Who Fell Flat In Jets Week 5 Loss to the Cowboys?

Following their abysmal 0-4 start to the season, the NY Jets looked to get back on track against the Dallas Cowboys. Unfortunately for the Jets, they arguably played their worst game of the season on Sunday against Dallas. The product that Jets fans saw on the field was downright bad. The team looked lifeless, and ultimately had a full-blown meltdown in just about every aspect of the game. The Cowboys, who were without their WR1, Ceedee Lamb, defeated the Jets with ease, 37-22.

It wasn’t until the fourth quarter that the Jets noticed that they had to play a football game. The fourth quarter was arguably their best quarter of the season, and that speaks volumes. The Jets trailed 30-6 entering the fourth, but Justin Fields found the endzone twice to make it look somewhat respectable at least on the scoreboard. However, don’t let the scoreboard fool you; this was another downright disaster. So, who fell flat in the Jets’ Week 5 loss to the Cowboys?

3. Sauce Gardner, CB

Simply put, the Jets’ secondary has been struggling this season. Sauce Gardner is arguably the biggest culprit. Unfortunately for Sauce, he established himself as such a superstar in his first few years that this season seems like a ginormous letdown. Last week against Miami, Sauce was flagged for a crucial defensive pass interference call, which changed the outcome of the game. Out of their 13 penalties last game, more than half came on the defensive side of things.

Sadly for Gardner, things didn’t get any better this week against Dallas. Gardner was tasked with guarding George Pickens for most of the game. Pickens is a player who stepped up a great deal with Ceedee Lamb being out of commission for the time being. Gardner, in previous years, would have played very well against a player like Pickens. Not today, though. Pickens picked up a massive 43-yard touchdown at the expense of Gardner and finished the game with 57 yards on two receptions.

It doesn’t help that in yet another post-game interview, Gardner deflected and didn’t take blame for any of the Jets’ miscues. Fortunately for Sauce, he wasn’t alone. The Jets’ secondary gave up big plays to Dak Prescott, and it looked like Prescott barely broke a sweat. This included giving up two touchdowns in under two minutes left until halftime. Once again, they didn’t get any turnovers either, and that is becoming a big problem. The Jets are officially the first team in NFL history to start 0-5 without recording a single turnover.

2. Armand Membou, OL

In this game, there were a lot of momentum swings to start it off. The Jets actually kept it competitive until they had under two minutes to go in the first half. However, what didn’t help the Jets’ momentum was the multiple penalties called on the offensive line, and more specifically, on the rookie Arman Membou. Membou had a lot of hype behind him when the Jets decided to draft him. It’s fair to say he has lived up to the hype. However, this game was a step back for him.

Membou had multiple penalties called on him. This included false starts, which ultimately derailed momentum and backed up the offense any time they tried to get something going. In total, Membou had four penalties. When you realize that the Jets had 11 penalties, and Membou had almost half of them, that’s a bit concerning. This was especially costly in games as close as this one was in the first and most of the second quarter.

On top of the penalties, the offensive line did an awful job at stopping the Cowboys’ pass rush. They allowed five sacks and 14 quarterback hits. This gave Fields almost no clean pockets the entire game. With the up and down Fields season has been, it doesn’t take much to stunt his progress. Opposing defenses getting to Fields did just that.

1. Breece Hall, RB

This was a bit of a rough decision. Breece Hall has had a very up-and-down season. Looking at the stats of today’s game, one may think he had a decent game. Hall finished the game rushing for 113 yards on 14 carries. He even picked up four receptions for another 42 yards. Good stats, right? Absolutely… If you’re just looking at the box score. However, one of the most costly plays of the entire game came on the hands, or should I say out of the hands, of Hall.

The Jets trailed 10-3 late in the second. This was very much still a close game with both teams trying to find their momentum. Hall, who was having a great drive, helped get the ball inside the Redzone for the Jets. However, before the Jets even had a chance to score a touchdown, Hall had the ball punched out of him by Marist Liufau. This fumble caused the Cowboys to go on a 91-yard drive and pick up another touchdown to give them a two-score lead over the Jets.

This fumble ultimately broke the game open. Following that drive by Dallas, the Dallas defense stopped the Jets offense and got another score before halftime. This essentially put the game away, as the Cowboys went up 23-3, all in under two minutes. Hall’s fumble truly changed the tide and momentum of this game and made it all Dallas. Ultimately, this was a whole team loss, but in a game full of momentum swings, this was arguably the toughest to swallow.

The post Who Fell Flat In Jets Week 5 Loss to the Cowboys? appeared first on JetNation.com – New York Jets Blog & Forum. You can discuss this with other NY Jets fans on the Jet Nation message board. Or visit of on Facebook.