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Clueless Todd Bowles costs the Jets again, puts himself squarely on a very hot seat


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https://theathletic.com/558313/2018/09/30/clueless-todd-bowles-costs-the-jets-again-puts-himself-squarely-on-a-very-hot-seat/

 

By Connor Hughes 1h agocomment-icon.png 11 save-icon.png

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The excuses were there. A rhyme and reason for each and every one of Todd Bowles’ blunders during his three-plus years as Jets coach.

That’s warranted. Justified, even. Rome wasn’t built in a day, after all. Time is needed to develop. Time is needed to mature. Time is needed to learn, then grow.

But now, after the Jets’ 31-12 loss to the Jaguars, which dropped their record to 1-3, that time is up.

Bowles’ seat isn’t warm. It’s scorching hot.

And there’s little reason to believe he can cool it off.

There’s certainly blame to go around for the Jets’ embarrassment in the Sunshine State. Little league coaches deploy more creative offensive game plans than what Jeremy Bates constructed with 10 days of preparation. The secondary, which believed itself to be one of the NFL’s best, made Blake Bortles look like Joe Montana. The offensive line, supposedly revamped and rebuilt, could neither run nor pass block.

But it all pales in comparison to Bowles, who after all this time still has absolutely no idea how to manage a game. He’s clueless when it comes to situational football. It’s cost the Jets before. And it cost them again Sunday.

Examples? Here are two:

The Jets faced a 4th-and-8 at the Jacksonville 20-yard line with 12:56 left in the fourth quarter. They trailed 25-3. If they managed to convert, then got it in the end zone, they’d cut the Jaguars’ lead to 15 points. That’s a two-possession game. A field goal, while points, would leave the Jets needing three scoring possessions.

It seemed like an easy decision: Keep the offense on the field.

Bowles sent kicker Jason Myers in.

With 5:43 left in the fourth quarter, the Jets trailed by 13 points. After a Sam Darnold pass to Robby Anderson fell incomplete, the offense looked to the sideline for what to do on 4th-and-6 at their own 20.

The Jets did still have two timeouts. They were deep in their own territory. But they desperately needed a drive. The risk of handing the ball back to the Jaguars seemed far too great. Maybe they’d get better field position with a defensive stop, but it would be at the expense of their timeouts and time. Even if they didn’t convert, a quick stop would force a field goal. A 16-point game is still two possessions.

Bowles punted.

The offense never touched the ball again. The Jaguars drove 55 yards in nine plays, capping the drive with a T.J. Yeldon touchdown with 25 seconds left.

Bowles defended the field goal by saying the Jets just “needed some points” and the punt by putting faith in his defense. It’s fine that he has reasons for what he did. But it doesn’t defend them. He made the wrong calls.

Again.

And therein lies the issue.

The Jets played the Steelers in 2016. On a 4th-and-2 near midfield, Bowles opted to punt. The Steelers drove 71 yards on their next possession to ice the win. In 2017 against the Bills, also trailing by two scores, the Jets faced a 4th-and-8 at their own 44-yard line. Bowles elected to punt back to a Buffalo offense that had marched up and down the field all game. The Bills picked up a first down on the drive, made the Jets use all their timeouts, and ended any real hope of a comeback.

Coaches make mistakes. It happens. Look at James Franklin’s decision to run a draw on 4th-and-5, costing Penn State a chance to upset Ohio State on Saturday night. But Bowles is making the same mistakes he made in 2015 … and 2016 … and 2017.

The Jets want Bowles to be their guy. The players love him. General manager Mike Maccagnan loves him. Both Woody and Christopher Johnson do, too.

But there’s no point in ignoring this any longer.

He’s not getting better.

He’s not improving.

And it doesn’t seem like he ever will.

Declining Darnold

For the second week in a row, Darnold struggled immensely. He completed 17 of 24 passes for 167 yards with a touchdown. While he didn’t toss a pick, three bounced in and out of the hands of defenders. His deep accuracy was an issue, too.

After three weeks of primarily dinking and dunking, the Jets finally tried to take the top off the defense. The guys were there. Darnold just couldn’t hit them. He missed Bilal Powell, Quincy Enunwa and Robby Anderson for would-be touchdowns.

“You’ve just got to execute those players that are there in general,” Darnold said.

Darnold faced a talented Browns defense last Thursday on a short week. The Jaguars own one of the league’s most ferocious units. These were daunting tests for a young quarterback. Things do get a bit easier from here on out.

Next week the Jets face the Broncos. Then it’s the Colts. Both at home. This should help Darnold get going.

The sorry secondary

Bortles is one of the NFL’s most inconsistent passers. Some days he’s good. Some days he’s bad. You never know which guy you’re going to get. Bortles was undoubtedly on against the Jets, completing 29 of 38 passes for 388 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. He had a quarterback rating of 114.8.

But the Jets left his guys open — wide open. Anyone could have completed these passes.

“The underneath coverage, especially in the first half, wasn’t very good at all,” Bowles said.

This is alarming. Very much so. The secondary is supposed to be the strength of the Jets defense. They talked before the year about being one of the best units in the league. They even gave themselves a nickname (New Jack City) and T-shirts.

They’ve got to figure out what’s wrong. And quick.

“Our confidence is still there,” safety Jamal Adams said. “I’m always going to be confident. This group is going to be confident. There’s no hype about our secondary. Our secondary is a good secondary. There’s never going to be hype. I don’t know where you got that from. I believe in this secondary.

“Everyone is going to doubt the Jets. It is what it is. We’ve been doubted since Monday night. We haven’t been predicted to win a game. It is what it is. We’re not worrying about the outside noise.”

Classless Jaguars?

The Jaguars iced the game with that Yeldon touchdown run with 25 seconds left. Then, head coach Doug Marrone made a rather … interesting decision. He kept his offense on the field to go for two points.

Technically, this made sense. The conversion would have made it a 21-point game. The chart says that’s what you’re supposed to do. Still, that’s a bit, well, difficult to swallow.

“Step on their throats,” receiver Quincy Enunwa said. “That’s what I would want us to do. It’s football. Where’s the class in football? At the end of the day, we try to be warriors and have this war mentality, so if that’s how we want to be, we can’t be upset when somebody does that.”

Marrone downplayed the decision after the game. While he’ll never admit it, he very well might have been sticking it to the Jets, and understandably so. Marrone was considered the frontrunner for the Jets head coaching job in 2015. He seemed to opt-out of his contract with the Bills to take the gig. After a few reports surfaced that questioned Marrone’s ability, the Jets went in another direction.

There’s undoubtedly some sour feeling still there, but Marrone is getting the last laugh. His Jaguars are Super Bowl contenders. The Jets still haven’t found their way.

Say what?

Enunwa had a few interesting things to say about the offense after the game. For the second week in a row, the Jets couldn’t get anything going. When asked why things seemed so stagnant, especially in the first half, Enunwa paused for 16 seconds.

“I think we expected one thing and got another,” he then said. “I don’t call the plays. I don’t know.”

Reporters then asked Enunwa what the Jets expected.

“I couldn’t tell you about that part,” he continued. “I know about what I’m supposed to do. I don’t know about play-calling. I do what I’m told.”

Enunwa was arguably the offense’s only bright spot, catching four passes for 66 yards. He had another long grab negated with a hold. While he backtracked his comments and said he wasn’t criticizing Jeremy Bates, it came off that way.

The Jets’ newly minted coordinator, who served as their quarterbacks coach last year, seems to have hit a bit of a wall. There isn’t much creativity with his approach, the Jets seem to run the same plays over and over again, and he gets away from the rush far too quickly. Three times the Jets faced third- or fourth-and-short. All three times they threw the ball. All three times they failed to convert.

Again, Enunwa said he wasn’t criticizing Bates, but things seem headed in that direction.

The most telling stat

Defense? What defense? The Jets allowed 503 yards, their most since the 2011 season.

The Jets lost because …

They never committed to the ground game. Bilal Powell and Isiah Crowell combined for 12 rushes for 26 yards. When you’ve got a rookie quarterback playing a team like the Jaguars, you need to take pressure off him. It’s imperative you get the ground game going. The Jets never even tried, turning to the air on short-yardage situations. Darnold isn’t at a point in his career where he can beat a team like Jacksonville himself.

Report card

Offense: D

Quincy Enunwa and Chris Herndon are the two who save this grade from failing. Darnold struggled mightily, the line couldn’t block on passes or runs, and Bates designed a game plan a high school defense could figure out. It’s no wonder this group managed 12 points.

Defense: F

The Jaguars dominated the Jets through the air and on the ground. Bortles threw for 388 yards. Leonard Fournette left with a hamstring injury, but T.J. Yeldon picked up the slack with 52 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. DeDe Westbrook and Donte Moncrief each went over 100 yards.

Special teams: C

Jason Myers made both his field goals, and Lachlan Edwards averaged 49.3 yards per punt, but Andre Roberts got nothing going in the return game.

Coaching: F

Brutal. All around. This grade needs no justification.

Next up

The Jets (1-3) return home to face Case Keenum, Von Miller and the Denver Broncos (2-1).

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They called the Jaguars "classless". I call them GUTLESS whiny losers. How about stopping someone from scoring instead of laying down then whining about it afterward? I would want my team to put it on anyone they could as much as they could.

I mean my god already with this bunch. #92 was whining especially loud today after his 1 sack since he was drafted.

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3 minutes ago, rillo said:

The next 3 games might get ugly at home. Feel sorry for those who might be in attendance. Bowles is on the verge of losing this locker room if he hasn't already.

If the jets lose to the colts at home without TY Hilton Oy Vey

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Today's game was extremely painful to watch and it WILL get UGLY at the stadium Sunday after the 1st 3 & out and the "Got Jacked City" secondary acquiesces a long TD pass after having already 2 "Blown coverages" on 3rd down conversion by Denver. 

 

A Good Tailgate is IMPERATIVE to extract ANY joy of what could be a Bloody Sunday in October in the Jersey Swamps. 

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17 minutes ago, ASH1962 said:

They called the Jaguars "classless". I call them GUTLESS whiny losers. How about stopping someone from scoring instead of laying down then whining about it afterward? I would want my team to put it on anyone they could as much as they could.

I mean my god already with this bunch. #92 was whining especially loud today after his 1 sack since he was drafted.

Couldn't agree more.  It's not the Jaguars' job to be nice to us.  This is the NFL.  It's our defense's job to keep the opponent out of the end zone.  Enunwa was fair in his assessment.  Leonard Williams cried about it.  This is the same defense that toots it's own horn before it ever accomplishes things.  I wasn't even aware of the "New Jack City" nickname.  I do remember Jamal Adams talking a big game this past offseason though.  Bowles allows our players to do this instead of getting them to let their play on the field do the talking.

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7 minutes ago, Gas2No99 said:

Today's game was extremely painful to watch and it WILL get UGLY at the stadium Sunday after the 1st 3 & out and the "Got Jacked City" secondary acquiesces a long TD pass after having already 2 "Blown coverages" on 3rd down conversion by Denver. 

 

A Good Tailgate is IMPERATIVE to extract ANY joy of what could be a Bloody Sunday in October in the Jersey Swamps. 

Why do you think they tailgate from Friday night on at Buffalo?  If you’re gonna lose at least party your ass off and have debauchery and fun

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Quincy E HAS to make that catch in the first half that’s on him not Darnold, and I’d even say Herndon shares some of the responsibility for the incomplete pass sometimes your receivers have to make a play for you.

Darnold, and Robbie HAVE to spend hours getting their timing down, not sure why this hasn’t happened yet TBH, hopefully it’s not because one of them isn’t interested in the extra work.

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