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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Just when you think the Jets season couldn't get any lower, they find a way to hit rock bottom.
On Sunday, rock bottom was found, and there may not be an opportunity to get back up in the future.
The Jets were desperate for a win against their AFC East rival Dolphins. Instead, the 0-5 Dolphins came away with a shocking 28-25 victory within the confines of MetLife Stadium, dropping the Jets to 2-5.
Perhaps it was a bad omen of things to come when the Dolphins offense came out firing with a seven-play touchdown drive to open the game. They scored on three of their first four offensive drives of the game, including one at the end of the first half that ate up over seven minutes of game action to take a 21-7 lead going into the break.
The Jets made it a game in the second half, cutting the deficit to four going into the final quarter. But a 63-yard touchdown pass, coupled with a clutch fourth-down conversion late in the contest, sealed the team's fate.
As always, there's plenty of studs and duds to look through after a loss like that. Let's go through those now.
Few things actually looked good for the Jets on Sunday. One of their bright spots came from second-year tight end Mason Taylor. The LSU product outjumped an opposing corner in the first quarter to muscle his way for a 13-yard touchdown (h/t NFL).
It's National Tight Ends Day and Mason Taylor is joining the party
— NFL (@NFL) October 25, 2026
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It was the kind of play that highlighted the effectiveness of Taylor—someone who can make plays in the receiving end while also using his abilities as a blocker to make a positive impact. He made almost the exact same play late in the game to cut the deficit to three.
In total, Taylor finished with five catches, 62 yards receiving and two scores. It was his first two-touchdown game of his career.
Taylor is a good player. One the Jets can use in the future.
There's no sugarcoating it. This was a disaster for Jets head coach Aaron Glenn. The loss drops him to 0-8 in the AFC East. It was also a game in which he was going against a first-time head coach and a team without a win. Instead of coming out inspired, the Jets looked flat in all areas of the game.
Glenn touted his play-calling prowess during the offseason, but the Dolphins were prepared for everything he threw at them. A team that did not have a lead going into the game yet this season had a comfortable lead throughout the contest.
It's not like the team could point to player execution either. New York did not call a timeout once in the first half despite having multiple opportunities to give the ball back to their offense with a chance for last-minute points. After not calling a timeout in the first half, Glenn inexplicably called a timeout within the first five minutes of the second half to save his offense from a delay of game.
And when the team needed a stop most, the Jets gave up a 63-yard touchdown to close out the game. The loss moved the Jets and Glenn to 0-8 against AFC East opponents.
A loss like this feels more like the beginning of the end for Glenn's tenure. The team believes in him, but in a results-driven business, the Jets are simply not good with him at the helm. And it might be time to start looking elsewhere.
New York's best offensive player on Sunday, besides the work of Mason Taylor, was wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. The first-round rookie caught five passes for 115 yards and a touchdown (h/t NFL). He became the first Jets receiver with 100 yards in back-to-back games since Al Toon in 1985.
The @nyjets rookie Omar Cooper Jr. finds the end zone for the second-straight week
— NFL (@NFL) October 25, 2026
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Much will be made about the Jets' inability to get Garrett Wilson the ball (and we'll get to that shortly), but Cooper seems to be a star in the making. One that the Jets will be able to use to great affect in their offense.
General manager Darren Mougey should be thrilled he was able to trade up for the Indiana star. He's become vital to this offense.
Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich has been around many great receivers over his playing and coaching career. Never before have we seen a staff be unable to get the football to a star receiver like this.
New York's offense targeted Wilson just three times on Sunday and watched the star catch two passes for 26 yards. After the game, Geno Smith said the Dolphins were keying on Wilson throughout the game and making sure they wouldn't beat him, but that isn't necessarily what happened either. New York simply didn't manufacture touches for him.
Whether it was the team's screen calls to Adonai Mitchell, Cooper or Allen, the Jets opted not to try to force the ball to Wilson. The fact that they seem to be the one team in the NFL that simply doesn't know how to get the ball to their best player is disheartening.
And that's before the Jets bungled many other play-calling opportunities, including needing to kick a field goal despite having a first-and-goal at the opponent's one-yard line during the game.
Reich has not been up to the task so far this season. With the amount of talent the Jets have, this is arguably one of the more disappointing staff breakdowns over the last few years.
New York has a very uncomfortable conversation to have in the near future. While star running back Breece Hall has been out with an injury, Braelon Allen has become one of the franchise's best players. On Sunday, he ran for 104 yards on 17 carries for a whopping 6.1 yards per carry average.
Allen still lacks breakaway speed and there were a couple of plays that could have been long touchdowns if he were faster, but he remains a bell cow for this offense. When Hall does return, New York will have to start splitting carries between the two RBs. There's simply no feasible reason they can take Allen off the field anymore.
Sunday was a disaster for the Jets organization. One group was worse than any other, though, and that was the team's defense. New York gave up 28 points to a Dolphins team that had one of the worst offenses in football. They couldn't stop the run, gave up back-breaking penalties and missed key tackles as well.
Going into Sunday, the Dolphins were the only team that had played without a lead for the first six games of the season. They led for a majority of the game against the Jets, recorded over five yards per play, and controlled the ball for nearly 35 minutes.
Worst of all was the run defense. New York has given up 304 combined rushing yards in the last two weeks. It may get worse with the Chiefs and Bills waiting on Gang Green's schedule.
This group has to play a lot better going forward.
New York struggled to get any consistent pressure on Malik Willis on Sunday. While David Bailey and Kingsley Enagbare shared a sack, it was Nate Lynn, a free-agent pickup during the preseason, who made the most of his chance to make an impact.
Lynn recorded his first sack of the season on a key third down in the second half to give the Jets a chance to take the lead late. New York may have squandered that opportunity, but Lynn is a player who clearly needs to be a part of the defensive line rotation going forward.
The numbers show an efficient and successful day for Geno Smith and the Jets offense.
Smith ended the game with 23-for-30 passing, 287 yards and three touchdowns to go along with a first-quarter interception, implying Smith was perfectly fine on Sunday.
The tape will tell a different story.
Reich gets blamed for not getting Wilson the ball, but Sunday had more to do with Smith not targeting him than the actual play calls. Throughout Sunday, Wilson was running open over the middle of the field on several routes. For whatever reason, Smith didn't throw the ball. He also held onto the ball too long and seemed happier to check the ball down rather than get it to an open target.
Simply put, while the numbers showed he had a good game, the tape highlights an offense stuck in the mud in key areas because the Jets' quarterback isn't ripping the ball down the field.