The New York Jets’ offense was highly effective in their dominant 23-10 Week 1 win over the Tennessee Titans.
While they controlled much of the game, the team struggled to finish a handful of drives. During Sunday’s win, the Jets were successful on just two of their 12 third-down attempts (16.7%), which was tied for 29th in the NFL.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich acknowledged the team’s shortcomings in those areas.
“We know we left a lot out on the field. We left some points on the scoreboard and had some things to clean up, and we just have to have this obsession to continue to get better and get ready for the next opponent,” said Reich. “Got to clean up those mistakes; can’t leave those points on the board against a team like the one we’re about to play this week.”
Despite struggling on third down, the Jets still held possession for nearly 39 minutes, ran 63 plays, outgained their opponent 367-195, and won by 13. However, their third-down woes help explain why the team had just two offensive touchdowns with that high-level output.
As Reich mentioned, once the Jets start playing more polished teams, that won’t fly. It was just Week 1, so it’s important not to overreact, but the Jets’ third-down results will be integral to their season. If the team is consistently forced to go for it on fourth down or can’t finish drives, they will be unable to hang with competitive teams.
Gang Green survived those mistakes against Tennessee, but they can’t count on succeeding again despite those third-down numbers.
