Fitzpatrick, Jets Are Clearly a Mess

So on one side, you have an elite tight end who, after a rough adjustment period in his first year with his new team, is again an absolute force no defensive back or linebacker can effectively cover. 

On the other side, you have Braedon Bowman, an undrafted rookie from South Alabama who had a chance to notch the first reception by a Jets’ TE this season -- in the third quarter of the fourth game. He dropped the ball. In fact, first-year WR Charone Peake is now -- after running a fumble recovery 42 yards for a late TD -- more productive than any Jets tight end has been in some time. 

On one side, you have the NFL’s best cornerback, essentially neutralizing Brandon Marshall, who came away with just four catches in the dozen passes thrown his way. 

On the other, you have the NFL’s former best CB, spending much of the game sidelined with a hamstring injury. 

Speaking of leg injuries, on one side, you have a quarterback destroying the opponent while basically playing on one leg because of a bad knee. 

On the other, you have a QB who can’t seem to remember which team he’s supposed to throw the ball to. 

Guess which side won? 

Not the other. 

Jimmy Graham, Richard Sherman and Russell Wilson came to town this weekend, and obliterated the home team, which now stands at an unsightly 1-3 with two tough road contests coming up in Pittsburgh and Arizona. 

We all knew the Jets would find tough sledding in the first few weeks of the 2016 campaign -- their schedule was simply too daunting to assume anything else. But we didn’t know they’d collapse like a wet taco. 

QB Ryan Fitzpatrick now has 10 interceptions through four games. No need for further comment on that, it really speaks for itself -- and what it says can’t be repeated unless it’s on cable. On the bright side, he was twice as good vs. Seattle as he was against the Chiefs when it came to INTs, throwing only three Sunday to last Sunday’s half a dozen. Glass-half-full and all. 

Marshall remains a beast, but he can’t do it all, especially with cohort Eric Decker hurt. After discovering the fountain of youth in the opening stretch of the season, Matt Forte looked every bit of his nearly 31 years against the Seahawks. 

Darrelle Revis, meanwhile, looks ancient. And, if you’re gonna spend a first-round pick on a DB, as the Jets did in 2014 with Calvin Pryor, you should never hear the phrase “struggles in coverage” uttered anywhere remotely close to his name. In the second round that year, the Jets chose their tight end of the future: Jace Amaro. There’s a reason ex-GM John Idzik is an ex. 

In short, the Jets are in trouble. Todd Bowles & Co. will need to get things figured out, and fast, if the Gang Green wants to salvage any playoff hopes. 

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