Pre-snap penalties, a last-minute missed field goal miserable weather, and a subpar performance from their superhero were all factors in the New York Jets' disappointing 10-9 home loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 4.
In the end, despite its struggles against the run, the Jets' defense did enough to win on Sunday, but the dis-jointed offense couldn't capitalize. After turning back the clock in a wire-to-wire win over the New England Patriots, future Hall-of-Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers fizzled on the rain at MetLife Stadium.
"That’s a really good [Denver] defense, but when your defense holds them to 10, you’ve got to win that game 100 percent of the time. That’s on the offense. That’s on me. Not good enough," said Rodgers after the loss.
The 40-year-old Rodgers misfired on a number of his 18 incompletions and could not manage to get the Jets in the end zone all day. He averaged a paltry 5.4 yards per pass attempt while uncharacteristically skipping balls short of the intended receivers. His 72.0 quarterback rating was his lowest in four games this season by more than 10.0 points.
"I think we were kind of killing ourselves. I can’t say I had a spectacular game. I missed some throws. The weather sucked, but so did some of my throws," said Rodgers.
With a fresh set of downs and 2:00 remaining, Rodgers threw three consecutive incompletions and then took a sack on fourth down with pass protection unable to handle the blitz.
"We had some chances, but way too many mental mistakes, too many poor throws, and then we just missed some easy stuff, some protection stuff that should have been easy, some route adjustment stuff that should have been easy. Our focus just wasn’t as sharp as it has been the first three weeks," said Rodgers.
The Jets were charged with five false start penalties in the one-point defeat, including an infraction by left guard John Simpson on a 4th-and-goal situation from the 1-yard line.
It doesn't get any easier for the Jets (2-2), who will travel to London for a Week 5 battle against the undefeated Minnesota Vikings (4-0) and former franchise quarterback Sam Darnold.
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