At least the New York Jets had some silver linings to take away from their epic season opener, a heartbreaking loss to the Steelers. Here in Week 2, however, the only positive about the Jets' crushing 30-10 defeat to the Buffalo Bills is that it's over. From start to finish, top to bottom, this game erased every last ounce of goodwill that had been built up in the fanbase from last week.
There's no shortage of blame for a loss like this and every player owns a share, but these four players (and coaches) in particular must bear the brunt of it.
1. Justin Fields
First of all, I hope that Fields is okay and recovers from the concussion he sustained in the loss to the Bills swiftly. His inclusion in this list is not meant to kick him while he's down, but his contribution to Sunday's loss must be talked about. It was arguably the worst single-game performance I've ever seen from a quarterback of any NFL team.
By the time he left the field in the fourth quarter, Fields had completed just three of eleven passes for 27 yards. Yes, you read those numbers correctly. Three for eleven for 27 passing yards. And if you include the lost yardage from sacks, Fields netted the Jets just 8 total yards when he dropped back to pass.
Last week we saw the best version of Fields, a competent passer and dynamic runner. On Sunday, we saw Fields at his absolute worst. This is the kind of rollercoaster performance from Fields that Jets fans should get used to. And again, I truly hope he recovers swiftly.
2. Aaron Glenn
As the head coach, Glenn must own this performance. He did not have his team ready to play on Sunday and it showed immediately. It shouldn't matter that the Bills are legit title contenders, the Jets should have been able to at least provide some kind of pushback. Instead, the Bills imposed their will.
3. Offensive Line
As a group, the O-line gets this final dubious distinction because their incompetence was a double-whammy for the Jets. Neither Fields nor Tyrod Taylor had much time to throw in the pocket and none of the running backs could find even the slimmest of running lanes. I get that injuries have been a problem with Alijah Vera-Tucker out for the season, but this was inexcusable.