The Jets had worries about Sam Darnold rupturing his spleen after a bout with mononucleosis, so the 2018 first-rounder missed Sunday’s game against the Eagles.
Luke Falk started in his place and took enough hits from the Eagles defense to make you wonder if he ruptured anything. Falk was sacked nine times before giving way to David Fales -- who was sacked once -- late in the fourth quarter. The Eagles had already pulled Carson Wentz in favor of former Jet Josh McCown at that point and the final minutes of a 31-6 Eagles win melted away from there.
The Eagles defense had been generating pressure in previous weeks, but the sacks weren’t coming as often as many around the team would have liked. They should be happier about getting three sacks from Brandon Graham and the overall performance by the pass rushers.
It wasn’t the prettiest offensive outing for the Eagles as the Jets limited the unit to 267 yards and 17 points. They’ll head to Minnesota to face the Vikings next Sunday and a stronger offensive showing will likely be necessary if they’re going to move to 4-2 on the season.
The other 14 points came on a Nate Gerry interception return and an Orlando Scandrick fumble return that underscored how little the Jets offense was able to accomplish on Sunday.
They did get their first touchdown since Week One when they cashed in a short field after a muffed punt, but that 19-yard run by Vyncint Smith was an outlier. The Jets picked up 128 yards on the afternoon and looked just as inept as they did in their other two games without Darnold in the lineup. Given the way they set up their score, punting right off the bat probably would have been a wiser way to go.