Over the last several weeks the New York Jets have overhauled their offense to try and find a way to solve their offensive ineptitude.
As the games come and go, and the struggles persist though, the lone finger to point when it comes to accountability falls solely on the coaching staff. Robert Saleh and his overall staff have done a good job in developing defensive players and turning around a locker room that was in disarray when they took the job three years ago.
With all that good though, their struggles and lack of solutions on offense remain their biggest problem – and could be what sinks them after the season.
“There’s a lot of frustration all over the place,” Saleh said Saturday morning following the Jets 34-13 loss to Miami on Friday. “When you try to do more, it usually comes out worse. It’s not about trying to do more right now, it’s about trying to lock into who you are and what your style of play is. Hopefully, that turns into the results that we’re all seeking.”
Saleh’s answer though is a clear issue for Jets fans across the country. Nog because the team is decimated with injuries – that’s a reason why New York fell to 4-7 on Friday.
The major issue with this coaching staff though is that the amount of changes they’ve gone through haven’t even scratched the surface of their biggest issues.
Does Allen Lazard have seven drops and only 20 catches? Saleh made him a healthy scratch. Michael Carter wasn’t an impactful player? He was released. The offense didn’t score a touchdown in 12 straight quarters? Zach Wilson was benched.
The Jets have made several offensive changes over the last month, but one of those changes has yet to be at play-caller. Nathaniel Hackett’s run as offensive coordinator has been a mess of a year since Aaron Rodgers was lost to an Achilles injury.
But the same problems keep showing up. Teams continue to stack boxes along the offensive line and the Jets have little answer for them. The team failed to record over 160 yards of offense in Friday’s loss and was outgained by Miami’s total rushing yards. The change to Tim Boyle made little effect either – the Jets offensive line gave up seven sacks while Boyle got rid of the ball at a quicker pace than Wilson has all year.
If a quarterback change didn’t provide the “spark” the team was looking for, and the benching of several veterans did nothing to alter the outcome of games, where do the Jets go from here?
Therein lies the problem with Saleh and his staff. After Friday’s loss, the Jets head coach could’ve said that the team is looking to at every avenue to try and solve their offensive futility. Instead, Saleh confirmed that the team would “keep digging” but wouldn’t change their offensive system.
“It’s taking advantage of the situations we have when we get them,” Saleh explained. “Do I think play caller will fix that? I don’t know. I don’t have an answer for you on that one.”
Crazy enough, it’s not just the consistent problems on offense that show a lack of accountability from their coaching staff. New York’s defense is among the best in football with All-Pros at every level of the unit. Despite that, the group continues to struggle with missed tackles and personal foul penalties that give opposing offenses extra chances.
Gang Green’s defense leads the league in both roughing the passer penalties and unnecessary roughness penalties – the second straight year they lead the league in both. Saleh continuously says he wants his defense to play with an edge, but as good teams continue to exploit the undisciplined style the defense uses, the worse these deficits become during a game.
It seemed to all come to a head on Friday night late in the game when the Dolphins converted an extra point to go up three scores. New York was called for two unnecessary roughness penalties – one on C.J. Mosley, and another when Michael Clemons inadvertently hit a referee without knowing.
The personal foul call was the second on Mosley on the drive. For Clemons, his contact with an official ended with him being ejected from the game and left the team’s staff wondering if it is okay to play with an edge if there’s no way to be effective on game day.
“You would love for your guys to keep composure in those moments,” Saleh said of the ejection. “Guys put in a lot of work to go out there and win, guys put in a lot of work to have an opportunity to make plays and there is frustration in all three phases, coaching staff included, fans, media, all of you guys. We’re all frustrated, but it’s unfortunate what happened with Micheal.”
A defense that consistently misses tackles and struggles to toe the line between aggressive and undisciplined? An offense that can barely get passed midfield? These problems have persisted all season. Saleh has made several changes to personnel over the last few weeks, but one thing that hasn’t changed is the coaching staff he employs.
New York has an accountability problem. Not with the players or the leadership in the locker room. All of the players on the roster know they can be better.
No, the real accountability problems sit at the feet of the coaching staff. When so many changes are made to the personnel and none are made to the coaching staff, you can bet that the end of the year will be when accountability will strike the hardest for Saleh and his 2023 Jets staff.
Jets 2023 postseason odds
- To make playoffs: +1800
- To miss playoffs: -10000
Odds courtesy of DraftKings. For more, click here.
