EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Once again, a New York Jets home loss was defined by a curse. This time, it wasn't Geno Smith with the potty mouth, it was Denver Broncos tight end Julius Thomas, who caught touchdown pass No. 506 from Peyton Manning and screamed, "It's so f---ing easy! It's so easy!"
Thanks to an end zone mike, his on-the-spot commentary reached a nation of television viewers.
Yes, the Broncos made it look bleeping easy at times in their 31-17 victory Sunday at MetLife Stadium. The Jets? They just bleeping stunk on offense.
It's never easy for them. Their offense, which performs as if the field is 200 yards long, has unraveled before our eyes, and you want to know the most alarming part? You can't blame it on Smith and his turnover-prone ways. He was the easy scapegoat last season -- ditto, the first three losses this year -- but this problem goes beyond the quarterback.
Blame general manager John Idzik for constructing an offense with no deep threats and thinking Chris Johnson could rejuvenate his once-great career after years on the decline.
Blame Rex Ryan, whose myopic view of the game creates an organizational imbalance. He's a glorified defensive coordinator, with zero input into the offense. His defensive mind can keep the team in games, as it did Sunday, but that's not enough.
Blame offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, whose play calling is all over the map. He goes from trusting Smith too much to not trusting him at all, which happened to be the case against the Broncos.
Blame the offensive line, a once-formidable unit (circa 2009) that got pushed around by the Broncos. The Jets rushed for only 31 yards, their lowest total since 2006. When Ryan said he wanted Smith to run more often, he probably didn't mean for him to be the leading rusher. But he was -- with a grand total of 11 yards. Ronnie Hillman, the Broncos' backup-turned-starter, gained more yards (26) on one of his carries than the combined total of Johnson and Chris Ivory (16).
The Jets (1-5), losers of five straight, can't function if they can't run. It's as simple as that, as Mornhinweg likes to say.
"We're playing with only two of the three phases right now, the offense not being one of those phases," right tackle Breno Giacomini said.
Smith still hasn't proved he's part of the solution, and he may never get to that point, but his past two interceptions (one last week, one Sunday) haven't ruined the Jets. This has been a team meltdown. They missed a chance to upset the Broncos on a day in which Manning didn't have his A-game.
In their past 49 possessions with Smith at quarterback, the Jets have produced only five touchdowns -- awful. Somehow, they managed a 63-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to make it 24-17 (File under: Even a blind squirrel ...), but they squandered a chance to tie the game with 6:09 remaining. They went three-and-out, with Smith misfiring on a third-down slant to Eric Decker.
"I've got to put the ball in a better spot and he's got to get a little bit more separation, so we can pick up those first downs in the future," said Smith, who didn't throw his weekly interception until the final seconds -- a pick-six from his own 1-yard line.
After last week's 31-0 debacle, the Jets' plan was to reestablish the running game, but it quickly became apparent the plan wasn't going to work. On their first eight first-down runs, they gained only eight yards. If you can't run on first down, there's no hope. The line generated no push whatsoever. The Broncos loaded the box, daring Smith to throw. He completed 23-of-43 for 190 yards, mostly quick throws.
They made no attempt to stretch the field, allowing the Broncos to swarm the line of scrimmage. In fact, nine of Smith's 11 attempts in the final quarter were thrown five yards or less in the air, according to ESPN Stats & Information data. Mornhinweg had him on a tight leash.
With no playmakers on the perimeter, the Jets are an easy team to defend. Decker is a solid, complementary receiver, and rookie tight end Jace Amaro (10 catches for 68 yards and one touchdown) is an emerging player, but there's a shortage of explosiveness at the skill positions. That falls on Idzik, who, with 12 draft choices, failed to adequately address a glaring need. Johnson was supposed to provide a home-run threat at running back, but he can't get the ball out of the infield.
The Jets had two chances to tie it in the fourth quarter, but did anyone honestly believe Smith & Co. were going to march for a touchdown? It was just a tease.
"That's terrible," Giacomini said of the blown chances.
Afterward, Ryan seemed almost resigned to the current predicament.
"We're struggling a little bit, offensively," he said.
Forget the curses. Maybe they're just cursed.
