All of the excitement from the Mike White game evaporated for fans of the New York Jets after just two offensive possessions on Thursday night. White had led a thrilling drive down the field, hitting Elijah Moore for a touchdown to tie the Indianapolis Colts at 7-7, before getting checked on the sideline for a forearm injury that would knock him out for the rest of the game.
That injury was all it took to take the air completely out of the balloon for Jets' fans, who were treated to an abysmal defensive performance in a 45-30 loss that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicated. The Colts went up and down the field at will in the first half, scoring touchdowns on all four of their possessions to enter the locker room with a 28-10 lead. The Jets' defense was putrid against both the run (260 yards allowed along with three touchdowns) and through the air (allowing 272 yards to Carson Wentz with three more touchdowns), killing any shot the Jets had of getting back into this game.
While the trend of poor defensive play (this was the third consecutive week the Jets have allowed 30+ points to an opponent) is alarming, the real story of the night was the injury to White. While the odds are slim that White is actually the long-awaited franchise quarterback the Jets have been searching for, the fact of the matter was that White gave the team's long-suffering fans some actual hope. There was legitimate enthusiasm for a regular-season game on a Thursday night for a 2-5 team thanks to White and it all got snuffed out by injury, which is a cruel fate for a fan base that has been tortured far more than they deserve over the past 53 years.
There were a few good things to come out of this game, including another strong offensive performance from the Jets. Moore delivered a breakout performance, racking up seven catches for 84 yards and two touchdowns, while Michael Carter compiled 85 all-purpose yards on the game. Third-stringer Josh Johnson also managed to run the Jets' offense efficiently as coordinator Mike LaFleur put together a good game plan that generated 30 points, pinning this loss squarely on the defense.
There will be plenty of stinkers with a roster this bad but the fact that the defense hasn't shown up in two of the past three games is alarming. The Jets' defensive line is simply too talented to get blown off the ball with regularity like they were against the Colts' offensive line. The secondary is young but Indianapolis had receivers running free all night, a sign of blown coverages that need to get fixed quickly by a defensive-minded head coach like Robert Saleh.
The Jets have 10 days off before their next game against the Buffalo Bills and it is still too early to answer who will be under center for that matchup. Zach Wilson could return to practice next week but the Jets won't rush him back to the field with a 2-6 record on their resume. The ideal scenario would be to see White get another shot against a good defense, something that could happen as White reportedly started to regain feeling in the forearm by the end of the game.
This game was also unsatisfying for the Jets' fans because they didn't get a chance to see White actually earn more game time or lose it, simply watching his night cut short due to injury. Primetime hasn't been kind to the Jets but the good news is there won't be many more prime-time contests in the coming years until the franchise shows it is heading in the right direction.