The highs from Week 1 gave Jets and Giants fans hope. Many picked the Giants to take down the “struggling” Super Bowl favorite Los Angeles Rams on the road.
They headed into Monday Night Football with huge aspirations just for them to be shattered after the first drive. Second-year quarterback Jaxson Dart went down grabbing his left knee after being hit by Rams’ Josiah Stewart on a 3rd-and-7 incomplete pass. The replay showed Dart’s knee buckling backward on impact. The 23-year-old walked back to the locker room without assistance and even wanted to return to the game, according to Jordan Raanan. Raanan added that Dart is likely to have sprained his MCL and the team believes that his ACL is still intact.
On the ensuing Giants possession after going down 7-0, wide receiver Malik Nabers injured his shoulder after being tied up with a defender. Nabers ran to the sideline in pain, marking another painful blow for the team. Nabers soon returned to the game, finishing with just one catch.
“My shoulder’s okay,” Nabers said postgame.Going to get an X-ray on it, see what’s going on. I was out there, trying to just come back out.” “[My shoulder] popped out and I just popped it back in.”
The injury woes kept coming for New York, as left tackle Andrew Thomas, Week 1 hero Isaiah Likely, rookie Arvell Reese and edge rusher Brian Burns all received medical attention Monday night. Burns appeared to sprain his ankle after a Rams player landed on it during the final few minutes of the game.
While Giants fans spent the opening drives holding their breath over the injuries, the Rams came in with a single objective: total dominance. After struggling in Week 1 in Australia, Los Angeles felt as if Week 2 was a must-win. They understood the assignment and executed flawlessly, led by Davante Adams filling in as the top option for the injured Puka Nacua. Adams put on a clinic, tearing through the defense to finish with eight receptions, 195 yards and two scores.
The Giants failed to find the endzone and the Rams looked like they were back in form as they won 28-6.
The Giants’ pass defense must have missed the bus to Monday’s game, as they were nonfactors. Credit to Jevon Holland, as he was the only defender who showed up— picked up his second interception of the season and even forced a fumble.
Holland was the only bright spot for New York on Monday, but there is a lot of optimism for the next several weeks. The next four games are against Tennessee, Arizona, Washington and New Orleans. All of which are winnable and can bring morale back up for New York.
At rainy MetLife on Sunday, the Jets found themselves up 17-7 with 11 minutes to play in the fourth quarter over the struggling Green Bay Packers. Jordan Love led a quick 7-play, 73-yard drive capped off by a Christian Watson touchdown to cut the lead to three. The Jets came back out on the field and were forced to a 3-and-out to give the ball back to Green Bay, who eventually tied the game on a field goal.
Where the coaching scrutiny came into play was with just over a minute to go as the Jets were at midfield on a 4th down and one yard to go. Geno Smith lined up in shotgun and handed the ball off to Breece Hall, who got stuffed, which turned the ball over. Fans are outraged by the questionable play call and why the team would decide to go for it.
Green Bay got the ball back and couldn’t move it anywhere. It was 3rd and 10, and Love dumped a pass to Watson and was tackled in bounds at the 45-yard line with 1:05 to play.
Out of field goal range, clock ticking, 4th down — all signs say that the Jets should call a timeout, right?
Head Coach Aaron Glenn decided not to call a timeout to give the team a potential game-winning drive.
“I just felt like it was the right decision to do at that point,” Glenn said postgame. “And we actually wanted to play for overtime when it came to that.”
Overtime came and went; the Jets couldn’t get down the field as the Packers trotted down the field and kicked the game-winning 26-yard field goal.
For Jets fans, they cannot be too upset. The old Jets would have lost this game by 3 or more scores. The team showed lots of fight and had a lot to be happy about. New York has a test next week as they go on the road to face the Detroit Lions.