Adam Gase, Sam Darnold Take Ownership for Terrible New York Jets Offense in Week 1 Loss

The New York Jets offense, praised this offseason as improved. sputtered in Week 1.

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day for the New York Jets. For the offense, it might have been worse than that.

The Jets (0-1) offense was simply unbearable to watch on Sunday in a 27-17 loss at the Buffalo Bills (1-0). They managed just 254 yards of total offense and 15 first downs.

It started off poorly for the Jets, with four punts on their first four possessions that was followed by a Sam Darnold interception on their next drive. Darnold finished 21-of-35 for 215 passing yards with a touchdown and an interception.

“It was about as bad of a start offensively as we could have had. We didn’t do anything when the defense did a good job getting a turnover,” Jets head coach Adam Gase said in his postgame press conference.

“Complimentary football was non-existent throughout most of the game. We just really did not play well. The disappointing aspect is just watching the guys work all week and the excitement level coming into this game. We have a lot to work on and a lot of things to get fixed.”

The Jets struggled every which way on offense. Le’Veon Bell, hyped all preseason for what was supposed to be a greater and more creative role in the offense, had just six rushes for 14 yards. Veteran Frank Gore led the Jets with 24 rushing yards on six carries.

While the Jets offense showed signs of improvement late in the second quarter and then in isolated moments in the second half, they still struggled to consistently move the ball. They lost the battle of time of possession and total plays, in the process setting up their defense with bad field position throughout the game.

The offensive line, rebuilt this offseason, allowed constant pressure throughout the day. Darnold was sacked three times and threw under pressure numerous times.

At the end of the day, however, this loss falls on Gase and Darnold.

All offseason, the Jets talked about Darnold and how he was set to progress in his third year in the NFL. There was hype about his knowledge of the playbook as well as his growing confidence in the pocket and an improved offensive line. The offense seemed poise to take a step forward and be competent.

Instead, the Jets appeared like the offense that struggled for much of last year and was statistically among the worst in the NFL in nearly every category.

Darnold took the brunt of the criticism, saying that the offense’s poor performance is something “I put on my shoulders.” The Jets franchise quarterback didn’t look like one on Sunday against a Bills team that is favored to win the AFC East.

“I think for us, we’re all competitors -losing sucks no matter who it is. Obviously, it’s Week 1,” Darnold said. “There were some details, guys, that we’ve got to figure out and we’re going to figure out. But it’s Week 1 and we’ve just got to figure out what we did wrong and correct those mistakes and not let them happen again.”