Jets coach Rex Ryan stopped short of erasing any copies of his team’s game Sunday with the Bengals from every hard drive in Florham Park, but he did not show the game during the team’s meetings on Monday as he usually would.
Instead, Ryan told the players to watch the 49-9 loss on their own and then move on quickly to this week’s game against the Saints.
“We’re a much better team than that,” Ryan said. “We know we’re a better team than that. But again, what happened happened. We better move forward. That’s why I did what I did.”
Ryan employed the same technique in 2010 after the Patriots handed the Jets the worst loss of the Ryan era — a 45-3 dismantling. They also buried the game ball that week. None of those tricks worked, though, as the Jets fell to the Dolphins a week later.
Sunday’s game was the fourth time the Jets have given up more than 40 points under Ryan. They are 1-2 after those games, losing in 2010 and again in 2011 to the Giants a week after the Eagles hung 45 points on them. They did beat the Cardinals last year 7-6 in the game after the buttfumble contest, when the Pats scored 49.
The Bengals’ 49 points matched the Patriots’ total from last year as the most scored against Ryan, and it was the second-biggest margin Ryan’s Jets have ever lost by after that 2010 Patriots game.
The Jets were still a bit shocked Monday at how bad the loss was, but they vowed to clean things up this week.
“We knew that wasn’t Jet football,” defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson said. “We’ve moved past that. We’re getting ready for New Orleans.”
The Jets know they have no time to lick their wounds. The Saints are 6-1 and have the sixth-rated offense in the league and third-best passing offense. They are led by quarterback Drew Brees, who threw for five touchdowns Sunday against the Bills.
“We have to improve in a hurry in a lot of areas. If we don’t play better pass defense than we played this past week, he’ll throw for 700 yards,” Ryan said of Brees. “Clearly we have to improve in that area.”
The Bengals killed the Jets with how many offensive weapons they have. The Saints have similar firepower with Jimmy Graham at tight end, the receiving trio of Marques Colston, Lance Moore and Kenny Stills, along with versatile running back Darren Sproles.
“New Orleans is one that will flat-out embarrass you,” Ryan said.
The biggest problem for the Jets is correcting their issues in the secondary in just one week. Antonio Cromartie is playing nothing like he was in 2012 when he made the Pro Bowl, and rookie Dee Milliner was benched for the second time in four starts on Sunday.
The Bengals hit the Jets in the mouth Sunday, jumping out to a 14-0 lead before they knew what hit them and then cruised from there.
“It’s tough,” linebacker Demario Davis said. “You think [when] they get out quick and go up 14-0 that you’re going to put your feet in the ground and be able to fight back, but it’s kind of like quicksand. The more we fought, the deeper we slipped. But it happens. It’s part of the game. Now it’s onto the next one.”
Ryan said no matter what the Jets tried on defense, nothing worked.
“Usually you can stop the bleeding,” Ryan said. “That day it was tough. We needed a tourniquet and we couldn’t find one.”
They better find one before Sunday or it could be another bloodbath, this one at MetLife Stadium.