The Jets defense came into the season with high expectations, but looked like a completely different team and allowed eight straight scoring drives after forcing a punt on the San Francisco 49ers‘ first drive of their Week 1 32-19 loss on Monday night.
“Obviously it’s frustrating,” CB Sauce Gardner said. “We got to be a lot better, we got a lot to clean up. It’s Week 1. We got a long season ahead of us.”
New York allowed 401 total yards to the Niners, including a career-high 147 yards rushing to backup RB Jordan Mason who got the last-minute start after star Christian McCaffrey was ruled inactive right before kickoff. Gang Green gave up 400+ total yards only twice last season (against the Kansas City Chiefs and Cleveland Browns).
“Obviously we don’t want to allow that,” Gardner said. “Just have to continue to get better. They’re a good football team, they just played in the Super Bowl. Obviously they don’t want the drop-off to be that huge when it comes to Christian McCaffrey and their backup. At the same time, we know what we’re capable of doing and we have to execute.”
He added: “We gotta be better, especially on third down,” Gardner said. “We got them to third down, and whether it’s third down and short, third down and medium, quite a few times. We got to execute. We got to make sure we get off the field.”
Gardner also addressed his absence from the field during the second quarter, saying he had the wind knocked out of him and it wasn’t related to anything else. San Fran was able to drive 75 yards and score easily mostly without Gardner on the field.
“It was a tackle that I made, I just had to get my wind back,” Gardner said. “I just had to shake back. When I felt like I was good, I went back on the field.”
Linebacker C.J. Mosley also missed a series in the second after falling on his wrist, but was able to return to the game the next time out.
“Obviously sucks to lose… We were definitely prepared to play, but like Mike Tyson said, ‘Everybody has a plan until the action happens,'” Mosley told SNY’s Jeane Coakley after the game. “They got off the field when they needed to, they stayed on the field when they needed to, and they made a plays they needed to at the end of the day. So give them credit. Short week for us, we got to watch the film, take care of our bodies really, really hard, and get ready for another game Sunday.”
He said the 49ers still stuck to their gameplan without McCaffrey on the field and it wasn’t hard to adjust at the last second.
“Nah, not really, they stuck to their game plan, they didn’t really change up their offense,” Mosley said. “We knew they were still going to run their bread and butter, which they do really well. It’s gotten them far for a long time. Like I said, they made the plays they needed to. Sometimes we had good stops on first and second down, but as always, third down is what matters the most.
“We just got to make sure we get off the field so we can get our offense the ball back.”
Fellow defensive leader Quinnen Williams issued a similar message, crediting the 49ers run game and saying they need to get things “fixed quick.”
“They were running the ball well,” Williams said. “I think they were just running hard, blocking it up the right way. You got to give it to them, they ran the ball very well today. That’s something we got to get fixed. We got a short week, we got to look at the film, learn from the film, and get it together. I think we got the team, we got the coaching staff to get that fixed quick. We got the players and the defense to get that fixed quick. And we got the players and D-line room to accept responsibility to get it fixed. I think that’s the biggest thing.”
He added on only forcing one punt: “Just the whole game was frustrating, not just that one thing. We got to stop the run, first and foremost. And we got to put the quarterback down when the opportunity approaches.”
The Jets will now work toward stopping the run ahead of their Week 2 matchup with the Tennessee Titans, who ran for 140 yards and a touchdown in their loss to the Chicago Bears. If not, former Pro Bowler Tony Pollard could have a big day on the ground.
