Five Takeaways From The Jets Loss To The 49ers
The Jets lost their Week 1 matchup vs. San Francisco 49ers by a score of 32-19 on Monday night. While it wasn’t a must-win, this game still had its concerns if you’re a fan of the green and white.
New York will look to bounce back when they face the Tennessee Titans next but before we head to Week 2, here are five takeaways from the Jets’ defeat:
The Fifth Snap
It’s been a long year for Jets fans after the most unthinkable moment occurred in Week 1 of last season. Rodgers missing all of 2023 with a torn Achilles was all that’s been talked about for the last 12 months.
After all this time we finally got to see Aaron Rodgers play quarterback for longer than four snaps in a Jet uniform. Rodgers completed 13 out of his 21 pass attempts for 167 yards, threw for one touchdown, as well as one interception off a tipped ball.
While he didn’t have a game for the record books, the four-time MVP played football for the first time in 610 days and showed some flashes in his return from an Achilles injury at the age of 40.
Tale Of Two Backs
49ers RB Christian McCaffery was a last-minute inactive as he’s been dealing with an Achilles/calf issue throughout the offseason. Jordan Mason was the lead back for San Francisco and between him and Breece Hall, you can guess who had the better night. Right?
Breece Hall was able to find the endzone, scoring the Jets’ first touchdown of the 2024 season. However, the third-year back was only able to gain 54 out of the team's 68 total yards on the ground and lost a fumble which led to three points for San Francisco.
Mason on the other hand ripped through this Jets defense gaining 147 yards on 28 carries. That’s the most amount of carries that Mason has had in one game since he was in high school. He found the end zone as well in just an overall putrid performance by this Jets defense.
Eight Straight Scoring Drives
Probably the most notable takeaway from this game is that the 49ers were able to score on eight consecutive offensive drives. The Jets’ only stop on defense came on San Francisco’s first drive of the game which was a three-and-out. The 49ers did have one more drive that didn’t end in a score, a QB Kneel to end the game.
Purdy and Co. dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for over 38 minutes to the Jets’ 21+ minutes. New York only ran 49 plays, while the 49ers had 70 offensive snaps.
To say that the Jets’ defense could not get off the field is an understatement. While I didn’t expect them to fully shut down one of the best teams in the league, the outcome that we saw was on the complete other end of the spectrum.
Reddick Gaining Leverage?
Another significant takeaway is connected to a certain story that’s been haunting the Jets all summer. New York’s pass rush was completely non-existent on Monday night.
There are three sacks on the statsheet for the Jets, however Gang Green was not able to sustain any sort of pass rush throughout the game. Jermaine Johnson II and second-year DE Will McDonald IV both finished with PFF grades in the 30s.
Somewhere out there I’m sure Haason Reddick was smiling. The former Eagles defensive end was traded to New York in the offseason but has yet to report as he is holding out for a new contract.
With that being said, I don’t believe having Reddick on the field last night would’ve made much more of a difference. The team is going to need him going forward whenever this situation gets resolved, but in terms of last night, one man wasn’t going to significantly change the outcome of the defense's performance.
What doesn’t sit right with me is that the Jets have a player who’s more than likely rooting for this team to perform poorly, at least on defense, for his potential benefit. Then, when/if he gets what he wants, his coaches, teammates, and fans are expected to welcome him back with open arms.
I’ll leave it at that since the rest of that conversation could be saved for another day. Let’s move on to my final takeaway.
R-E-L-A-X?
This was a frustrating loss, no doubt about it. Even though the Jets did not have to win this one, at the very least they should’ve been able to compete. Not only did they fail to do that but the defense, which has been the most consistent aspect of this team over the last two seasons, was largely to blame.
Aaron Rodgers and the offense weren’t perfect but he was able to lead the Jets to two touchdown drives, with the third one belonging to Tyrod Taylor in garbage time. If you want to look for a silver lining, although it's not saying much, the offense played better than the defense for the first time in I don't know how long.
That being said, the Jets have work to do if they want to establish themselves as contenders. There's confidence that this team can return to their defensive form and with a healthy Rodgers, the offense should be much improved than what we are used to seeing. It's only Week 1, it's only one game, and the 49ers are a great team, but the way the Jets lost this game only makes the next few weeks that much more important.
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