Nothing seems to be changing for Aaron Glenn and the Jets. One major change that was made this week saw them benching the starting quarterback, but it didn’t help, as New York dropped to 0-7 in the Glenn era with a loss at home to the Carolina Panthers.

The first half followed a familiar pattern, as New York’s defense kept it in the game until late in the half but then gave up the lead with more than a minute to go. Bryce Young’s short pass to Xavier Legette gave Carolina a 10-3 halftime lead which ended up being all that the Panthers needed.

With a field goal on the opening possession of the third quarter, the Panthers moved into a double-digit lead, which, given how well the Jets had played over the past six quarters, was already feeling practically unassailable.

To give the Jets a spark, Glenn benched quarterback Justin Fields for the veteran Tyrod Taylor at halftime, but the Jets still trailed 13-3 until Nick Folk’s 47-yard field goal made it a one-score game with 6:26 remaining.

Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn intercepted Taylor twice, including once with 4:28 to go to effectively clinch it. Despite losing Young to injury, the Panthers were able to hang on for the win.

Here are the key takeaways…

This was the first game that Garrett Wilson has missed in his career, and the Jets clearly missed him. At halftime, Fields had fewer than 50 passing yards and backup running back Isaiah Davis was the only player with more than one catch. Tyler Johnson eventually led them with three catches for 60 yards.
New York’s defense played well for most of the first half, with Quinnen Williams solid against the run and some good playmaking in the secondary. However, the blown coverage that set up Carolina’s second quarter touchdown was arguably the worst breakdown they’ve had in coverage all year. Multiple players had to scramble to pick up open receivers down the field, leaving Chuba Hubbard all alone in the flat with blockers ahead of him.
While the penalty count has been reducing in recent weeks, the Jets still seem to get flagged at the worst possible times, killing any offensive momentum. An illegal shift negated a third-down conversion in the red zone and forced the Jets to settle for a field goal and their only first half points. Veteran guard John Simpson also had two costly ones in the first half.
Fields struggled again, even though he at least attempted a few tight window throws where he might have just taken a sack last week. He ended up completing just 6 of 12 passes for 46 yards and was sacked three times. The Panthers, who entered the game with five sacks on the year, eclipsed that on Sunday as they ended up with six.
Taylor didn’t have the impact the Jets were hoping for, but he did at least play with better rhythm and tempo than Fields. It makes you wonder how the Jets might have fared if he entered last week’s game while it was still in the balance, or if he had been put into this game sooner.
The Jets were moving well at the end of the third quarter but then got aggressive and Taylor missed a potential touchdown on consecutive plays. The first, on a gadget play, saw Taylor underthrow a wide open Allen Lazard so Mike Jackson was able to recover and break it up. On the very next snap, Josh Reynolds was open deep but the ball was again underthrown, and Horn intercepted it in the end zone to preserve the Panthers’ 10-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Horn’s second interception, on another downfield shot to Reynolds, was notable because it marked just the third time in Taylor’s entire career that he was intercepted more than once in a game.

Game MVP – Panthers DT Derrick Brown

In a defensive struggle, Brown was the most dominant defender on the field as he had seven tackles, three quarterback hits, and 1.5 sacks. Perhaps most importantly of all, he batted three passes down at the line.

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