New York Jets vs. Houston Texans: New York Grades, Notes and Quotes
Raise the red flags and hang them atop the Atlantic Health Training Facility for all to see.
Sound the alarms and turn them up for all within a 100-mile radius to hear.
Run in circles, revert to a fetal position and scream atop your lungs. Whatever it is, do it, because it's panic time for the New York Jets.
In Week 11, New York lost its fourth game in five tries as T.J. Yates and Co. led the Houston Texans to a surprise 24-17 victory. The loss dropped the Jets to an even 5-5 after starting the season 4-1.
"It's about execution," Bowles said after the game. "It's about understanding situational football and plays. That's not getting done right now.
"I'm not repeating myself. I'm just stating the obvious."
In what has become a bit of an alarming trend over the course of the last month, the Jets offense struggled to get anything going in the first half. As a result, the Texans offense took advantage. After both teams played to a scoreless tie through one quarter, Houston scored 10 points in the second, highlighted by a 61-yard touchdown pass from Yates to receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
Hopkins, who matched up against Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis for the majority of the afternoon, finished the game with five catches for 118 yards and two touchdowns.
"Another test, you know the media blowing up 'Revis Island,'" Hopkins told Houston media after the game. "I had to come out and answer."
With the Texans leading 10-3 at halftime, the Jets tied the game in the third when quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick found Brandon Marshall for a 21-yard score. The momentum gained from the touchdown was short-lived, though, as Yates and Co. quickly marched down the field on their ensuing drive.
Wideout Cecil Shorts had catches of 35 and 33 yards, a run of five yards and then threw a 21-yard touchdown to Alfred Blue on a wide receiver pass. After a Jets punt on the ensuing drive, the Texans again got on the scoreboard when Hopkins beat cornerback Marcus Williams for a 20-yard score.
The two-touchdown lead was all the Texans needed as they held on the rest of the way.
New York cut Houston's lead to seven after Fitzpatrick ran for a touchdown in the fourth, but back-to-back interceptions from the quarterback ended any comeback attempt.
Fitzpatrick finished the game 19-of-39 for 216 yards with a touchdown and two picks. Chris Ivory led the rushing attack with eight runs for 36 yards. Eric Decker caught four passes for 81 yards.
Position Grades for New York
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Quarterbacks: Ryan Fitzpatrick's two interceptions all but sealed the Jets loss, despite the team being in position to, at the minimum, tie the game in the fourth. He missed on several other throws and, for the second game in a row, caused more harm than good. With the Jets losing four of their last five, it's not a surprise Todd Bowles was uncommitted to Fitzpatrick as the team's starter next week. D
Running Backs: When Jets center Nick Mangold left the game with a laceration to his hand, it wasn't a good sign for the rushing attack. He makes the majority of the calls at the line, which includes adjustments in run blocking. With Mangold out, the run game flopped. Chris Ivory ran for just 36 yards on eight carries, and Bilal Powell had just 22 yards on four touches. Stevan Ridley? He rushed four times for no yards. Powell's return to the Jets lineup did provide a spark out of the backfield as a receiver, though. He caught five passes for 67 yards, which saves this grade a bit. C.
Receivers: Devin Smith dropped a sure touchdown, Brandon Marshall managed just five receptions for 47 yards, and Eric Decker didn't register a single catch in the first half. It wasn't the wideouts' finest hour. The struggles at the quarterback position likely were a reason for that. C.
Tight Ends: The Jets tight ends were back to doing what they normally do: no catches for Kellen Davis or Jeff Cumberland. D
Offensive Line: J.J. Watt abused Breno Giacomini in near criminal fashion. When Watt then moved over to D'Brickashaw Ferguson's side, he beat him for a sack too. In total, Houston sacked Fitzpatrick three times. The running game averaged 3.3 yards per carry. Without Mangold, the line didn't play well at all. D.
Defensive Line: Leonard Williams and Muhammad Wilkerson had a few quarterback pressures but were quiet the majority of the game. The Texans also ran for 123 yards on the ground. D
Linebackers: Demario Davis struggled again in coverage and racked up more missed tackles. The outside linebackers provided no pressure on Yates, who had a ton of time to throw in the pocket. D
Defensive Backs: DeAndre Hopkins had his way with Darrelle Revis, and Yates (Yes, T.J. Yates) made the plays when he had to. A Marcus Williams sack/fumble-recovery is the only thing that saves this grade from an "F." D.
Special Teams: This was probably the best Jets unit of the day. Antonio Cromartie looked comfortable returning kickoffs, and Jeremy Kerley was the same as he always is returning punts. The team didn't allow a single kick return and held Keith Mumphery to just 4.8 yards per punt return. Not bad. B.
Coaching: Horrible. Asking just one man to block Watt? Refusing to give help to cover Hopkins? Another slow start? Another lifeless defensive effort? More missed tackles? The list goes on and on. The Jets were outplayed Sunday but also out-coached. F.
Jets Defense Putrid Against Banged-Up Texans
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This game wasn't supposed to be close. Not by a long shot. This was one of the NFL's "best" defenses. The Jets' opponent? A quarterback who hadn't started a game in five years and a running back who hadn't averaged more than three yards per carry since October.
The Jets were supposed to suffocate the Texans offense and cruise to an easy double-digit win. Houston quarterback T.J. Yates would spend more time on his back than feet. Running back Alfred Blue would spend four quarters running into a wall. Receiver DeAndre Hopkins would be stranded on "Revis Island" and not found until next Sunday.
That's not exactly how things went.
The lifeless, emotionless, couldn't-care-less Jets defense put together arguably its most embarrassing performance of the season. Yates tossed a pair of touchdowns, Blue totaled 93 yards of offense, and Hopkins built a public resort on the previously deserted "Revis Island."
Houston ran 73 offensive plays, picked up 19 first downs and totaled 364 yards of offense (including 123 on the ground). After the Jets tied the game at 10 on a Ryan Fitzpatrick touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall in the third, the Texans answered with a seven-play, 80-yard drive that ended in a Cecil Shorts touchdown pass on a trick play to Blue.
When the Jets defense needed plays, it didn't make them. When the Texans offense needed to, it did.
Yates, who was unemployed three weeks ago and had attempted only 47 passes since 2011, went 16-of-34 for 229 yards. His only turnover came on a fumble caused by a blitzing Marcus Williams. Other than that, he remained upright, taking minimal hits and no sacks.
The question the Jets defense now has to answer this question: If it can't stop Yates, who exactly can it stop? Up next are Ryan Tannehill, Eli Manning, Marcus Mariota, Tony Romo, Tom Brady and Tyrod Taylor.
The schedule only gets harder from here on out. And for a team that once had playoff aspirations, well, those hopes and dreams seem to be a far distant memory now.
Jets Fail to Slow Texans' Two Best: J.J. Watt and Deandre Hopkins
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You don't need be a coach to figure out the two biggest pieces to the Houston Texans team. If you can contain both of them, you increase the chance of victory.
J.J. Watt on defense and DeAndre Hopkins on offense. The All-Pro defensive end and big-play receiver didn't need to be stopped but kept in check. Safety help over top of Hopkins and a tight end or running back to chip Watt would likely do the trick.
Again, that wouldn't stop them. But it would limit them.
Instead, the Jets chose to block Watt with just one lineman. Instead, they chose to cover Hopkins with just one cornerback.
The result? A New York loss and monster days from the two soon-to-be 2016 Pro Bowlers.
Watt abused offensive tackle Breno Giacomini. From the game's first snap to its last, Watt was regularly in the backfield. His stat line tells the story: eight tackles, two sacks, five tackles for loss and five quarterback hits. It took until midway through the third quarter, after Watt's second QB takedown, for the offense to finally slide some extra blocking his way.
As for Hopkins? He dominated one of the NFL's best in Darrelle Revis to the tune of five catches for 118 yards and a pair of touchdowns. A potential 70-yard touchdown was missed when quarterback T.J. Yates overthrew the wideout by a step or two.
While it's understandable that the Jets originally put just Revis on Hopkins, the fact the wideout continued to beat the future Hall of Famer should have signaled a change. Still, none was made, and Hopkins was responsible for nearly half of Houston's points.
The inability to make in-game adjustments killed Jets coach Todd Bowles Sunday. Houston continued to beat New York the same way, and the Jets never countered with anything different.
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Erin Henderson Increased Playing Time a Sign of Things to Come?
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Cornerback Antonio Cromartie's struggles this season have been the talk of Florham Park. Questionable play-calling have drawn the back-page headlines, too. But one player who is struggling as much as Cromartie and the coaches, if not more, is linebacker Demario Davis.
Again against Houston, Davis was a liability in pass coverage and continued to be picked on anytime he was matched up one-on-one with a running back. On Cecil Shorts' trick-play touchdown pass to Blue in the third quarter, Davis was left flat-footed in coverage of Blue. His eyes locked onto Shorts, and he never noticed Blue leaking out of the backfield.
The most alarming aspect of Davis' struggles was again on display in relation to missed tackles. On three or four situations, he was left whiffing at air as the ball-carrier moved further up the field.
But for the first time this season, Davis wasn't on the field each and every play. On several situations, the Jets replaced him with linebacker Erin Henderson.
Henderson, just a few years ago, was one of the better linebackers in the NFL. In 2013, he recorded 112 tackles and four sacks for the Minnesota Vikings, but off-the-field trouble led to him sitting out all of last season.
With the Jets defense struggling mightily as of late, and Davis being a big reason for that, it may be time to make the complete switch. It started happening against Houston, and versus the Miami Dolphins next week, it wouldn't be a surprise if Henderson is the new starting inside linebacker.
Todd Bowles on Jets' Injury Situation
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"[Cornerback Darrelle] Revis has a concussion, he has to go through the protocol. [Center Nick] Mangold has lacerations in his hand between his pinky and his other finger prevent him from snapping...[X-rays] were negative but he did have severe lacerations," said Jets coach Todd Bowles on injured center Nick Mangold and cornerback Darrelle Revis.
Adding injury to insult, the Jets lost arguably their most important defensive player and one of their most important offensive players against the Texans. Early in the game, Mangold walked off the field and back to the locker room before returning with his right hand heavily wrapped.
Revis, on the other hand, was injured in game and remained on the field for a few minutes before being helped off.
At his postgame press conference, Bowles provided some updates on both but did not say how long he expects either to be out.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Todd Bowles on Quarterback Change
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"Not at this time. We'll meet about all of that stuff on Monday. ... I’m still committed to Ryan. I just don’t think he played very well just like a lot of other people on both sides," said Jets coach Todd Bowles on switching from Ryan Fitzpatrick to Geno Smith.
"No," said Ryan Fitzpatrick on if he's concerned about losing the starting quarterback job.
The Jets are sinking, and sinking fast. Not helping the situation has been the less-than-ideal play at the quarterback position.
In the last two games—losses to the Buffalo Bills and Houston Texans—Ryan Fitzpatrick is a combined 34-of-73 (46 percent) for 409 yards with three passing touchdowns to four interceptions.
After the game, Bowles was asked if he's thinking about making a quarterback switch, and Fitzpatrick was asked if he's nervous about a potential change. Both quotes spoke volumes.
Brandon Marshall on Jets' Slow Starts
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In the last four games, the team has managed just 26 points in the first half. Fourteen of those points came in the first quarter against the Jacksonville Jaguars. In the locker room after the Jets fell to Houston, Marshall was asked what the team has to do in order to get things going early.
"We just gotta make plays," Brandon Marshall said on the Jets' slow starts.
Connor Hughes is the New York Jets beat writer for the Journal Inquirer and Scout.com. All quotes, practice observations and advanced stats referenced are gathered firsthand unless otherwise noted.
Connor can be reached on Twitter (@Connor_J_Hughes) or via email (Connor_j_hughes@yahoo.com).
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