesday lost their first group-stage Champions League game to Bayern Munich.
Off the field, Antony, who arrived last year as the team’s second-most expensive transfer ever ($99 million), is on a leave of absence after three women accused him of abuse.
Jadon Sancho, the team’s fourth-most expensive transfer ever ($93 million) and in his third season with the team, has been ordered to train away from the rest of the squad and has not been available during games, with manager Erik Ten Hag citing attitude problems to reporters. Sancho subsequently called Ten Hag untruthful on social media, sparking a war between the manager and star.
Injuries to Raphael Varane, Mason Mount, Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have further weakened the team, and the losses keep piling up.
And as they do, Ten Hag’s seat only grows warmer.
Columbus Blue Jackets
Mike Babcock’s tenure as head coach ended before it even got started.
He resigned on Sunday, two months after being hired in July after an NHLPA investigation into allegations he inappropriately asked players to see photos on their phones.
It occurred just days before the start of training camp.
The Blue Jackets apologized and said they “got it wrong” in hiring him, claiming they conducted a similar process as the NHLPA prior to hiring Babcock.
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