It’s probably safe for the Jets to place Darrelle Revis on injured reserve now. Not even Rex Ryan could be delusional enough to consider his Jets a Super Bowl team after enduring a 34-0 drubbing from the 49ers yesterday at MetLife Stadium in what could be the low point of his time as Jets coach.
“I apologize for my language because I was going to say we got our butt kicked, but really we got our ass kicked,” an angry Ryan said after the debacle, the third-worst home shutout in Jets history.
Two days after talking about keeping Revis off season-ending injured reserve in case the team makes the Super Bowl, the Jets appear to be as likely to have a game on Mars in February as they do one in New Orleans, the site of Super Bowl XLVII.
The Jets did everything wrong in this game. They turned the ball over four times, failed to run the ball, got terrible play from Mark Sanchez, failed to convert a third down in the second half, allowed 245 yards rushing and basically looked like a JV team playing the varsity.
The Jets had 145 total yards, the fewest in the Ryan era. Their 45 yards rushing is the second-fewest since Ryan arrived in 2009.
“We got embarrassed today,” safety Yeremiah Bell said. “That’s pretty much what you can say.”
The Jets also may have suffered their second devastating injury in as many weeks. Wide receiver Santonio Holmes left the game after injuring his left foot on the first play of the fourth quarter. He will have an MRI exam today to determine the extent of the injury, but it looked serious. This comes a week after Revis was lost for the season with a torn ACL.
Holmes’ injury came on a bizarre play. He caught a 4-yard pass from Sanchez, fell to the ground without being touched in pain. He then tossed the ball away, but since he had not been touched it was a fumble. Niners cornerback Carlos Rogers scooped it up and ran 51 yards for a touchdown that made the score 24-0.
It was just a piece of an ugly second half for the Jets that saw a 10-0 halftime deficit quickly get out of hand. The offense failed to do anything. On seven second-half possessions, the unit had five three-and-outs, the Holmes fumble and an interception from Sanchez on a tipped pass to end the first possession of the half.
It was an all-around terrible performance from Sanchez, who completed less than 50 percent of his passes (13-for-29, 103 yards) for the third straight week. He had a killer fumble just before halftime when the Jets were trailing 7-0 and had the ball on the 49ers’ 25.
“It’s a huge mistake,” Ryan said.
There were chants for backup Tim Tebow at the end of the game, but Ryan said he remains committed to Sanchez.
“I think Mark is the answer,” Ryan said. “Again, time will tell.”
Ryan tore into the team after the game. He gave the players today off to go along with tomorrow’s scheduled day off to think about the team’s problems. They face the 4-0 Texans next Monday night.
“They’ve got to dig deep,” Ryan said. “They’ve got to look down at themselves. We have to look as coaches at what we’re doing. I’ve never given up so many rushing yards in my life. What can we do to help? We can’t just say it’s poor tackling or it’s this and that. There must be something to it. So, we’re going to find out… Clearly, we’re not going to beat anybody when you play like that, like we did today.”
Ryan said he can’t remember ever getting beat like yesterday. The Jets lost 45-3 two years ago in New England, but they were already 9-2 at that point and in the playoff hunt.
At 2-2, the Jets remain tied for first place in the AFC East, but they feel nothing like a playoff team right now.
“Right now we’re not even close to being one of the better teams in the league, not even close,” Ryan said.
Things turned particularly embarrassing at the end of the game as MetLife Stadium emptied out except for a large number of 49ers fans who chanted, “Let’s go Niners” turning it into Candlestick East.
“It’s your worst nightmare,” defensive lineman Mike DeVito said of the scene. “That’s stuff you never want to deal with.”