For months, New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn had defended the play of Justin Fields believing his current staff would be able to fix the former first-round signal-caller.
It took until Week 7 for Glenn to make a change.
New York benched Fields to open the second half, but the change did little to alter the outcome of Sunday’s 13-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers at MetLife Stadium.
Glenn’s coaching decisions were put under a microscope on the very first drive of the game. The Jets opted to go for it on the opening drive, facing a fourth-and-five inside Panther territory instead of attempting a 51-yard field goal.
Justin Fields’ incomplete pass meant the Jets came up empty. Ryan Fitzgerald’s ensuing 30-yard field goal gave Carolina a 3-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
From there, the two teams engaged in an old-fashioned defensive battle in which every yard was precious. Carolina learned that lesson the hard way when they failed to pick up a fourth-and-one near midfield.
The turnover on downs gave the Jets offense enough room to tie the game on a Nick Folk field goal.
Carolina would respond before the end of the first half with their first touchdown drive on the game. Xavier Legette, aided previously by a 30-yard screen from Chubba Hubbard, scored on a three-yard reception.
The Panthers took a 10-3 lead going into the half.
After the Panthers tacked on an additional field goal to open the second half, Glenn made the decision to put the veteran Taylor in over Fields. Despite Taylor picking up a first down on his second throw of the day, though, the Jets offense failed to score.
From there, much of the same continued to happen for the Jets. While the offense attempted plenty of downfield shots, Taylor threw an interception in the end zone to Jaycee Horn. New York managed to score on another Folk field goal on the following possession.
Down by just seven with under five minutes to go, Taylor threw his second interception of the game, again to Horn. Carolina iced the game on the following drive with a deep shot by backup quarterback Andy Dalton.
New York’s loss dropped them to 0-7 with a road contest next week against the Cincinnati Bengals. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.
Game Notes
- Sunday was the first game that Garrett Wilson missed in his NFL career. The former first-round pick has posted 1,000-yard seasons in each of his first three seasons, but suffered a knee injury in last week’s loss to Denver.
- Fields completed just 6-of-12 passes for 46 yards while taking three sacks for -21 yards. New York had gone six straight quarters without a touchdown with him at the helm. He also had under 100 passing yards for the third time this season.
- Young, meanwhile, left in the third quarter with an ankle injury. Andy Dalton replaced him.