Thursday Night Football’s showdown in Week 4 featured two winless football teams going head to head with the 0-3 Denver Broncos visiting the 0-3 New York Jets. By the end of the night, the Broncos had secured a 37-28 victory over New York, dropping the Jets to 0-4 on the season. But a 9-point loss hardly does the Jets justice in this defeat. The Jets needed a nearly 50-yard scamper from Sam Darnold, a pick-six from CB Pierre Desir and two other boneheaded interceptions from Broncos QB Brett Rypien in his first career start to even be positioned to lose by 9.
In reality, Thursday Night Football in Week 4 was a one sided affair disguised as a competitive football game. Darnold left the game for a moment to get his right (throwing shoulder) checked out after a scary hit. Standout rookie left tackle Mekhi Becton was pulled into performance despite injury, only to cede his snaps further into the game. The Jets were slammed with 11 penalties for 118 yards — and this comes four days after the Jets lost 36-7 and threw two pick-sixes of their own to the Indianapolis Colts.
This is why you don’t “tank” for two years, Dolphins fans. Because for as bad as the Miami Dolphins were in the early portions of 2019 and as tempting as it may have been to go for broke and target Clemson QB Trevor Lawrence as the object of Miami’s franchise quarterback search, the New York Jets would have very much been in the way. They stink out loud. And it isn’t going to get any better either — because Dolphins fans know all too well what lingering Jets head coach Adam Gase brings to the table. Poor play design, poor execution, poor accountability and poor discipline. The Jets feel destined to land a top pick in this year’s draft — but they will need the top overall pick if they’re going to draft Trevor Lawrence and trade away young QB Sam Darnold.
This is a subplot to watch in the coming months — but Lawrence heading to the Big Apple to play for Gang Green is very quickly becoming a possibility the rest of the AFC East has to prepare for. The Bills have a young breakout quarterback in Josh Allen, enjoying his best football in Year 3. The Patriots seem to have gotten a bargain buy in QB Cam Newton — if he can stay healthy, he can serve the Patriots well. And of course the Dolphins have the No. 5 overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft, Tua Tagovailoa. Tagovailoa is simmering on the bench and learning from the play of Ryan Fitzpatrick; but if the Jets were able to land the top pick, rid themselves of Gase and draft Trevor Lawrence, the AFC East is going to be a fascinating group to watch compete year in and year out.
Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that. There’s still plenty of time for the Jets to push their way out of the top pick. But we’ll be watching closely these next few months.