The results are what they are for the New York Jets’ offense. New York hasn’t scored a first-half touchdown since Week 1.
New York’s offensive struggles came to a head in Sunday’s loss to the Carolina Panthers. During the 13-6 loss, the Jets benched starting quarterback Justin Fields for Tyrod Taylor at halftime, but still failed to score a touchdown for the second straight week.
It’s time to wonder whether the results are a reflection of offensive play-caller Tanner Engstrand.
Jets’ offensive issues
Any time an offensive unit fails to score a single touchdown in the modern NFL, the offensive play-caller must share some of the blame. For Engstrand, though, his struggles in New York may be more about the talent and execution than the plays being called.
Speaking to Jets X-Factor before Sunday’s game, wide receiver Josh Reynolds emphasized that much of the unit’s struggles were solely on the players.
Whatever the case may be, the Jets’ offense is unwatchable right now. For the fourth time this season, the Jets recorded under 170 passing yards and under 270 total yards.
Through seven games, New York ranks 27th in points per game (18.4), and that’s with a good chunk of their points coming in the fourth quarter while down multiple touchdowns. The Jets also rank 31st on third down (33% conversion rate).
As good as the Jets’ running game has been, teams around the league know how limited the Jets are. They’ve begun to adjust.
It’s left head coach Aaron Glenn searching for answers.
Glenn reviews offensive struggles
New York’s head coach acknowledged during the postgame press conference that defenses are beginning to change how they defend the Jets’ offense. Glenn made it clear the unit was seeing eight to nine players in the box to defend the run.
For most NFL offenses, a nine-man box would lead to wins on the outside.
But for the Jets, that hasn’t been the case. Receivers have gotten open, but quarterbacks have failed to deliver completions for a number of different reasons. It’s why Glenn is mulling a quarterback change going into next week.
As Glenn reviews the issues that led to another loss, the first-year coach seems ready to take more ownership of the offense’s struggles.
“You have to look at the situation in the games and I know a lot of people will go into that because they want to point fingers somewhere,” Glenn said. “But that’s not what we’re going to do at all. It goes both ways, and it goes I’ll say three ways: Me, Tanner, and our players. We all have to figure out what we have to do to make some plays.”
New York understood going into the season that they had a flawed offensive roster. They didn’t have set answers at wide receiver outside of Garrett Wilson, and there were major questions regarding the quarterback position.
Engstrand has been forced to devise schemes that fit the limited talent on the roster.
The latest losses are a highlight of those limits. While changes aren’t set to kick in at the play-calling level, it’s clear the offense as a whole has gone backwards.
