The dark clouds hanging over MetLife Stadium didn't have all to do with the weather in East Rutherford, N.J., on Sunday.
Following a 10-9 defeat against the visiting Broncos, Aaron Rodgers took some of the blame for a poor offensive performance that amounted to zero touchdowns and 248 yards of total offense, early season low points for a talented unit that entered 2024 with high expectations.
“I can’t say I had a spectacular game,” Rodgers told reporters after the loss. “I missed some throws. The weather sucked, but so did some of my throws. 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've been easy, some route-adjustment stuff that should've been easy. Our focus wasn't as sharp as it's been in the first three weeks."
More often than not, New York's mental mistakes came pre-snap. The offensive line was flagged early and often with false starts, a good majority of the team's 13 total penalties (90 yards) in the game. One of the more crucial of those instances was on a fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line in the second quarter, which then forced the Jets to settle for a field goal in a game decided by one point.
"We got to figure it out," head coach Robert Saleh said of their pre-snap issues. "Whether or not we're good enough or ready to handle all the cadence. Cadence had not been an issue all camp. Felt like our operation had been operating pretty good. Obviously, today took a major step back."
Rodgers said the pre-snap penalties were "way out of character" for his offense and hopes he can chalk it up to being an anomaly. Sunday was the first outing this season without starting right tackle Morgan Moses, who suffered a knee injury in Week 3's dominant win over the New England Patriots, and rookie Olumuyiwa Fashanu started in the veteran's place.
"That's one way to do it," Rodgers said when asked of Saleh's cadence comment. "The other way is hold them accountable. I mean, we haven't had an issue; Morgan (Moses) had one false start, I believe, before this. It's been a weapon; we use it every day of practice. We rarely have a false start and to have, I don't know, five today, it seemed like – four or five. It seems like an outlier. I don't know if we need to make mass changes based on kind of an outlier game."
The Jets' offensive line also allowed five sacks of Rodgers, one of which ruining another red-zone opportunity that ended in a another chip-shot FG and another forcing a turnover on downs in the fourth quarter. Neither were they clearing opportune lanes for running backs Breece Hall and Braelon Allen, who combined for just 38 yards on 18 attempts.
The lack of an efficient rushing attack made it all that more harder for Rodgers and Co. during what was a rain-soaked affair. Still, the Jets had an opportunity to erase an ugly day following a missed FG by the Broncos late in the fourth quarter.
With 1:27 left to play and the ball on their own 40-yard line, the Jets had ample time to set up Greg Zuerlein for a potential game-winner. A pass interference call on Denver aided their effort, but the Jets were only able to gain 13 yards on five plays. Zuerlein's 50-yard attempt sailed wide right.
"The weather dictated some of that, for sure," Rodgers said of the team's struggling strategy. "I wish I would've made a different check on the last play there that we had. Yeah, this one was definitely frustrating."
Rodgers finished 24-of-42 passing for 225 yards with no touchdowns. Coming off a dominant prime-time win two Thursdays ago, the Jets' poor offensive outing made Sunday all that more maddening, especially when the defense did its job.
"When your defense holds them to 10, you got to win the game 100 percent of the time," Rodgers said. "That's on the offense, that's on me. Yeah, not good enough."
The Jets (2-2) head to London to face the undefeated Minnesota Vikings in Week 5.