It started off so good, and then seven nothing by the end of the first quarter. A 40-yard catch and run touchdown pass from quarterback Bryce Petty to rookie receiver Robbie Anderson. In seven plays, 75 yards. The Jets over Miami. An AFC East division game. The first of the three remaining scheduled to conclude the New York Jets’ miserable, disappointing season. The Miami Dolphins, 9-5, fighting for a playoff position; the 12-2 conference-leading New England Patriots in Foxboro, Mass., Saturday, Christmas Eve; and the unpredictable, 7-7 Buffalo Bills Sunday, Jan. 1, New Year’s Day, the 16th and final game of the season.
The second quarter wasn’t bad. It was competitive. 13-10, Miami at the half.
The third quarter is where it all went wrong. Twenty-one Miami points in less than five minutes blew it wide-open. A vicious hit on the Jets’ quarterback-in-training, Bryce Petty, by Ndamukong Suh and Cameron Wake, who went unblocked, took Petty out of the game, bringing in former starter Ryan Fitzpatrick.
It was a wrap: 34-10. The Jets did, matter of factly, score a field goal in the fourth.
The Jets are ranked 26th in defense, giving up 25.6 points per game, averaging 17.3 points in offense, ranked 30th in that category, near last in the league but second in the league in turnovers.
“Special teams have been disappointing. The defense has been disappointing. The offense has been disappointing,” acknowledged head coach, Todd Bowles, candidly pinpointing the issues that have plagued his 4-10 team most of the season.
“No one wants to be 4-10,” said running back Bilal Powell, who along with Anderson is making the best of his playing time. “We have a talented team. Hopefully, we can just finish the season out strong.” A monumental task considering that they’re up against their conference’s best team, the Patriots, this weekend, and the wildly unpredictable Bills next week. Petty, who will be able to play against four-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady and the Pats Saturday, a short workweek, recognizes the adversity that his team is facing. The issues of immaturity, questions about leadership on the field and, more notably, in the front office. The questioning of a player’s commitment. The struggle to win, to catch a break, for everyone to be on the same page each week.
“There’s a lot of adversity that these guys in this building are growing from,” said the sophomore QB. “It’s definitely not how we want. It’s definitely not how we know we can play and produce. We’re going to keep fighting, each week is a new week. It doesn’t matter what happened last week. It’s a one-game week. We’re going to continue to get better, learn from this.”
Petty should be taking notes because there will be a lot more to learn this weekend and next.
