7 Things New York Jets Need to Fix to Turn Season Around
The New York Jets may have only lost to the Detroit Lions by seven points, but the ugly manner in which the game was played—and the fact that it was the third consecutive loss—made the game seem like a disastrous blowout.
Rex Ryan's once-proud defense was exposed by a Lions offense that was without a fully operational Calvin Johnson, while quarterback Geno Smith continued his regression.
Now, the Jets are staring at a 1-3 record with a quarterback controversy that is becoming impossible to ignore.
As poor as Smith has been in the last few weeks, he is far from the Jets' only problem. Here are some of the areas in which the Jets need to make steadfast, drastic improvements to turn their season around while it is still relevant.
Cornerback Depth
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The time for signing a starting-caliber cornerback has come and gone. The only choice the Jets have now is to hope they can improve from within their own roster.
Darrin Walls and Antonio Allen have held their own as the starting cornerbacks, but the secondary is still giving up too many big plays than acceptable for a Rex Ryan defense. Matthew Stafford had nearly 300 yards passing without Calvin Johnson.
The good news is, help is on the horizon. Former first-round pick Dee Milliner is still battling a quad injury that kept him out of this week's game, but it is only a matter of time before he returns to the lineup.
If Milliner can play as well as he did at the end of last season, the Jets will be able to be even more aggressive on defense without paying for it with so many big plays against him.
If Milliner can come back next week, the Jets can be more flexible in how much they use Allen and Walls, not forcing them into roles that they are simply incapable of playing.
Still, even if Milliner comes back and plays up to expectations, this is a position that needs a lot of attention next offseason to avoid another rocky stretch of games.
Running Back Rotation
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Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg took a step closer to getting this rotation right by feeding Chris Ivory more carries, but he still has a lot of tweaking to do in order to get the Jets' running and short-passing games operating at full capacity.
The Jets were right to leave Ivory in the game after putting up 51 yards on the opening drive, but they may have pushed the boundaries of his game a bit too far. Always an average receiver, Ivory had a pair of drops on what could have been long gains in key situations.
Meanwhile, the dependable Bilal Powell could only look on from the bench. Powell, who is averaging 4.7 yards per carry this year, did not touch the football all afternoon.
Powell may be the smallest "name" of the group, but he is by far the most well-rounded player. When he is off the field, the Jets are much more one-dimensional.
Ivory should continue to get the bulk of the carries, as he is the far superior interior runner to both Powell and Chris Johnson.
However, when it comes to passing downs and screens, Mornhinweg needs to use players who are better suited to catch and play in space.
Involve Jace Amaro
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Coaches may not love the idea of leaning heavily on rookies for production, but when an offense has reached the state the Jets find themselves in, no measure to find consistency is too drastic.
Second-round rookie tight end Jace Amaro's five-catch, 58-yard performance was lost in an otherwise ugly afternoon of football, but it signified that the Jets can no longer keep a player this talented on the bench.
It is clear that Amaro, not Jeff Cumberland, is the superior tight end on the team.
Outside of Eric Decker, the Jets do not have a reliable receiving threat on a week-to-week basis. Even the usually dependable Jeremy Kerley was limited to just one three-yard catch. The Jets need to add as many offensive threats as they can to the lineup to help alleviate the pressure from Decker.
Amaro's presence will be most welcomed in the red zone, which was a particularly problematic area for New York against the Chicago Bears last week, converting on just one of six opportunities.
The faster the Jets can get Amaro ready for a role as a full-time player, the faster he and Smith can develop a chemistry and get the offense back on track.
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Solidify Left Guard
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For the most part, the Jets have gotten good production out of their offensive line—from every position except for left guard.
Under second-year player Brian Winters' watch, the Jets have had more pressure on Smith from that part of the line than anywhere else. Entering this game, Winters led the team in sacks allowed with three, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required).
Smith was not under a particularly unbearable amount of pressure against Detroit (two sacks), and the running game was effective (132 yards), but the Jets cannot afford to risk allowing their quarterback to take extra hits and sacks for the sake of developing one player.
If Winters continues this rate of "development," Ryan should not hesitate to insert Oday Aboushi into the starting lineup. Drafted two rounds later than Winters last year (fifth round), Aboushi has turned heads since making the transition from tackle to guard.
Winters has started in his place essentially because he was drafted earlier, but when given a chance (he started ahead of Winters in Week 2 of the preseason), Aboushi has been much less of a liability in pass protection.
As disappointing as Winters has been for a third-round guard prospect, Ryan needs to do whatever it takes to get the Jets back in the win column—even if it means stunting the development of a player.
Speed of Defensive Adjustments
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As good of a defensive coach as he is, Lions head coach Jim Caldwell had Rex Ryan fooled in regards to Calvin Johnson's effectiveness.
Ryan had every right to design his defense around stopping Johnson, as he told Jane McManus of ESPNNewYork.com, but it became obvious he was nothing more than a decoy when on the field as he dealt with an ankle injury. He was targeted just two times all afternoon.
Technically, Ryan's plan worked: Megatron finished with just a dozen yards. However, the Jets still wound up surrendering nearly 300 yards of passing, including a game-changing 59-yard touchdown to Jeremy Ross.
Even rookie tight end Eric Ebron was able to make an impact on the game, catching the first touchdown of his career.
Ryan used the same tactic he used against Brandon Marshall and Alshon Jeffery with the Bears at the line of scrimmage: linebacker Quinton Coples was used to press the receivers at the line of scrimmage, even after it became clear that Johnson was on the field for the sole purpose of diverting attention.
In fact, Johnson was so hobbled by the injury that he was taken out of the game on several crucial third-down situations.
In this situation, Ryan should have recognized the ineffectiveness of Johnson and diverted more attention toward the other weapons on the Lions offense.
Had he been able to stop long plays to the likes of Ross and Ebron, the Jets may have had a chance to sneak out of this game with a win.
Calvin Pryor
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Since dropping what would have been a pick-six in Week 1 against the Oakland Raiders, first-round rookie Calvin Pryor has done more harm than good from the safety position.
Pryor was out of position on an 80-yard touchdown pass to David Nelson in Week 2. This time, he allowed Jeremy Ross to get behind him for a 59-yard touchdown pass that broke the game open, per Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News:
"Jeremy Ross beats Antonio Allen badly on a 59-yard TD. Calvin Pryor was badly out of position too. #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) September 28, 2014"
Complicating his return to the field is a thigh injury that kept Pryor out for the remainder of the game.
Pryor has been effective as a blitzer and run-stopper, but the Jets did not use a first-round selection on a linebacker disguised as a safety. Pryor was brought in to generate turnovers and set the tone with big hits—so far, he has done neither.
Pryor was expected to endure some growing pains in coverage as a rookie, but he at least needs to be able to convert some of his ill-advised gambles into turnovers to counter his mistakes.
Pryor is still extremely early in his NFL career and will only improve from this point, but the Jets cannot afford to wait much longer for him to start playing like an adequate starter given the sad state of their secondary.
Fair or not, Pryor's rookie adjustment period has come and gone.
Geno Smith's Regression
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After starting the season strong against the Oakland Raiders by posting a completion percentage over 80 percent, Smith's development has taken a nosedive since the Jets blew their three-score lead to the Green Bay Packers in Week 2.
It was easy to blame Smith's struggles on Eric Decker's absence, but Sunday's performance was particularly troubling because there was no excuse for Smith to perform as poorly as he did.
Once again, Smith was unable to go a full 60 minutes without throwing an interception, but his turnover was not the most worrisome sign of his regression.
Usually unafraid to make the difficult throw in critical situations, Smith preferred the easy checkdown—a sign of confidence levels lowering. He averaged just 6.3 yards per pass attempt.
Also worrisome is how much responsibility the Jets are giving Smith in the offense. While they may never admit it publicly, the Jets have shown how they truly feel about where Smith is in his development by how much leeway he has in the offense.
According to Lions and former Jets safety James Ihedigbo, via Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com, Smith is not asked to make complex reads and decisions:
"He is a one-look guy. But that's kind of how the offense is designed, to make the easy read and get the ball out of his hand quick."
Whether or not the Jets choose to stick with Smith in the long term remains to be seen, but they simply cannot survive another week with him playing at this low of a level.
If Smith does not quickly get back to playing at the level of football he was playing at the start of the season, his season will end a lot sooner than the Jets' will.
Advanced statistics provided by Pro Football Focus.
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