From the opening drive on, the New York Jets’ defense had no answers, getting sliced apart possession after possession in an ugly 48-20 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Winning the coin toss and electing to receive, Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars took the field first and set the tone immediately. After a seven-yard completion, Jacksonville moved the chains on an eight-yard burst by Travis Etienne, who slipped past a missed tackle by Tony Adams at the line of scrimmage. Lawrence stayed in rhythm from there, carving up the Jets’ secondary as the drive chewed up 4:42 and ended with a touchdown pass to Brian Thomas Jr., who totaled 20 receiving yards on the opening possession alone.
The Jets’ opening snap set an ominous tone, with Breece Hall dropped for a three-yard loss. Hall quickly helped erase the damage with a nine-yard reception, and a three-yard completion from Brady Cook to Jeremy Ruckert brought up fourth-and-one deep in New York territory. Head coach Aaron Glenn kept the offense on the field, but the gamble backfired, as Hall was tripped up six yards behind the line of scrimmage, handing Jacksonville the ball with a short field.
After a pair of Jacksonville first downs, the Jets appeared to have the Jaguars in trouble on third-and-13 in the red zone. Trevor Lawrence was under heavy pressure with nowhere to go, as multiple Jets broke into the backfield. Still, the quarterback escaped, cut upfield and raced 15 yards for a touchdown run, pushing Jacksonville ahead 14-0 with 6:24 remaining in the first quarter.
Cook opened his first NFL start with poise and rhythm. He completed all five of his first passing attempts for 43 yards, highlighted by a perfectly placed 25-yard strike to Isaiah Williams that carried the Jets across midfield for the first time with just over four minutes left in the first quarter. New York then found a groove on the ground behind Breece Hall and Isaiah Davis, and Cook capped the march by throwing the first touchdown pass of his NFL career, a nine-yard score to Adonai Mitchell, cutting New York’s deficit to seven with 1:51 left in the opening frame.
Coming off a strong offensive response, New York’s defense needed a stop to give the offense another chance with momentum on its side. It never came. Jacksonville finished off a 55-yard drive with a 16-yard touchdown pass to rookie running back Bhayshul Tuten on a wheel route, keeping the Jaguars firmly in control.
On the Jets’ first possession of the second quarter, Cook used his legs to spark the drive, breaking loose for a 10-yard run before a jet sweep to John Metchie III picked up five more. A four-yard rush by Breece Hall set up third-and-one, and Cook kept it himself on a quarterback sneak to move the chains. However, the momentum stalled after a few minimal gains, forcing New York to punt on fourth-and-nine from Jacksonville territory. Punter Austin McNamara flipped the field, pinning the Jaguars at their own nine-yard line.
Jowon Briggs set the tone defensively by dropping Travis Etienne for a loss on first down, pushing Jacksonville into second-and-12. An incompletion by Trevor Lawrence led to third-and-long, and an intentional grounding penalty backed the Jaguars up even further, forcing fourth-and-12. Pinned in his own end zone, Logan Cooke punted the ball away.
Isaiah Williams appeared to flip the game with a punt return touchdown, but a questionable block-out-of-bounds penalty on Tre Brown wiped the score off the board. It would have been Williams’ third return touchdown of the season.
Despite a promising march down the field, the drive stalled in the red zone, and New York was forced to settle for a field goal, trimming the deficit to 11 with 5:03 remaining in the second quarter.
The Jaguars were handed prime field position after Austin McNamara sailed the kickoff out of bounds, setting Jacksonville up at its own 40-yard line. The Jets had a chance to record their first stop on third-and-10 and again generated pressure with multiple bodies in the backfield. Still, Trevor Lawrence escaped and fired a pass on the run to a wide-open Parker Washington for 33 yards, moving the ball to the Jets’ 15-yard line as the clock hit the two-minute warning.
After a personal foul pushed Jacksonville backward, Lawrence checked down to Travis Etienne on third-and-17, setting up Cam Little for a 33-yard field goal. The kick extended the Jaguars’ lead to 24-10 with 1:33 remaining in the first half.
Just two plays into the ensuing possession, Brady Cook threw a costly interception, handing the Jaguars a short field with under a minute to play and all three timeouts remaining. It was a crushing mistake on what had been a prime opportunity for Gang Green to close the half with momentum.
Jacksonville capitalized, draining valuable time off the clock before finishing the drive with a 20-yard receiving touchdown by Travis Etienne. The score pushed the Jaguars out to a 31-10 lead with 21 seconds remaining in the half.
In the first half, Jacksonville scored on five of their six possessions, while outgaining New York, 270-125.
To open the second half, the Jets tacked on three points as Nick Folk converted on a 51-yard field goal.
A new half brought the same defensive issues for the Jets, as Lawrence and the Jaguars continued to move the ball with ease. Jacksonville marched 72 yards on its opening possession of the second half, capped by Lawrence’s fifth total touchdown.
Trailing by 25 in the third quarter, the Jets were forced into desperation mode, going for it on fourth-and-three in their own territory. Cook’s pass intended for Metchie fell incomplete, handing Jacksonville another short field. The Jaguars’ drive stalled inside the red zone, but Little knocked through a field goal to extend the lead to 41-13 with 1:42 remaining in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Jets did what they’ve become all too familiar with, tacking on points in garbage time to make the final score look far more respectable than the game actually was. Davis found a crease and burst through it for a 24-yard touchdown with 14:08 remaining, though Gang Green still trailed, 41-20.
Jacksonville responded immediately on the ensuing drive, taking advantage of a slew of missed tackles by New York. Etienne slipped through multiple defenders on a screen pass and raced 45 yards for his third touchdown of the day, which pushed the Jaguars’ lead to 48.
Despite forcing a takeaway when Brandon Stephens jarred the ball loose and Malachi Moore recovered, the Jets still failed to capitalize. New York moved inside the 10-yard line, but Cook lofted an embarrassing interception, his second of the game, handing the ball back to Nick Mullens and the Jaguars for another garbage-time possession.
To put the defensive disaster into perspective, the Jets had not allowed five passing touchdowns in a game since Week 1 of the 2020 season against the Kansas City Chiefs. It was also the most points New York has surrendered since 2021, when they gave up 54 to the Patriots.
After Sunday’s laughable performance on the road against Jacksonville, the Jets will try to regroup next week as they head to New Orleans to face the 3-10 Saints.
