Even Mike White can’t give this offense a spark and now the New York Jets are 30 minutes away from officially seeing their playoff hopes go up in smoke, as the Jets trail the Seahawks at halftime 17-6.
Buy Jets TicketsAfter two early scores, the Jets’ defense stepped up in the second half. The Seahawks had 193 yards of offense in the first quarter, including a 60-yard run on the first play from scrimmage by Kenneth Walker. Seattle has just 17 yards in the second quarter.
Jets defense was much better in second quarter. Seattle only had 17 yards in the second quarter after gaining 193 in the first quarter.
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) January 1, 2023
The key so far is New York is losing the turnover battle 2-0, though the second turnover came right at the end of the half.
Then there’s this stat showing White has not been good while under duress.
Mike White was sacked twice in the first half and was 0-of-5 with an interception while passing under duress, per @ESPNStatsInfo
He was 12-for-21, 122 yards, 54.1 rating. #Jets
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) January 1, 2023
At least the rushing attack has gotten going again. The Jets have 76 rushing yards on 13 carries (5.8 yards per carry), led by Ty Johnson with 46 yards on seven attempts.
On the flip side, the Seahawks have already rushed for 113 yards on 14 carries, including the 60-yard run by Walker. Geno Smith is 8/12 for 120 yards and two touchdowns with a 138.9 quarterback rating.
Props to the defensive line, who have three sacks of Smith (John Franklin-Myers and Carl Lawson each have one, Solomon Thomas and Micheal Clemons each have a half). And Sauce Gardner has added two passes defended to his league-leading total and he and D.J. Reed have done well thus far against DK Metcalf, who is yet to have a catch today.
But unless something drastically changes in the second half, the Jets will extend their postseason drought yet another year. They have 30 minutes to change that.