Jets' season looks all but over after disgraceful loss to Cardinals

GLENDALE, Ariz. — You can scrap all the Jets playoff talk. It’s officially mock draft season for Gang Green.

The Cardinals embarrassed the Jets, 31-6, on Sunday at State Farm Stadium, dropping the Jets to 3-7 and erasing all of the happy talk that surrounded the team after last week’s win over the Texans.

It was a debacle in the desert.

The Jets showed that win over Houston was just a tease to suck Jets fans back into hoping and believing that this team would end the playoff drought that now seems destined to reach 14 consecutive seasons.

5 Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) walks to the sidelines during the second half of an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals. AP

Yes, the Jets won’t be mathematically eliminated and you can still push and pull schedule permutations to make them a playoff team, but who would after this performance?

Should we start with the offense that was allergic to the end zone?

Or would you rather talk about the overhyped, overconfident defense that could not tackle and gave up touchdowns drives of 70, 70, 70 and 83 yards?

The Cardinals are now 6-4 and this was their fourth straight win. They are a respectable team that is in first place in the NFC West. But the Jets made them look like the 1972 Dolphins.

Kyler Murray rushed for two touchdowns while throwing for 266 yards and a touchdown. The Jets worried about stopping the rushing attack led by James Conner all week, but Arizona threw all over the vaunted Jets secondary. The Cardinals scored on their first five possessions, not punting until the fourth quarter.

The Cardinals had 239 yards and 18 first downs in the first half. The Cardinals finished with 406 total yards in the game and 28 first downs.

The Jets, on the other hand, could barely move the ball and when they did they faltered in the red zone. They had 85 yards and no touchdowns in the opening half.

5 Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) runs for a touchdown against the New York Jets during the second half of an NFL football game on Sunday, AP

Aaron Rodgers threw for just 40 yards in the half. Davante Adams had zero catches on two targets.

Rodgers finished with 151 passing yards on 22 of 35 passing with no touchdowns. Whatever the Jets offense thought they found in the second half against Houston did not make the trip west.

It was clear the way this one was going to go from the start. The Cardinals moved the ball easily on the first series. It looked like the Cardinals scored a 45-yard touchdown on a short pass from Murray to Conner that the running back down the sideline, avoiding a tackle from Jets safety Jalen Mills.

It was initially ruled a 45-yard touchdown but replay showed Conner was down just short of the goal line. The overturned play just delayed the touchdown by a few minutes. Conner ran it in two plays later and gave the Cardinals a 7-0 lead.

5 The Cardinals’ Mack Wilson Sr. (2), Jesse Luketa (43) and safety Dadrion Taylor-Demerson (42) celebrate an incomplete pass to Jets wide receiver Davante Adams (17) during the second half at State Farm Stadium Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images

The Jets offense answered with an 11-play drive but could not reach the end zone. They were stopped at the Cardinals 7-yard line and new kicker Spencer Shrader kicked a 25-yard field goal, the first of his career.

The ugly first half for the Jets defense continued with Arizona marching 70 yards on nine plays on their second series. They got to the 1-yard line with help from a D.J. Reed pass interference penalty in the end zone. On third-and-goal from the 1, Murray faked the handoff and ran around the left end for a touchdown and a 14-3 lead.

Shrader made his second field goal of the day, a 45-yarder early in the second quarter to cut the deficit to 14-6.

The Jets defense seemed to have no answers for the Cardinals. Murray connected with Marvin Harrison Jr. for a 9-yard touchdown to go up 21-3 with 5:44 left in the first half. This came after two third down completions to tight end Trey McBride on the drive.

5 James Conner #6 of the Arizona Cardinals runs with the ball while being tackled by Jamien Sherwood #44 of the New York Jets in the second quarter at State Farm Stadium on November 10, 2024. Getty Images

On the first one, Sauce Gardner failed to tackle McBride, letting him pick up 15 more yards and the first down. Then Murray hit McBride for a 13-yard gain on third-and-10 that put the ball at the Jets 9. This came after Jets linebacker Quincy Williams absolutely drilled Murray as an unblocked blitzer, knocking Murray’s helmet off. Somehow, the hit did not faze him.

The Cardinals added a field goal just before halftime to take a 24-6 lead at the break. Chad Ryland made the 37-yarder.

Last week against the Texans, the Jets trailed at halftime and then found some magic at halftime and scored three second-half touchdowns to win the game.

It looked like the Jets might have found that same magic again at halftime until it vanished. The Jets opened the second half with the ball and got help from the Cardinals when Garrett Williams was flagged for pass interference on third down, erasing an interception and giving the Jets a first down at midfield. The Jets moved the ball down to the Arizona 3.

5 Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers (8) and linebacker Marcelino McCrary-Ball (41) leave the field after an NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals. AP

Rodgers threw two incompletions on passes intended for Adams and then fumbled on fourth-and-goal when he was sacked by Xavier Thomas. The fumble was recovered by Cardinals linebacker Kyzir White.

The Cardinals did what they had done all day after getting the ball back, embarrassed the Jets defense. Murray moved the Cardinals 88 yards on 10 plays, including one ridiculous pass to a wide open McBride for a first down. Murray capped it off by running through the Jets defense for a 12-yard touchdown, the exclamation point on a pathetic performance from the Jets.

The Jets now return home to face the Colts before their bye week. They might win that game, but they won’t fool anyone into believing this time. Bring on the mock drafts.

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