As good as the New York Jets looked under new head coach Aaron Glenn last week in Green Bay, they didn’t look nearly as strong in their encore.
The Jets struggled on offense throughout the night against their cross-town rivals, while the New York Giants got enough offense from their rookie quarterback to cruise their way to a 31-12 win.
Coming off an excellent debut last week in Green Bay, the results were less than sterling for Justin Fields and the Jets’ offense. Fields completed one of his five passes for four yards. The Jets had some success on the ground but could only muster up 64 total yards and a field goal across two drives with the first-team offense.
The results weren’t much better for the Jets’ defense.
Big Blue’s starting offense went on a five-play, 93-yard drive that saw the Giants take the early 7-0 lead thanks to a Devin Singletary one-yard touchdown run. The drive was catapulted by an 80-yard bomb from Russell Wilson to Beaux Collins, caused by a busted coverage from starting safety Andre Cisco.
Adrian Martinez replaced Fields for New York’s third offensive drive.
From there, both teams struggled to move the ball effectively. Martinez, victimized by some drops, struggled to get the offense going, and the Giants’ offense was stuck in the mud as well.
Shortly before the half, though, deep completions to both Stone Smartt and Arian Smith pushed the Jets into field goal range, where Folk would connect for his second of the day.
The Giants’ 7-6 halftime lead grew at the start of the second half with an opening-drive touchdown series led by first-round rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart. The Ole Miss product found Greg Dulcich for a 20-yard strike and a 14-6 lead.
The 25th overall pick completed 14 of 16 passes for 137 yards. He added a rushing touchdown on a quarterback sneak in the third quarter to give the Giants a 21-6 lead.
Gang Green was never able to recover.
Undrafted free agent Brady Cook came in after Martinez, throwing a touchdown pass on a one-handed diving grab by fellow rookie Quentin Skinner.
It wasn’t enough to come back against their rivals in the Snoopy Bowl. Jameis Winston’s quarterback sneak for a score turned the preseason rivalry into a laugher.
The loss bumped the Jets to 1-1 in the preseason. They complete the exhibition season next Friday when they host the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Game Notes
Several of New York’s starters did not play on Saturday. Cornerback Sauce Gardner, defensive linemen Quinnen Williams, Byron Cowart, Jermaine Johnson, and Will McDonald did not suit up for action.
It was an uneven day for the Jets’ starting offensive line. While they gave up several pressures against the Giants’ pass rush, they managed to assert their dominance in the running game. Armand Membou, in particular, pancaked Kayvon Thibodeaux (who beat Membou earlier for a pressure) on a 12-yard run from Braelon Allen. Gang Green finished with 141 yards on the ground, with most coming in the first half.
New York’s two best receivers were Brandon and Arian Smith. They combined for 87 yards on seven receptions. Garrett Wilson, meanwhile, has yet to catch a pass from Justin Fields to this point in the preseason, despite five tries. Quentin Skinner also caught all four of his targets for 48 yards and a touchdown.
Former third-round receiver Malachi Corley did not see the field until late in the fourth quarter and was not targeted on any throw. His standing on the Jets roster is in dire straits.
If there was an alarming stat for the Jets defense, despite not playing many of their starters, it was that they gave up 398 yards through the air and an average of over 10 yards per pass to the trio of Wilson, Dart, and Winston.
The Jets improved slightly to seven penalties after committing 10 in the preseason opener.
Reporting from MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.