The best throws by a Jets quarterback on Monday night came about two hours before the game started when a recovering Aaron Rodgers was launching 50-yard passes during warm-ups.
Unfortunately for the Jets, Rodgers then donned a headset and Zach Wilson played the game.
Wilson had a miserable night and the Jets did not score a touchdown in a 27-6 loss to the Chargers that dropped them to 4-4 this season and raises doubts about whether this team can really make a playoff run.
The only encouraging sign offensively was Rodgers launching those passes in warm-ups and walking to the locker room rather than taking a cart.
The Jets have to be wondering whether Rodgers on one leg would be better than Wilson right now.
It was a script that has become familiar in the last two years.
The defense played well enough for the Jets to win and the offense failed them.
“It’s inexcusable,” wide receiver Garrett Wilson said. “It’s getting to the point where it’s disappointing. I hate coming off the field, looking our defense in the eyes, knowing we have to send them back out there after a three-and-out. Them boys are my dogs. They come out and ball and put us in a great position. It’s time for us to start returning the favor, man. It’s time.We’ve got to figure it out.”
Wilson went 33-for-49 for 263 yards, most of those coming in garbage time.
Wilson was sacked eight times, fumbling twice on sacks.
The Jets have not scored a touchdown in their last seven quarters and an overtime period.
They have a dismal eight offensive touchdowns in eight games this season and four of those touchdowns came on explosive, one-play drives.
“We just all gotta grow up and do our job,” running back Breece Hall said. “We all gotta take pride in it.”
Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett needs to get some heat.
He has been unable to get this offense moving at all.
The Chargers entered Monday with a defense ranked No. 31 in total defense and No. 32 in passing defense.
But against the Jets, they looked like the 2000 Ravens.
“It hurts, but it’s true,” Hall said when asked about the offense failing. “That’s all you can say. We just got to be better. We got to continue to get better, take pride in doing our job and doing everything to not be the reason that we lose.”
All of this offensive ineptitude wasted another strong performance by the Jets’ defense.
Los Angeles’ only touchdowns came off of a punt return and after a Jets turnover.
The Chargers (4-4) had six three-and-out drives.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was under siege from the Jets’ defensive line all night.
He finished 16 of 30 for a career-low 136 yards and was sacked five times.
The frustration was palpable in the Jets’ locker room after this one.
“When you play at this level and you play on the offensive side of the ball, if you weren’t angry I would think something is wrong,” Garrett Wilson said. “This is disappointing. It definitely messes with your psyche a little bit. I’d be lying if I said that we’re all content with what we’re all doing out on the field.”
The first half showed this would not be a night for offense and the Chargers took a 17-3 lead into the locker room at halftime.
The Jets introduced punter Thomas Morstead at the start of their pregame introductions in honor of his big game last week against the Giants.
This being the Jets, that meant the team would give up an 87-yard punt return for a touchdown to Chargers returner Derius Davis after their first possession, spotting Los Angeles a 7-0 lead.
The special teams mishap was just the first mistake of the night for the Jets.
The first half featured two turnovers by the offense as well.
Garrett Wilson fumbled, but the Chargers were unable to capitalize off of it.
The Jets were not as lucky after the next turnover.
Chargers edge rusher Joey Bosa blew past right tackle Billy Turner and sacked Wilson, forcing a fumble that Bosa also recovered.
The Chargers took the ball 50 yards in eight plays with Austin Ekeler running it in from the 1-yard line for the 14-0 lead.
Ekeler put the Chargers in scoring position with a 20-yard run on third down that got them to the 1.
The Jets’ offense opened up in a hurry-up but it did not result in much success.
Besides the two lost fumbles, the Jets also had a fumble on a third-down pitch to Breece Hall that he ended up recovering.
“It was a lot of self-inflicted wounds,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said. “I felt like anytime we got momentum going we shot ourselves in the foot — penalties, turnovers. It just wasn’t good enough.”
As bad as the Jets’ offense was in the first half, the defense was terrific.
Herbert never looked comfortable as he was under constant pressure.
John Franklin-Myers and Quinton Jefferson each had a sack and Jermaine Johnson and Bryce Huff combined for another.
The Chargers tacked on a 55-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker just before halftime to push their lead to 17-3.
There were signs of life from the Jets’ offense to start the second half, but they did not last long.
Zach Wilson hit Garrett Wilson with a 31-yard pass on the first play of the half.
That started a drive where the Jets reached the Chargers’ 11, but two sacks pushed them back to the 28 and they had to settle for another Zuerlein field goal.
The 46-yarder cut the Chargers lead to 17-6 with 9:52 left in the third quarter.
Wilson’s second fumble of the night set up the final touchdown from the Chargers and put the exclamation point on a humiliating night for the Jets’ offense.