Bad night for Jeff Ulbrich the defensive coordinator
Grading the Jets’ 23-20 loss to the Bills at MetLife Stadium on Monday.
Offense
The Jets rolled up 393 total yards in Todd Downing’s debut as the play-caller but they went 1-for-4 in the red zone and could not get into the end zone enough to win the game.
QB Aaron Rodgers (23 of 35, 294 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT, 99.0 rating) played better than he has in recent weeks but could not lead the team to a fourth-quarter win, something he was brought here to do.
RB Breece Hall (18 rushes, 113 yards, 5 catches, 56 yards) had his best game of the season and looked like himself. The offensive line opened some holes in the running game but Rodgers was still sacked three times.
Grade: B-
Defense
Jeff Ulbrich the head coach needs to talk to Jeff Ulbrich the defensive coordinator.
The Bills ran all over the Jets to start the game and the Jets continually gave up big plays in key moments to Josh Allen (19 of 25, 215 yards, 2 TDs, 127.9 rating, 9 rushes, 18 yards, 1 TD).
The Bills ran for 149 yards and averaged 6 yards per play.
It was a bad night for the Jets defense, which also failed to force any turnovers.
Grade: D
Special Teams
Kicker Greg Zuerlein has been great for the Jets in the last few years but he looks off right now.
Zuerlein missed two field goals in the second half and you can argue that cost the Jets the win.
The Jets did some good things in the return game with Isaiah Davis tallying a 33-yard kickoff return. It was a light night for punter Thomas Morstead, who only punted twice.
Grade: D
Coaching
This was not the result Ulbrich was hoping for in his debut as interim coach, but there were some good things. Downing was an upgrade from Nathaniel Hackett and there were signs of life from the offense.
The bigger issue was the defense, Ulbrich’s baby, and special teams, where Zuerlein missed two kicks.
The Jets had 11 penalties, something that was a problem under Robert Saleh and showed no improvement in the first game post-Saleh. Some of the calls looked questionable, but the Jets have to clean things up.
Grade: C-
