FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) -Eric Mangini spent the afternoon watching film of the New York Jets’ loss to Denver, still unhappy with just about everything he saw.
“I really don’t feel much differently than I felt after the game,” Mangini said Monday. “I think that none of the three phases really played the way that we’re capable of playing. I don’t think that we, by any stretch, played complementary football or complete football.”
The Jets were manhandled by the Broncos on Sunday, losing 34-17 as their five-game winning streak came to a crashing halt. Mangini said there was plenty of blame to go around, starting with himself.
“Obviously, I need to do a better job of coaching,” he said. “And each individual needs to do a better job getting ready for the games and being able to go out and execute.”
The players were also disappointed by what transpired Sunday following emotional victories on the road against New England and Tennessee.
effort out there,” left guard Alan Faneca said. “We definitely didn’t play up to the level we had set. I think that’s the most disappointing thing. We had set the bar high and we didn’t achieve it.”
New York blew an opportunity to truly seize control in the AFC East after New England also lost. The Jets (8-4) remain a game ahead of both the Patriots and Miami Dolphins, leaving the division wide open.
“I’ll tell you what, it’s a wakeup call,” wide receiver Laveranues Coles said. “It’s not like our season is over because of one game, but it gets us to realize, ‘OK, we can be smacked on the butt ourselves.”’
Mangini pointed out two plays that he might’ve drawn up differently. One was the controversial reverse play early in the first quarter when receiver Brad Smith’s toss to Jerricho Cotchery was fumbled away and returned for a touchdown.
“Probably would’ve changed the ballhandling and made it more of an underhanded pitch instead of an overhanded pitch,” Mangini said. “I think that would’ve softened it a little bit.”
nation.
“We’ll want some more clarity on just in terms of what the coaching point is going forward with a player laying on the ground,” he said, “how we should approach it defensively, in terms of attacking that player on the ground.”
Either way, the play set the tone for an ugly performance.
“From there on, it just seemed like things went downhill,” Coles said.
Mangini also said he might’ve approached the fourth-and-1 play early in the third quarter differently, with the Jets trailing 27-14. Brett Favre was looking for Chris Baker, but the play quickly fell apart and the quarterback was forced to take a sack.
“We had an outlet, just don’t think it was as good as it could have possibly been,” Mangini said.
New York’s offense did very little against a banged-up Denver defense until late in the game. Any momentum the Jets gained on first-down plays out of the no-huddle seemed to be short-circuited by Broncos injuries. While they wouldn’t say it outright, some Jets were suspicious, implying that Broncos coach Mike Shanahan might’ve been pulling some shenanigans.
“I’ll be interested to see their injury report,” Moore said. “I don’t know what’s going to turn out with that, but we’ll see. It should be about half the team on there.”
shington. Marquand Manuel and Josh Barrett were also injured in the fourth quarter after the Jets gained first downs.
“You know, I think maybe a couple of them might’ve been, ‘Oh, hurry up? OK, slow down,”’ Faneca said. “But I happened to catch a couple of their faces and I think for the most part, they were hurt.”
The defense also had one of its poorest performances, missing a handful of tackles and allowing the Broncos to pile up 484 yards, including 357 passing by Jay Cutler. Rookie fullback Peyton Hillis also ran for a career-high 129 yards, becoming the first to gain 100 or more against New York this season.
“We went out there from the opening drive and it just seemed like we weren’t clicking,” linebacker David Bowens said.
Despite all that, the Jets still have a favorable schedule, with a game at San Francisco coming up Sunday.
“To have a two-game lead at this point in the season would’ve been big,” Baker said. “At the same time, we have to just worry about what we can control. If we go and take care of business, we’ll be fine.”
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