New York Jets: Loss in Home Opener Leaves a Very Sour Taste

The fact that the New York Jets lost their home opener last night was upsetting. But it was how they lost that was distressing.

The team's chances of making the playoffs are predicated on the offense scoring at least 15 points or so a game, a number that the defense can hold most opponents below. If the score had been say, 20-19, it would have been a tough loss, but it might have meant that the Jets are probably good enough to beat most other teams.

Then they would have to be on their best game for meeting the Baltimore Ravens in the postseason. Unless they got lucky and some other team knocked off the Ravens, and the Jets could beat the other team.

(The Ravens, whom the Steelers could beat, performed that function for the Steelers by eliminating the Tennessee Titans, who beat the Pittsburgh, in 2008,)

But the Jets offense couldn't score as many as 14-15 points last night. Even 12 would have sufficed for victory.

The defense was mostly effective. It is now tied with the Miami Dolphins for the third and fourth for the fewest points allowed in the American League, behind the Steelers and Ravens.

The defense forced two interceptions and one fumble from the Ravens, killing scoring chances. That's why only one touchdown was allowed, even though the Ravens' total yardage implied more.

One drive inside the 10 yard line was stopped short of the end zone, turning it into the Raven's sole field goal.

The one fly in the ointment for the defense was the penalties, particularly on a fourth and one during one of the Ravens' scoring drives. Reducing these is on the "to do" list, but that's one of the easier problems to fix.

On the whole, I'd give the defense an A-.

It was the offense that held the team back. The running game was halfway decent, though by no means superlative. But quarterback Mark Sanchez completed only 10 passes, less than half, for an anemic 71 yards.

On the whole, the Jets advanced only 176 net yards, barely more than half of the Ravens. And offensive penalties took a toll.

The team scored all of three field goals, one of them kicked from almost midfield. That's because two of the drives that set them up went for less than 10 yards. The third drive advanced 27 yards.

None of the Jets' drives went anywhere near the end zone. And only six first downs were achieved the whole game, less than one third the Ravens' total. 

I'd give the offense a C-.

The team gets a B- for the whole game, not good enough against Baltimore.

The Jets were fortunate insofar as that in lieu of "whole" scores for reaching the goal, there are "half" scores, for getting close enough. With the litmus test for "close enough" defined by whether you can kick a ball through the goal posts starting from your point of maximum penetration.

No other game has this half score feature. If the game had been decided by whole scores, it would have been 1-0. Just like the Mets and Yankees baseball games, which really were defensive gems.

(In the former game, two rookies, one Met and one Pirate, pitched six and eight innings of scoreless ball respectively, before the bullpens decided the game.)

But football has the point after touchdown feature as a tiebreaker. That's what decided yesterday's game, 10-9.

Both teams played badly at times, particularly the offenses. Two teams deserved to lose last night. But only one of them did. The home team.

What happened, or rather failed to happen, against a less than maximally effective Ravens squad showed what a steep hill Gang Green has to climb for the rest of the season.