Jets continue downward spiral with loss to Geno Smith, Seahawks

The Jets‘ (3-9) woes continued as they lost 26-21 to the Seahawks (7-5) on a cold, sunny Sunday at MetLife Stadium after Seattle running back Zach Charbonnet scored a game-winning eight-yard touchdown with 5:31 remaining.
Gang Green has lost three straight and eight of its last nine games. The team is 1-6 since Jeff Ulbrich became the interim head coach on Oct. 8.
Aaron Rodgers completed 21-of-39 passes for 185 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He had a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter, but Leonard Williams, who was drafted by the Jets in 2015, sacked Rodgers on third down.
The Jets had one final opportunity on fourth down, but Rodgers’ pass intended for Garrett Wilson went incomplete and the Seahawks held on for the five-point win.
“I tried to throw it to five inside,” Rodgers said. “The wind was a little inconsistent. Maybe I should throw it a little flatter, but I gotta hit that. It was inconsistent, but I gotta hit that.”
Breece Hall, who was dealing with a knee injury entering Sunday’s game, recorded 60 yards on the ground but had a costly fumble in the third quarter. The fumble was Hall’s sixth of the season and the second one he lost.
“I feel like this year has probably been the most trying year of my life,” Hall said. “Just having a lot of expectations, and a lot of expectations for myself, and just not being on the successful side of that.
“There’s no excuses. If I can’t take care of the ball, I shouldn’t be in the game. I gotta be better. Today, I felt like I lost us the game and I don’t feel good about that, especially since I’m a competitive person.”
The Jets led most of the game but were held scoreless in the second half after leading 21-16 at halftime. The Seahawks outscored the Jets 10-0 in the second half.
“The second half was definitely not clean football at all in all three phases,” Ulbrich said. “We gotta take a hard look at this tape. Just the operation, the penalties, a little bit of a lot of different stuff. We gotta make sure we are cleaner there.”
In his return to MetLife Stadium, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith completed 20-of-31 passes for 206 yards and a touchdown. Sunday was the first time Smith played the Jets at MetLife Stadium. In 2013, the Jets drafted Smith in the second round out of West Virginia, and he spent four seasons with the team.
The Jets defense had issues tackling ball carriers in recent losses to the Cardinals and Colts. In Sunday’s first half, the Jets defense allowed just 124 total yards.
However, the Seahawks made the necessary halftime adjustments and registered 116 yards during the third quarter. The Jets offense also struggled in the third quarter, gaining only 46 yards. Gang Green had a potential scoring opportunity, but Hall fumbled on the 50-yard line, and the Seahawks recovered and got three points off the turnover.
In the fourth quarter, it was a comedy of errors for the Jets. On 4th and 6, the Jets were called for too many men on the field when Xavier Gipson ran on the field, thinking the Seahawks would punt. However, Seattle punter Michel Dickson was suffering from an injured back, and the team kept the offense on the field. On the very next play, Jets cornerback Qwan’tez Stiggers was called for pass interference, which gave Seattle a first down.
Then, when it seemed like the Jets stopped the Seahawks on 4th and 1 on the 34-yard line, a horse collar penalty on Solomon Thomas extended Seattle’s drive.
Gang Green committed 12 penalties for 83 yards. On the drive in which Charbonnet scored the game-winning touchdown, the Jets committed four penalties, including Will McDonald’s neutral zone infraction that helped the Seahawks get to the eight-yard line.
“I always say this, the refs, they are not perfect, we are not perfect,” Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner said. “They think they see something, they are going to throw the flag.
“I’m not going to sit here and talk bad about the refs, ain’t nobody perfect. They were doing their job how they felt at the highest level. We gotta live with those results and so do they.”
After the two teams exchanged punts to begin the game, the Jets got on the scoreboard on their second possession. On a drive that started at the 20-yard-line, Rodgers completed an eight-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams, which put them up 6-0 before Anders Carlson’s extra point was blocked.
Following the kickoff, the Jets got the ball right back thanks to a fumble by kick returner Dee Williams. Jets cornerback Brandin Echols recovered the ball on the Seahawks’ 27. Gang Green cashed in on the drive when Rodgers completed a shovel pass to rookie Isaiah Davis for a two-yard touchdown, which increased the lead to 14-0 after Hall converted the two-point conversion.
Seattle responded in the second quarter when Smith completed a 12-yard pass to tight end AJ Barner, cutting the Jets’ lead to 14-7.
Gang Green increased its lead to 21-7 after Kene Nwangwu, who was elevated from the practice squad before the game, registered a 99-yard kickoff return for the touchdown. He signed with the practice squad in September after spending his first three seasons with the Vikings.
Laviska Shenault Jr. muffed the ensuing kickoff, and Carlson recovered the ball for the Jets on the Seahawks’ 38. However, Rodgers threw an interception to defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who returned it 92 yards for a touchdown. Jason Myers’ extra point was blocked, so the game remained 21-13.
“There were a lot of things, but I think the two-play stretch where I missed Garrett open and threw a pick-6 changed the momentum of the game,” Rodgers said.
Williams reached a top speed of 17.84 mph, the fastest by a defensive tackle as a ball carrier since 2019, according to Next Gen Stats.
Myers converted a 54-yard field goal right before halftime, making the score 21-16.
After neither team scored in the third quarter, Myers’ 43-yard field goal trimmed the Jets’ lead to 21-19 early in the fourth. After a flurry of penalties by the Jets, Charbonnet scored on an eight-yard touchdown run to give Seattle a 26-21 lead with 5:31 remaining.
Right tackle Morgan Moses left the game in the first quarter after suffering a shoulder injury and did not return. Gardner (hamstring) and Brandin Echols (dehydration) also exited the game in the fourth quarter.
Gardner said he will likely get an MRI on his hamstring on Monday.
“We going to see what’s going on,” Gardner said. “I don’t think too, too crazy. I never had hamstring issues, but I’m going to be good.”
The Jets will travel to South Florida in Week 14 to play the Dolphins for the first time this season. The two teams will also meet at MetLife Stadium in the season finale on Jan. 5.