The Jets defense wasn’t very good with defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and cornerback Sauce Gardner. And unsurprisingly it’s not looking much better without them. The Jets gave up back-to-back touchdowns to the Patriots to start Thursday night’s game, which they trailed 14-7 at halftime.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye converted on his first 11 passes – a career best game-opening completion streak for the MVP candidate, who is in his second year. But it was one of Maye’s incompletions late in the first half that led to the broadcast on Prime TV to point out a remarkable shortcoming for this year’s defense.
The Jets, through nine-plus games are still looking for their first interception of the season. They nearly had it late in the second quarter when Maye’s deep ball to rookie receiver Kyle Williams floated, but safety Tony Adams and cornerback Qwan’tez Stiggers collided on the play and the ball fell harmlessly to the ground. Not only did the Jets fail to secure the pick, but Stiggers went to the locker room after hurting his hamstring on the play. That sequence prompted broadcasting legend Al Michaels to bring up the Jets’ remarkable lack of takeaways this season. The Jets have one through their first nine game, the fewest ever in NFL history. And that one came in London in their loss to the Broncos.
“So no domestic turnovers,” Michaels said.
And that’s right. The last Jets takeaway on American soil came last season. The broadcast also showed that no team has fewer than five turnovers through 10 games in NFL history. Barring a second-half miracle, the Jets will be the first.
It’s hard to win that way. And while the Jets are somehow staying in this game, thanks to the Patriots missed field goal at the end of the first half they started the second half within a possession. But their secondary isn’t helping much without Gardner, as former cornerback Richard Sherman pointed out during the halftime show: Jets cornerbacks allowed seven catches on seven targets for 74 yards in the first half – with Brandon Stephens, the top corner remaining after the departure of Gardner and Michael Carter II, getting burned several times.
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