3 Takeaways | Jets ‘Introduced to Some Championship Football’ in Week 1 Loss to 49ers

Spread the Wealth
Wide receiver Garrett Wilson, WR Allen Lazard and RB Breece Hall combined for 242 of the offense’s 271 total yards (266 net). Aaron Rodgers, who threw for 167 yards in his return from his left Achilles tendon tear, did not complete a pass to any other player and the offense couldn’t fully open the playbook because it had only 49 plays to SF’s 70. The 49ers won the time of possession 38:40 to 21.:20 per NFL GSS.

“We had 49 plays on offense and I think that’ll happen organically,” HC Robert Saleh said. “When we’re able to possess the ball and have a couple of opportunities to drive, you go to all plays and then from there you’re just not seeing the field as much as you want. But all of it will come together. For the first game for Aaron and for the offense and all that stuff, I thought there’s going to be some good things that we can take away from. Now we just got to figure out a way to get better from Week 1 to Week 2.”

The unit, however, showed its potential in different ways Monday night. Rodgers’ first scoring possession as member of the Green & White was a 12-play, 70-yard drive to put the Jets up, 7-3, in the first quarter. His second, in the third quarter, took 1:49 and was capped by a 36-yard TD pass to Lazard. Rodgers’ patented cadence made the defense jump offside and he capitalized on the free play.

“When we’re rolling, I know what that can look like,” said Wilson, who had 6 receptions for 60 yards. “We weren’t rolling throughout the game, but we found it in spurts there and we have to find a way to bottle it up and take it to every drive. Maybe that’s what it can look like. I feel like it can look a thousand ways. There are a million ways to skin a cat, but it felt good at the time and we have to get back to that.”