Latest Losses Reasons to Bury Jets With Six Weeks Remaining

Offense appears beyond repair as losing streak reaches four games in a row

The New York Jets squandered back-to-back opportunities to post a much-needed division victory.

The slumping Jets (4-7), who have now lost four in a row, managed only 19 points combined in losses to Buffalo and Miami and that total includes a defensive touchdown.

In Sports Illustrated's Week 12 Recap, Matthew Verderame suggested that 2023 is officially a lost season for the Jets following the Black Friday debacle against Miami. While the offense shows no signs of life in spite of a starting quarterback change, the Green & White have fallen into a three-way tie for 13th place in the 16-team AFC. The Indianapolis Colts (6-5) currently hold the final AFC wildcard spot in seventh place as Gang Green's playoff chances have plummeted. 

From NFL Week 12 Recap: Dolphins Stick a Fork in Jets on Black Friday:

Dolphins 34, Jets 13

• What it means for Jets: This might be the worst offense we’ve ever seen when you contextualize the situation. The expansion-era Buccaneers of 1976 and ‘77 were atrocious, but they were in their infancy with castoffs. The Jets (4–7) spent significantly this offseason both in free-agency dollars and draft capital, bringing in a litany of new starters including receivers Allen Lazard, Mecole Hardman and Randall Cobb, running back Dalvin Cook and center Joe Tippmann. While Aaron Rodgers’s injury is obviously devastating, New York is still an incompetent mess, completely hopeless on a weekly basis.

Hardman is already gone and Lazard was a healthy scratch in the loss to the Dolphins. Cobb and Cook have managed minimal contributions on their first seasons as Jets. Cobb has three receptions for 20 yards while Cook is averaging 3.2 yards per carry. 

To find supporting information for Verderame's claim that the Jets' offense is an historically underperforming unit, one needs to look no further than the team's third down conversion rate (24.14%) and red zone touchdown percentage (28.00%). The third down number is the lowest on record in the past 45 years of the NFL. The red zone success rate is also last in the league, more than 10 percentage points behind the next-best team.

The Green & White have scored only 10 offensive touchdowns the entire season. Their 14.8 points per game average is third worst in the 32-team NFL.

The Jets have only seven passing touchdowns through 11 games. Buffalo Bills' quarterback Josh Allen leads the NFL with 24 TD passes while Dolphins' QB1 Tua Tagovailoa has connected on 22 scoring strikes.

The Jets will try to snap their four-game slide on December 3 at MetLife Stadium against the Atlanta Falcons (5-6), who currently lead the NFC South division despite a sub-.500 record. 

Oddsmakers Expect Jets' Misery to Continue vs. Falcons

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