The time remaining on the clock was 2:23 seconds. The Jets had started the most pivotal offensive drive they’ve had all season as the score was 13-11 Broncos. If the Jets could get around 20 yards, they could attempt a game-winning field goal for their first win of the season. After two Breece Hall carries, they got one first down. After that, though, the same horror story that has haunted the Jets for multiple games now this season was told once again. In the next set of downs, Justin Fields took two detrimental sacks that led to a turnover on downs and another disaster loss on the column for the Jets.
Credit to the Jets, they put themselves in a position to win this game. They did a few of the things I said they needed to do in order to give themselves a good chance to win. They kept it close in the first half as they were only down 4 points by the end of it. The defense played their best game of the season, holding the Bo Nix-led Broncos to their lowest point total of the season (13). They also forced their first turnover of the year early in the first quarter. The special teams were phenomenal, as well as punter Austin McNamara, kicker Nick Folk, and returners Kene Nwangwu and Isaiah Williams (yes, that Isaiah Williams) all had good games. The issues were almost exclusively on offense.
The Ball Must Be Thrown to Gain Passing Yards
The Jets had an all-time passing game performance this week, but not in the way Jets fans would hope. The Jets finished with -10 net passing yards, directly resulting in this disaster of a loss. Not to mention the Jets didn’t score a single touchdown. How does a team finish with -10 passing yards? The answer, as you would expect, lies with the quarterback play. Justin Fields had an average time to throw of a full 3 seconds in this game per PFF. A football team cannot gain passing yards if the ball is never thrown. Along with not gaining yards, the Jets often went backwards as Fields took 9 sacks in this game. The Jets should look to add screens and RPOs to their arsenal. It would allow for quick plays and ways to take advantage of guys like Fields, Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, and even Arian Smith’s skill sets.
That Abomination that Ended the First Half
The Jets had the ball with 3:22 seconds left in the second quarter. They were able to hold the ball until the 2-minute warning, a time of the game where teams often shift their play-calling in order to put points on the board. The Jets did no such thing. With under 2 minutes left, the Jets ran the ball 4 times, including a fake punt on 4th and 1. This wasted a lot of clock and didn’t show much urgency to score. The final play of the quarter was a 6-yard catch by Josh Reynolds. After this catch, the Jets just let the clock run out on 4th down instead of trying to either convert or punt it. This was very bad clock management by Head Coach Aaron Glenn and Offensive Coordinator Tanner Engstrand. The drive was so bad in fact, that commentator and NFL legend Kurt Warner posted on X about his confusion while calling the game.
Somebody please explain that last Jets drive??? Not really sure what I just watched!
— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) October 12, 2025
If a former Super Bowl champion cannot comprehend what’s going on in a game, that’s a red flag.
The Positives
Despite another ugly loss for the Jets, there were once again some positives. I already mentioned all of the names on special teams, so here are some guys who played great on defense. The return of Jermaine Johnson could not have been more important for this unit. They didn’t light up the stat sheet with pressures (only 11), but the defense just played with so much more intensity. Johnson also registered the Jets lone sack, a statistic they hadn’t posted at all in the last two games. Another guy that offered a lot of intensity was Jarvis Brownlee Jr. He got the majority of snaps at nickel cornerback in place of Michael Carter II (concussion) and made the most of it. He forced the Jets first turnover of the season, forcing a fumble on Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin in the first quarter. He was the Jets highest graded player in this game on PFF with a staggering 90.4.
Jarvis Brownlee is bringing more energy to the Jets defense in 2 drives than we’ve seen most of the entire season
— Connor Rogers (@ConnorJRogers) October 12, 2025
Finally, the ultimate positive of this game was the lack of penalties on the Jets. Those were way down this week, with only 2 being called on the Jets in this game. A massive improvement from the first 5 games. Hopefully, that becomes a trend.
Following this disaster loss, the Jets now look forward to their Week 7 game against the Carolina Panthers, who are winners of two straight.
Main Photo: [Kirby Lee] – Imagn Images
