00:00Well, it sure isn't easy being green and the rough start to the season continues for the Jets in week five gangrene suffered a 37 to 20 loss to the Dallas Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. So let's break down what went wrong and what's been going wrong for the Jets. We're going to do it with a producer and host for WFAN and the Affinity Sports Network. It's my guy EJ Stewart. EJ, you're a longtime Jet fan, so I have to ask you because I care. How are you doing?
00:26How am I doing? You got an hour and a couch to spare? I feel like I need a therapy session after watching that game on Sunday. Not a licensed therapist here, but we're going to try to help the people out there. That's what we're going to try to do today, but you're hanging in there. That's what I hear from that. You're hanging in there. Trying, trying. Okay, that's what I hear. All right, so EJ, let's start with the Jets offense. If you look at the numbers for Justin Fields in this game, it looks pretty good. You put up some good stats, but the Jets offense, if you watch the whole thing, they struggled.
00:55The offense has not looked anything like we saw back in week one against the Steelers. So for you as a fan, what's been the most frustrating thing for you to watch with this Jets offense?
01:05Well, to me, it's got to be the turnovers, and you're right. Like, Justin Fields put up numbers that will look good on the box score, but when you watch the game, you know the story of the game. You know that it is not in any way, you know, a clear picture of what actually happened.
01:18But to me, this game that you watched against the Cowboys turned on Brees Hall's fumble, and that's really becoming a very familiar story with the Jets.
01:26The Jets could put together a quarter or quarter and a half of decent football, or at least competitive football, and a crucial mistake could kill them.
01:35Last week, it was Braylon Hall's fumble right near the goal line, and then this week here, you got Brees Hall fumbling the ball.
01:42The Jets are driving with an opportunity to potentially tie the game or cut into the lead going into halftime, and what was a small issue turned into basically an avalanche of Cowboys touchdowns and big plays, and all of a sudden the game was over.
01:57So with the Jets, you know you don't have a big margin for error, right?
02:01You're not going to be a team that's going to make a lot of explosive plays, particularly in the passing game, so you can't kill yourself with turnovers and fumbles.
02:08And I've been watching Jets football for what, at this point, it's probably 25 years.
02:12I've never seen a Jets team kill themselves with back-breaking fumbles like this Jet team.
02:18It seems to come at the absolute worst time, worst chance for the Jets as they're trying to maybe go ahead in the game or tie a game.
02:26It's just killing them, and here you have it again another week where a game turns on a turnover, and I feel the game would have been maybe a lot different had that fumble not happened,
02:35but that's becoming the big issue of the Jets, the turnovers are killing them.
02:39Turnovers have been killing this team all season long, and I think a lot of people thought coming into this game that the Jets, you know,
02:46they were going to be able to move the ball pretty easily on the Cowboys coming into this one.
02:50They weren't able to do that coming into this game on this Cowboys defense.
02:54However, when you looked at it, it was the other way around.
02:56Dallas, they easily moved the ball up and down the field, and the Jets, particularly, EJ, they struggled to get off the field on third down.
03:03Again, that's another thing we've seen with this squad.
03:06What's wrong with this gangrene defense right now in your eyes?
03:10I mean, look, we could point to some of the calls from Steve Wilks.
03:14You know, you could argue that are they playing too much man for teams that doesn't cover well?
03:18They're playing too much zone in certain aspects that's allowing a quarterback like that press got to pick them apart.
03:23But the reality is they don't have enough good players on defense.
03:26I mean, we could talk up and down about the scheme, but when you look at the Jets roster in the secondary,
03:31they have one corner who, at this point, looks overpaid with how he's played this season.
03:36Sauce Gardner, he got beat deep on the touchdown to George Pickens.
03:38And the rest of the guys in the secondary that, quite frankly, wouldn't start on any NFL team.
03:43Your defensive line, you got Quinton Williams, and you got Will McDonald, who's a good pass rusher,
03:47but he's probably more of a third down pass rusher than a four down guy.
03:51And then a bunch of guys who wouldn't play on any other team.
03:53Linebacker position, you got Sherwood, and then a bunch of guys that wouldn't play on any other team.
03:56I feel like a broken record, but that is the fact.
03:58The Jets don't have enough pieces defensively.
04:01This is a team that, at one point, really, you know, defense was their staple.
04:05But when you just look at the roster up and down, they just don't have enough NFL talent to max the team.
04:10It doesn't matter if you're Dak Prescott, if you're Tua Tungavailoa, if you're Aaron Rodgers.
04:13It doesn't matter who you are.
04:15You see the Jets, and you see that green.
04:16You're in for a field day.
04:17You're in for a potential career day.
04:19And that's what we're going to see for the rest of the season with the Jets defense.
04:21They don't have the horses, and it's going to take an offseason, I think,
04:24to really overturn the roster for at least the defense to see any marginal improvement.
04:28I don't see this getting fixed anytime soon.
04:31All right, EJ.
04:31Now I'm hearing all this.
04:32It sounds like you need that couch and some Jets therapy.
04:35That's what it sounds like.
04:36I've had a lot of time thinking about this stuff.
04:38Yeah, yeah.
04:39It's unfortunate.
04:40You need that couch.
04:41We're going to try to get you through this.
04:43But, EJ, the Jets, they've had 22 head coaches in their history,
04:46but none have started 0-5 until now, which is under Aaron Glenn.
04:51Is the seat now hot for the first-year head coach?
04:55I don't think it should be.
04:56Again, when I look at this Jets team,
04:58and Aaron Glenn in some ways maybe created this hot seat for himself potentially
05:03where talking so much about how the Jets weren't going to be a team
05:06that was going to beat themselves, a team that was going to be undisciplined,
05:09things that we saw under the Robert Sala era.
05:11And all we've seen this year is the Jets team,
05:13that seems to have gone backwards when it comes to discipline.
05:15They get more penalties.
05:17They create more.
05:17They get more turnovers.
05:20They do more self-inflicted actions that cause them to lose football games.
05:25So, in many ways, that's allowing a lot of fans and people to point at Aaron Glenn
05:30and say, you said you were going to fix this.
05:31Why has this problem gotten worse?
05:33But, again, I go back to the roster.
05:34This is a team that had a lot of turnover.
05:36He had a lot of guys who were going to be dead cat money guys like Aaron Rodgers
05:40coming off the books.
05:42This was just not going to be a team that was going to be able to turn over the roster
05:45in time to probably be as competitive as Jets fans wanting them to be this year.
05:49I say give them another year.
05:50Give them another full offseason.
05:52And let's see what they are next season.
05:53I don't think that Aaron Glenn at this point should be a one and done.
05:57But the way this thing is going with the way the fans and how frustrated they are,
06:02just how apathetic they are.
06:03I mean, you heard all those Cowboys cheers at MetLife Stadium for a Sunday afternoon game
06:09where it was like the Jets fans were basically out of it by halftime.
06:13That's not going to be something that Willie Johnson would have liked to have seen.
06:16I'm sure that's not going to be something a lot of the media is going to be like to have seen.
06:18I'm sure they're going to be getting after the Jets a lot this week.
06:21I don't think the heat seat should be hot on Aaron Glenn,
06:24but the reality is that the losses keep racking up.
06:26There will be questions about his job security.
06:29No, there will be.
06:29I do agree with you on the point that, not saying that the season should be hot for him either,
06:33but some of this he has brought on because he said it would be different.
06:36It would not be that.
06:37That kind of leads me to my next question because nothing gets easier for the Jets
06:41as they play the Broncos next week overseas in London.
06:45With this 0-5 start to the season, for you, and we know you need to sit on the couch,
06:50does this feel like same old Jets,
06:52or do you have any hope that this team can start being competitive at least again in 2025?
06:56Oh, 2025 is a wrap.
07:00I mean, this thing is over.
07:01I mean, if you have any thought that the Jets turned this thing around
07:04to making some kind of wild card push or push for 500, that's not happening.
07:09I think you saw a Jets team that, for the first time this season,
07:13maybe really let go of the rope.
07:15I mean, you saw the Miami game, a game that seemed to get away from them.
07:18You saw the offense make some plays, the defense make some plays to make it interesting.
07:21I felt like once Brees Hall fumbled that football,
07:24this is a Jets team that both on defense and offense wasn't no part of this game.
07:28They didn't start making any push until they were down 27 points,
07:31and by that point, it was far too late.
07:33I expect a lot more of the same from this season.
07:35I'm, as a Jets fan, committed fully to the tank.
07:38It is now about the 2026 NFL Draft.
07:40What potential quarterback or potential game-breaking edge
07:44or skilled player is going to be available to the Jets to draft
07:46because they're going to need a big infusion of talent over the offseason.
07:50Again, this is not going to be a simple change of coach
07:52and this thing gets fixed or you run some extra hard practices.
07:57You know, Aaron Glenn had the boxing gloves out to help guys
08:00from stopping from the football.
08:01Then here they are from the football still.
08:03None of this stuff is getting fixed this year.
08:04This is going to be all about next year and how they really, you know,
08:07again, like I've said a bunch, overturn this entire roster.
08:10Somebody get EJ Couch.
08:12It is October 5th, and he is talking about the draft already.
08:16Can't say that he's wrong.
08:17Jets are 0-5.
08:18Not a good start.
08:20EJ, I hope the happiness comes with something else
08:23because it didn't come with the Mets.
08:25It's not coming with the Jets.
08:27We'll see what else happens there.
08:28That is EJ Stewart.
08:29Listen, we have Knicks basketballs coming up.
08:31I'm a Miami Hurts team fan.
08:33They're undefeated, so I got my love.
08:35It's good in other places.
08:36It's not happening with NFL football.
08:38We got to make sure you have some happiness other places in your life.
08:42Sports happiness, that is.
08:43Obviously, sports is not the end-all, be-all of all happiness,
08:45but we're glad that there's some other happiness in terms of sports in your life.
08:49Everybody, check EJ out.
08:51Produces the Maggie and Perloff Show on the Infinity Sports Network.
08:54You can also catch him on WFAN, hosting from time to time.
08:57My guy EJ Stewart, he is going to find a couch.
09:00EJ, I appreciate you, man, for coming on to talk some Jets football.
09:03I hope the next time I talk to you, something a little bit more positive.
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