Jets fall to Saints as coaching shakeup makes no difference in lost season
· New York PostNEW ORLEANS — Well, at least the Jets weren’t embarrassed in a non-competitive blowout on Sunday.
Not really, anyway.
Take flight with the Jets
Text with Brian Costello all season as he brings Sports+ subscribers the latest Jets intel from on the field and off.
Small victories. Baby steps in whatever program Aaron Glenn is trying to build.
The Jets season to nowhere took yet another downturn in the form of a desultory 29-6 loss to the Saints at the Superdome.
Considering the Jets had been outscored 82-30 in their previous two games, this had to be considered progress.
Kind of.
Nevertheless, the loss dropped the offensively challenged, quarterback-less Jets to 3-12 with two games remaining.
Newly appointed interim defensive coordinator Chris Harris, who took over for Steve Wilks (fired on Monday), didn’t make a difference.
Nor did the wide-eyed enthusiasm of 24-year-old Brady Cook, the undrafted rookie free agent quarterback who was making his second career start.
Cook didn’t embarrass himself. He just wasn’t very good. After entering the game having thrown five interceptions in his 63 career passes, he protected the ball … until the fourth quarter when he lost a fumble and threw an interception.
The problem with Cook, who finished 22-of-35 for 188 yards, was more that he just didn’t move the offense very well. The Jets looked like they were running in place all day.
The Saints, who started the season 2-10, won their third consecutive game, riding their 26-year-old rookie quarterback Tyler Shough, who completed 32 of 49 passes for 308 yards and one TD.
A close game deteriorated quickly on the Jets late in the third quarter and into the fourth.
The Saints delivered a dagger with a soul-crushing, 93-yard scoring drive on 12 plays that ended in a 23-yard scoring pass from Shough to Chris Olave.
The first touchdown of the game by either team gave New Orleans a 16-6 lead with 41 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
Sure, there was an entire quarter to play and the deficit somewhat manageable. But with the way the Jets offense was playing the 10-point lead felt like 30.
Consider that the Jets entered the final quarter having produced a total of 126 yards of offense — 52 on the ground and 74 in the air.
The game was effectively ended by the New Orleans defense on the ensueing Jets possession when backup defensive tackle Nathan Shepherd forced a Cook fumble that was recovered by Chase Young with 12:45 remaining. Shepherd is a former Jet, of course, insult to injury and all.
The Saints took that freebie possession and, five plays later, turned it into a 19-6 lead on a 50-yard Charlie Smyth field goal with 11:09 remaining — his fourth field goal of the game.
On the Jets next possession, New Orleans put the Jets to sleep when safety Jonas Sanker picked off a Cook pass intended for John Metchie III with 9:08 remaining.
- CHECK OUT THE LATEST NFL STANDINGS AND JETS STATS
Sanker returned it 33 yards and it took the Saints 10 plays to make it 22-6 on Smyth’s fifth field goal of the game with 5:17 remaining.
The game actually began well for the Jets defense, which forced a rare turnover when rookie safety Malachi Moore forced a Taysom Hill fumble on the second Saints play from scrimmage, recovered by cornerback Qwan’tez Stiggers just 21 seconds into the game.
It was only the third takeaway forced by the Jets defense all season.
And it led to a 29-yard field goal by Nick Folk for a 3-0 lead.
The Saints answered on their next possession, tying the game at 3-3 on a 35-yard Smyth field goal, the first of three he made in the first half.
New Orleans took a 6-3 lead on a 49-yard Smyth field goal just 42 seconds into the second quarter.
The Jets tied it at 6-6 on the next series when Folk connected on a 36-yard field goal. That series looked promising thanks to a 25-yard Cook pass to Isaiah Davis to get them into the red zone. But the offense stalled from there.