The Jets are finding it easier to protect Nathaniel Hackett than Aaron Rodgers.
For all the attention paid to Rodgers, after a rare three-interception stinker, and playmakers Garrett Wilson and Breece Hall, the offensive struggles that have marred back-to-back losses to the Broncos and Vikings and marked a slow start can be traced back to two common denominators: An offensive line that is failing to meet expectations set during an aggressive offseason and an offensive coordinator offering few creative solutions.
“I’m not discouraged,” head coach Robert Saleh said Monday, one day after a 23-17 loss to the Vikings, when asked about the performance of an offensive line that has allowed 47 pressures, 25 quarterback hits and eight sacks on an astounding 104 dropbacks over the last two games. “I’m very disappointed with the way the last couple of weeks have gone. Something that we obviously need to get fixed.”
The short-term fix won’t include a change in play-caller to pass-game coordinator Todd Downing, a former play-caller for the Titans and Raiders, or anyone else.
Asked by The Post, Saleh said he is not considering taking play-calling away from Hackett despite the Jets ranking No. 27 out of 32 NFL teams in total offense, No. 32 in rushing offense and No. 25 in scoring offense.
“This scheme in New York is not Super Bowl-worthy,” ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky said on “Get Up.” “It’s too standstill. The predictability of it is an issue. This offense is pretty rudimentary when it comes to, they run the same concept on both sides.”
The blame on the offensive line and Hackett for the losses to the Broncos and Vikings can be hard to separate.
“They’re two of the more dynamic blitzing teams in football, and the reality is if you throw the ball over 50 times like we did, the quarterback’s going to get hit. Period,” Saleh said. “We didn’t run the ball well enough [Sunday] and we dropped back to pass way too often. When you’re sitting in longer situations and teams can tee off on you, it just stockpiles on you.”
Take, as an example of one-dimensionality, a crucial two-play sample size in the first half against the Vikings.
The Jets ran the ball into the middle of the line with Braelon Allen on third-and-3 and (after bypassing a field goal) fourth-and-2.
Even with three tight ends to help block, two linebackers shot gaps to stuff Allen on third down.
To make it more difficult on fourth down, Hackett put Rodgers in the shotgun and Allen directly behind him eight yards shy of the line of scrimmage — so 10 to gain — at the snap. The play never had a chance when an unblocked Dallas Turner shot off the edge and slowed down Allen.
“I don’t want to say the O-line is just not playing well enough,” Saleh said. “We’re not being efficient enough to put ourselves in position to play football. We’re having to play catch-up against two really good defenses that pressure the quarterback at a high level, and we basically fell into the teeth of their defense.”
It’s easy to say the Jets should run the ball more after 96 pass attempts in two games.
Opponents only are stacking the box with eight or more defenders on 14.2 percent of carries — the fifth-lowest rate in the NFL this season — and yet 23 percent of the Jets’ runs are for zero or lost yards.
But the running game seems to be getting worse.
In Week 5, Jets’ -0.62 Expected Points Added per Rush ranked worst in the league and their -0.1 Rush Yards over Expected ranked No. 20 of 26 teams who played before Monday night.
Exactly the opposite of what the Jets expected to be able to do against the blitz-happy Vikings.
“The beauty of having a lot of zone [run] schemes, a lot of gap schemes, you can catch them with what they are trying to do in terms of [creating] pressure,” Allen said before the game. “They’re going to get theirs, but we can get our opportunities.”
After unreliable offensive lines stunted Zach Wilson’s development and wasted defensive gems for the last two seasons, the Jets added three new starters — free agents Tyron Smith and John Simpson, and trade acquisition Morgan Moses — and used a first-round draft pick on Olu Fashanu to guard against the exact scenario that has happened: An injured Moses forcing Fashanu into the starting lineup.
The melting-pot line practiced together in training camp, yet still looks out of sync. Why?
“The coaching, in particular on offense, is out of the Stone Age,” said ESPN analyst Damien Woody, a former Jets offensive lineman, on “Get Up.” “They have no plan as far as protection is concerned.”
