There’s no other way to put it: The Jets are in a sad state of affairs.
asserted
Jets → ’ → affairs
After their latest humiliation — a 38-33 loss to the Raiders on Sunday at MetLife Stadium — we’ve reached a point in the Jets season where it’s fair to wonder where their next win will come from.
Or whether they’ll win another game this season at all.
asserted
they → ’ → where
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.
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he → take → field
tRY IT NOWThe Jets lost a game they absolutely, positively had to win Sunday.
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they → try → game
But you’ve probably heard that refrain before.
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you → hear → refrain
Like last week when they played the previously winless Dolphins at home and lost 28-25.
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they → play → home
The Jets found a way to lose a game in which they scored on each of their first six offensive possessions.
asserted
they → find → possessions
They lost despite running back Braelon Allen rushing for 147 yards on 21 carries.
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Allen → lose → carries
They lost despite quarterback Geno Smith throwing for 290 yards and two TDs to a 119.2 rating.
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Smith → lose → rating
They lost despite receiver Adonai Mitchell catching seven passes for 142 yards and a TD.
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Mitchell → lose → yards
They lost despite receiver Garrett Wilson (six targets in the previous two games) getting 10 targets in the game.
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Wilson → lose → game
Perhaps the saddest, most pathetic moment of the day for the Jets came when the chants of “defense, defense, defense’’ from the Raiders fans who infiltrated MetLife became so loud after Las Vegas took a 35-30 lead in the fourth quarter you wondered if Smith would have to go to a silent count in his own home stadium.
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Smith → come → stadium
Sure, the Jets have a few games on their remaining schedule against teams with losing records that would appear “winnable.’’
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that → have → records
Among their final nine games, they have the Chargers (0-6 entering Sunday), the Dolphins again and Cardinals.
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they → have → Chargers
Worse yet, the Jets, who dropped to 2-6, play their next two games against the Chiefs (5-1 entering this week) in Kansas City and the Bills (5-1).
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who → drop → City
That sure looks like 2-8 staring them in the face.
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That → look → face
That’s a terrible look for Glenn, who was brought here to change the culture and the results.
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who → ’ → culture
Yet he’s now 5-20 … and counting.
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he → ’ → ?
In consecutive weeks, at home, the Jets have now lost to a team that was winless in five games (Miami) and a team that brought a four-game losing streak into the game (Las Vegas).
asserted
that → lose → game
They, too, lost consecutive games to teams with rookie head coaches.
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They → lose → coaches
And we haven’t even talked about Ashton Jeanty, the Raiders running back who, before the game, called out the Jets defense as a bunch of loafers who have no interest in tackling, saying, “A couple guys out there [on the Jets defense] that don’t really want to tackle … but I’m not going to say names.
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I → talk → names
This chirping came from a running back who entered the game averaging 3.1 yards per carry this season and who’s been underwhelming commensurate with his No. 6 overall draft spot in 2025.
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who → come → 2025
The Raiders entered the game ranked 31st in the NFL in rushing offense.
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Raiders → enter → offense
Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak, though, devised the perfect plan and opted not to start Jeanty.
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Kubiak → devise → Jeanty
Though that was likely a slap on the wrist for Jeanty throwing bulletin-board chum into the fray, it also didn’t allow the Jets to tee off on him and generate revenge momentum.
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Jets → throw → momentum
The Jets led 23-14 at the half, scoring on all five of their offensive possessions.
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Jets → lead → possessions
The bad news is their red zone woes continued as they managed only two TDs on those five trips inside the Las Vegas 20-yard line, settling for three field goals.
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they → continue → goals
The Jets ran 41 plays to the Raiders’ 19 and outgained them 276-97 in the first half.
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Jets → run → half
The Jets had 17 first downs to the Raiders’ five in the half.
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Jets → have → half
But the Raiders took the opening possession of the second half and sliced through the porous Jets defense, cutting the lead to 23-21 on a 2-yard Cousins scoring pass to Bowers.
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Raiders → take → Bowers
The Jets made it 30-21 on a 21-yard Allen score on their first offensive possession of the second half.
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it → make → half
That made for scores on the Jets’ first six possessions — the first time they did that since 2008 against the Rams when Brett Favre was their quarterback.
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Favre → make → Rams
The Raiders cut the lead to 30-28 on a 1-yard keeper by Cousins with 4:14 remaining in the third quarter.
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Raiders → cut → quarter
After making their first defensive stop of the game, the Raiders then took a 35-30 lead on a 2-yard Cousins TD pass to Jalen Nailor, who beat corner Azareye’h Thomas in the end zone.
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who → make → zone
The Jets, stalling yet again in the red zone, had to settle for a 31-yard Sanders field goal with 4:31 remaining in the game.
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Jets → stall → game
That left them to rely on their defense to get a stop and get them the ball back.
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That → leave → ball
Well, you know what happened from there.
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what → know → ?
The Raiders ran nine plays on the next series and got a 53-yard field goal out of it, leaving the Jets only 27 seconds and no timeouts remaining.
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Raiders → run → it
It ended on a Smith heave to the end zone that was intercepted with seven seconds left.
asserted
that → end → seconds
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