Following a Week 3 Thursday Night Football victory over the New England Patriots, many expected the New York Jets to build upon the strong all-around performance. They were warranted to pick up another win in Week 4 versus the unsettled Denver Broncos.
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Instead, the Jets looked rusty after 10 days of rest and delivered a clunker. They posted only 248 total yards of offense and failed to score a single touchdown in a 10-9 loss, which left quarterback Aaron Rodgers lamenting his team’s missed opportunities in his postgame press conference.
“We were kind of killing ourselves… the weather sucked, but so did some of my throws. We had some chances, but way too many mental mistakes… our focus just wasn’t as sharp as it was the first three weeks.”
New York committed a season-high 13 penalties and fell to 2-2 with the result. Denver, meanwhile, improved to 2-2 and won back-to-back games for the first time under rookie first-round pick Bo Nix.
Rodgers shouldered the blame for the Jets’ loss.
As Rodgers mentioned, New York hurt themselves and failed to capitalize on several opportunities on Sunday. The Jets averaged just 2.8 yards per carry on the ground, forcing Rodgers to throw 42 times in a poor passing environment.
The lack of rushing success contributed to the offense settling for three field goals inside the Broncos’ 22-yard line. On the other side of the ball, New York’s defense suffocated Denver’s offense to the tune of 186 total yards.
At halftime, Nix had completed just seven of his 15 passing attempts for negative seven yards. Their dominance led Rodgers to take responsibility for the outcome.
“When your defense holds [the opponent] to 10, you’ve got to win the game 100% of the time. So that’s on the offense. It’s on me… not good enough.”
Rodgers and his offense want to put this atypical showing behind them as quickly as possible. However, they may have a tough time doing so in Week 5 with uphill battles awaiting them.
The Jets are participating in the NFL’s second international game – and first in London this season – next Sunday against the undefeated Minnesota Vikings. Kickoff is set for 9:30 p.m. E.T.
