There was a play in the New England loss that epitomized the struggles up front. On a jailbreak pass rush, left guard Kelechi Osemele and Kalil got spun around like tops, resulting in a collapsed pocket. When Falk tried to spin away from an eventual sack, it almost resembled a choreographed routine, with three players doing 360s in succession -- a terrible look.
You knew there would be some early season hiccups because the starting five never played together in the preseason, but what we've seen is far worse. The numbers are bad -- 29th in sacks allowed, 26th in pressure percentage -- but the how is more disturbing than the what.
Four of the 13 sacks allowed were recorded by an unblocked rusher -- two on safety blitzes, two on line stunts. A free rusher conveys the same message as a wide-open receiver: Someone screwed up. Again, it's a bad look. More often than not, it's a blown assignment or an ill-conceived call. For the offensive line, which is struggling with stunts, it shows a lack of communication.
The starting five has 35 years of combined NFL experience, so we're not talking about a bunch of newbies. They should be able to recognize fronts and communicate adjustments, and yet there have been consistent breakdowns in the passing and running games. The Jets have 22 negative plays (sacks and runs for loss), more than half their number of first downs (36) -- an atrocious ratio.
Gase said "our techniques and fundamentals just were not there" against the Patriots. Let's be real: It's a poorly coached unit right now. Either the players aren't buying in or the methods aren't being taught properly. Gase and line coach Frank Pollack are working together for the first time, so you wonder if they're having trouble melding their systems.
"It's on me as the coach, number one, to get us on the same page and play better," Pollack said.
The line, running backs and secondary are the only units that haven't been affected by injuries. There are no excuses. So, yes, this is more than a quarterback issue. Darnold, on the verge of taking over the hot mess known as the Jets' offense, is aware of that.
"Obviously, we just need to fix some details at other spots as well. We're not blind to that," he said. "So it's just about going out there and going out at practice and in the meeting rooms and walk-throughs, being able to fix all that stuff and not being shy about it, either, not worry about hurting anyone's feelings. It's about getting this stuff right and we're going to get it right. It's just a matter of time."
