The Jets have already established themselves as a team whose defense can keep them in games, but they were stretched to breaking point during an error-strewn first quarter which saw them again fall behind by double digits. The Jets gave up a long punt return for a touchdown, fumbled the ball away twice in Chargers’ territory, committed costly penalties and missed a series of tackles as Los Angeles led 14-0 after one.
New York steadied the ship somewhat in the second quarter and, by halftime, had only been outgained by 108 yards to 104. However, a long Cameron Dicker field goal as time expired gave Los Angeles a 17-3 lead at the break and they still led 17-6 heading into the fourth quarter.
Keenan Allen’s spectacular twisting catch set up another Dicker field goal to extend the lead to 20-6 with 9:18 to go and any hope of a Jets comeback evaporated when Zach Wilson’s fumble was returned down to the two-yard line to set up Austin Ekeler’s second touchdown.
The Jets dropped to 4-4 on the season with perhaps the lone silver lining being the fact that the rest of the AFC lost too on Sunday.
Here are the takeaways...
- After both teams went three-and-out to open the game, the Chargers opened the scoring on an 87-yard punt return by rookie Derius Davis. Last week’s hero Thomas Morstead outkicked his coverage and Irvin Charles missed a tackle in the middle of the field to allow Davis to break free. This is the first time the Jets have really been affected by special teams captain Justin Hardee being on injured reserve.
- There was a notable moment in the first quarter, when Joey Bosa of the Chargers was called for a roughing the passer penalty, snapping the Jets’ league-leading 27-game streak without one being called in their favor. However, rather than capitalize on this, the Jets instead turned the ball over immediately when Garrett Wilson fumbled.
- Zach Wilson also fumbled twice in the first half, including one on a play where Bosa knocked the ball out of his hands in the pocket for another crucial turnover. He then lost a third fumble in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. Wilson entered the Chiefs game with just one fumble since his rookie season, but has struggled to protect the ball since then with seven fumbles in five games.
- Allen Lazard, who had been limited during the week in practice, had another rough start to the game with a drop and two penalties in the first half. He had another penalty in the second half and ended up with just two catches for 18 yards.
- The pattern through the first seven games was that when Breece Hall was at his most productive, the Jets were winning games. He had averaged 132 yards from scrimmage in their four wins, but only 35 in their three losses. In this game, he had 44 yards from scrimmage in the first half, albeit on 12 touches. The Jets kept feeding him in the second half but he ended up with just 60 yards on 20 touches.
- This was one of those games where bounces simply weren’t going the Jets’ way. The Chargers fumbled three times but recovered all three and there were a few plays where the Jets tipped a pass but it fell harmlessly incomplete.
- Wilson actually set a career-high in pass completions and, to look at his statline, it might seem like he played reasonably well and perhaps even outplayed Justin Herbert. However, despite a few nice throws here and there, he took too many sacks and missed too many open receivers with inaccurate throws, in addition to the fumbles. This can’t all be blamed on the patched-together offensive line, despite the fact the Chargers sacked Wilson eight times.
- After all their well-publicized struggles in the red zone, the Jets only got into the red zone once this week, as they rarely looked like a threat to score. On that possession, they went backwards and ended up having to settle for a long field goal.