The Jets walked out of last week’s season-opening win on the road over the Titans fired up about their two-headed rushing attack with Breece Hall and Braelon Allen.
They rushed for 152 yards on 39 carries against the Titans.
And then, in Sunday’s 20-17 overtime loss to the Packers in their home opener, they managed only 67 yards on 27 carries. Hall had 29 yards on 16 carries and Allen 7 yards on five carries.
The most egregious moment of the day came late in the fourth quarter of a 17-17 game, when the Jets ran Hall on third-and-2 and Allen on fourth-and-1 and failed to make a first down.
“We just didn’t get it, bro,’’ Hall said. “We were a few inches short, whatever. We’ve still got to find ways.’’
There was another moment when Hall gained 43 yards on a catch on the final play of the third quarter to get the ball to the Green Bay 40-yard line, and the offense got no points out of that.
“For the offense, it hurts,’’ Hall said. “I feel like we could have helped the defense out a little more, shown them a little more love, put a few more points on the board so they could be a little more comfortable.’’
Jets rookie LB David Bailey recorded a sack on the first play from scrimmage on a broken play when he stopped Packers QB Jordan Love for a 1-yard loss. It was Bailey’s second sack in as many weeks, after he pushed Titans QB Cam Ward out of bounds.
Bailey also forced a fumble in the second quarter on the Packers’ Tucker Kraft, but the tight end recovered the ball.
It was one of five fumbles the Jets defense forced in the game, but all of them were recovered by Green Bay. S Andre Cisco forced one on Packers RB Kaleb Johnson, and DT Harrison Phillips forced one on Love.
“That’s just one of the unfortunate parts of it; the ball didn’t bounce our way after we punched it out,’’ Kingsley Enagbare said. “It’s part of the mentality we bring. We’re trying to punch the ball out, get the ball back for our offense. Just unfortunate that it didn’t really go our way.’’
Sunday was the 100th career NFL start for Jets QB Geno Smith, who entered the game with a 4-0 career record in games he’d played against Jonathan Gannon, the Packers defensive coordinator who used to be the Cardinals head coach.
The Jets were the only team in Week 1 to play a game without a turnover or allowing a sack. Sunday, Smith was sacked four times for 29 yards in losses.
Jets wide receiver and returner Isaiah Williams had a rough first half. He muffed a punt return that was recovered near the goal line by teammate Qwan’tez Stiggers in the first quarter, averting disaster.
Then, he muffed another punt on which he called for a fair catch. Stiggers recovered that one, too, but Williams was called for an illegal fair catch signal on the play.
The Jets lost several players to injury in the first half, inluding LB Marcelino McCrary-Ball (ankle), LB Kiko Mauigoa (quadriceps) and edge rusher David Onyemata (groin). None of the three returned.
The Jets inactives were CB D’Angelo Ponds, S Minkah Fitzpatrick, RB Kene Nwangwu, EDGE Joseph Ossai, LB Trevin Wallace and K Blake Grupe. Ponds, a second-round pick, practiced all week after returning from a calf injury but was a healthy scratch.
