MacGregor Wells of Gang Green Nation joins BRB for five questions
The Houston Texans return to the scene of the crime from last season. The game against the Jets was the absolute low point of the season for the Texans. They loss horribly to a team with a worse record and C.J. Stroud exited the game with a concussion that saw him miss two games. A large part of the problem was a depleted offense that saw every good wide receiver miss most of the game.
Will history repeat itself against the New York Jets? The Jets come in 2-6 and every conventional number favors the Texans, but the short rest and beat up squad make this one look a lot closer than you otherwise think. We sat down with MacGregor Wells of Gang Green Nation to get the skinny on what is going on with the Jets in advance of this Thursday night showdown.
Battle Red Blog: Obviously the Jets have been a disappointment so far on the season. As someone closer to the action, what have been the primary issues?
MacGregor Wells: The issues are legion, and largely unfixable. Aaron Rodgers is old and playing like it. The offensive tackles are old and playing like it. The Jets defensive success over the past few years was predicated on a defensive line that could pressure the passer without blitzing. Then the Jets dismantled half the defensive line over the offseason, trading defensive tackle John Franklin-Myers, letting defensive tackle Quinton Jefferson walk in free agency, and letting their best pass rusher, defensive end Bryce Huff, walk in free agency and replacing him with Haason Reddick, who held out until last week. That’s 20 sacks the Jets let go, and replaced them with basically nothing. In addition, defensive end Jermaine Johnson, who gave the Jets an additional 7 sacks last year, suffered a season ending injury after two games this season. The result has been a bad defensive line that can’t get to the quarterback, other than the lone bright spot on the line, second year pass rusher Will McDonald. Fortunately the Jets have compensated for a bad pass rush with an utterly inept run defense. In addition cornerback Sauce Gardner is having a down year for reasons unknown after starting his career with two All Pro nods. Throw in injuries to the top three safeties on the team and the defense has been a mess after being excellent the prior two years. The coaching has also been suspect, leading to the firing of head coach Robert Saleh and the demotion of offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett. It’s just a whole litany of issues which aren’t likely to improve much any time soon.
BRB: The Jets obviously made a big splash by adding Davante Adams? How has he looked so far?
MW: After two games Davante Adams has fit right in with this Jets team. He has looked old, slow and largely ineffective, with just 7 receptions and 84 yards on 15 targets, good for a horrendous 5.6 yards per target. It’s too early to draw any definitive conclusions, but if this continues, the Davante Adams trade will go down with the rest of this titanic failure of a team as another Jets disaster.
BRB: Who are some names on offense and defense that we haven’t heard of but could make a big impact on Thursday night?
MW: On defense Will McDonald has surprised a lot of people, with 8 sacks in the first 8 games of the season. He has been the only effective Jets pass rusher. On offense the closest thing to a lesser known guy who might have a big impact is rookie running back Braelon Allen. He has been at least as effective as the much more heralded Breece Hall when he has gotten an opportunity to play. Allen is a big, bruising back who can run over people and excels in short yardage situations. However the Jets seem wedded to Breece Hall, who has played better of late, but still has had a disappointing year overall. I’m not sure Allen will get many opportunities in this game, but if he does he might surprise you with his talent.
BRB: The AFC East race feels over from afar. Do any of the teams have a chance to catch the Bills? On an unrelated note, which divisional opponent to Jets fans enjoy beating the most?
MW: Do any AFC East teams have a shot at catching the Bills? In a word, no. Of course that is a false statement mathematically. In theory anything could happen. If Josh Allen were to go down the picture could change, particularly if Tua Tagovailoa stays healthy and plays well. But outside of a catastrophic injury to Allen or a huge string of injuries to a bunch of key Bills starters, the Bills are going to win the division again.
As for which division rival Jets fans enjoy beating the most, that depends largely on how old the fans are. Anyone old enough to remember the AFC East before Tom Brady likely takes the most pleasure in beating the Miami Dolphins, who were the Jets’ most hated rival before Brady. Anyone too young to remember a pre-Brady era probably revels in beating the New England Patriots the most. For whatever reason, the Buffalo Bills rarely register on the most hated rival scale for Jets fans of any age.
BRB: Fanduel has the Texans (-1.5) favored to win on Thursday night. How do you see the game going? Are there any prop bets you feel comfortable recommending?
MW: There’s always the chance the Texans look past the Jets and we see an upset, but that’s not the way to bet. The Texans are a much better team than the Jets. Better on offense, better on defense, better coaching. There’s no good reason to expect a Jets win here, and I don’t expect one. I think the Texans will cruise to a fairly easy victory, probably by a touchdown or more. I’m not really a gambler, so I don’t have much to say about prop bets, but I’d expect a big day from Joe Mixon, because the Jets can’t stop the run, and the game flow will probably have the Texans protecting a lead and handing Mixon the ball a lot in the second half.
We want to than MacGregor for taking the time to sit down for our questions. We know it has been a long season for the Jets and their fans. They are on the hunt for a new coach next season and chances are 50/50 that they might be blowing the whole thing up. As Texans fans, we have been there and been there fairly recently. We want to wish MacGregor and the Jets the best of luck for the rest of the way. As per usual, we hope that luck begins on Friday morning.