Bent, theJetsBlog.com Follow on Twitter

Since Sunday's game, there's been a lot of attention centered around the team's kicking woes. Kaare Vedvik, who the Jets picked up to stop the bleeding in that department, missed both his attempts -- a 45-yard field goal and an extra point.

On Tuesday, though, the Jets brought in their fourth kicker of the year in Sam Ficken after hosting multiple players at the team facility.

So with that (hopefully) settled, here are some other issues the Jets will need to focus on:

Pass protection

With an offensive line that didn't play together at all in preseason, including an interior line that played just 14 snaps between them, it's hardly surprising that Sam Darnold had to deal with plenty of pressure, much of which came on the interior via stunts or delays.

Also, there were a few issues with setting the protection that led to players coming off the edge unblocked to either pressure Darnold or bat down passes. With Ryan Kalil new to the system and Darnold still relying on his line to call out protections, it appeared that Brian Winters was involved in this process on Sunday. Hopefully these issues will improve as this group gets more reps together.

Wide receiver decision making

On Monday, Adam Gase made a point of mentioning that the wide receivers could have done a better job of getting open. That perhaps explains why there seemed to be hardly any intermediate routes in the gameplan.

While Gase singled out a play where Robby Anderson stumbled coming out of his break and wasn't able to catch up to a Darnold deep throw, there were at least five occasions where Anderson had separation from his man and Darnold's pass was off the mark, including two bad underthrows on deep balls.

If Darnold and Anderson can get on the same page over the course of the season, as was the case last year, this partnership should yield more statistical production in the games to come.

With Jamison Crowder a constant option underneath, there should also be focus on the inability of the tight ends and Quincy Enunwa to read the defense and find open areas. The Jets need to improve this over the next three games, as they'll continue to be without Chris Herndon.

Play calling balance

Gase was resolute that he was happy with his gameplan. However, there are still a few aspects of play selection that warrant further consideration.

With Le'Veon Bell on the field for every offensive snap, Ty Montgomery barely saw action after looking solid in preseason. Even so, with the Jets leading in the fourth quarter, Bell only saw two touches (for two yards) at a time when you'd expect the Jets to run some clock.

Earlier on, Darnold was arguably looking for Bell and then Crowder too often, making the offense a little too predictable on third down situations.

Cornerback play

Depth at the cornerback position has been a concern all offseason, but it was the starters who let themselves down on Sunday, surrendering several first downs. Darryl Roberts, who also had three defensive penalties, surrendered the game-winning touchdown with three minutes to go, while Trumaine Johnson struggled to stay with receivers on crossing routes on his return from a hamstring injury.

There aren't really viable options on the open market, so Gregg Williams is going to have to tweak his system to mitigate any deficiencies whether that be through safety support, pressure packages, or just employing each cornerback in the style of coverage that suits them best.

Dealing with the C.J. Mosley loss

Without question, the loss of C.J. Mosley was the biggest factor in Sunday's loss. Having shut down the Bills all day, the defense immediately gave up two decisive long touchdown drives as soon as Mosley went to the sideline.

As we noted during the offseason, Mosley's ability to communicate and get the defense lined up is going to be the biggest upgrade that he brings over last year's defense. Sure enough, without Mosley in the game, there were some bad run fits and coverage breakdowns that led to key plays.

If Mosley will be out any longer, at least the team will have some time to prepare for someone else to undertake that role. That was obviously the reason Avery Williamson was getting reps with the second unit in preseason, leading to his fateful injury.

Darnold himself

Finally, Gase was careful to deflect criticism away from his young quarterback following Sunday's loss, claiming that Darnold had played better than he thought based on his review of the film. Gase has always been renowned for fiercely defending his young players.

While there's no question that Darnold had some tough circumstances to deal with due to the pressure and how tight the Bills coverage was, he can still be better. Darnold misfired on some makeable throws that could have gone for big gains, although at least he didn't turn the ball over.

The challenge over the next few weeks will be for Darnold to play with more efficiency, regardless of any adversity he and the team will face.

Popular in the Community