The Jets from New York have suffered their fourth loss in six games to start the 2024 season, losing 23-20 to the Buffalo Bills on a night where they squandered numerous opportunities to seize control. Like the rest of their losses, the defeat was largely due to the severe underperformance of several talented players the team felt it could count on heading into the season.

Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich spoke often about “accountability” after being placed in the role last week. Well, here’s his chance to show that he really believes in it.

If Ulbrich wants to save this Jets season, he will get these two team-crushing veterans off the field before they cost the Jets any more games. Forget the money invested in them, forget their experience, forget their brand recognition – hold them accountable for the team’s best.

Greg Zuerlein

Zuerlein missed two go-ahead field goals in the second half, both from under 50 yards. It remains a terrible start to the season for Zuerlein, who is now 8-for-12 with three of his four misses coming from under 50 yards. His missed kicks cost the Jets two wins.

Zuerlein had a great 2023 season for the Jets, making 92.1% of his field goals and going 5-for-6 from 50+ yards. This earned him a two-year contract worth $8.4 million with the team in the 2024 offseason.

While Zuerlein played well in 2023, the idea of ​​him being a highly reliable veteran kicker has always been far-fetched. Zuerlein has been wildly inconsistent throughout his career.

Zuerlein’s career field goal percentage of 82.6% is three points lower than the 2024 NFL average of 85.6%. In fact, 2023 was his first season with a field goal percentage above 83% since 2018. Of his thirteen career seasons to date, Zuerlein has eclipsed 83% just five times. He also missed an NFL-high 9 extra points from 2020-21 with the Cowboys, his final two seasons before coming to New York. Additionally, despite being known for his leg strength, Zuerlein has only made 56% of his career attempts from beyond 50 yards.

Zuerlein is not one of those holy kickers who must be followed with unwavering faith into the fiery depths of the earth. He’s a below-average kicker who happened to get hot last year. And now he’s having another one of his bad seasons. This is not at all unusual for Zuerlein; he has had three seasons in his career where he made fewer than 75% of his field goals. He is well on his way to fourth place.

At the very least, the Jets should bring in some kickers for tryouts this week and see if anyone stands out as a likely upgrade. Zuerlein hasn’t done anything in his career that gives the Jets blind faith that he will improve. He’s not above being held accountable for costing the Jets multiple wins.

Tyron Smith

Tyron Smith is deep into his career at age 33, but the Jets still expected to get an elite left tackle when they signed him in March. The likely future Hall-of-Famer was a second-team All-Pro in 2023. His stats and film were both elite. As a lineman best known for his elite technique, he seemed like the type of player who would age well into his 30s.

Every NFL player hits a wall at some point — Father Time maintains his all-time winning percentage record of 1,000 — but no one could have expected Smith to fall this difficult in a year. A drop from elite to good would have been feasible. Even a downgrade from elite to decent would have given the Jets’ offense a viable chance of survival. But Smith is neither good nor decent. He is a huge liability who drags down the entire offense.

With the exception of Zuerlein, Smith was the most expensive Jet on the field last night.

Smith allowed a crushing blindside sack on third-and-15 from the edge of field goal range, costing the Jets potential points and forcing a punt. Rodgers also lost the ball and was lucky to get it back. Later, Smith allowed another third-down sack to force a punt, though he was fortunately saved by a baffling passer penalty (which Rodgers himself admitted was incorrect).

The worst violation was a holding penalty near the goal line that negated a Braelon Allen touchdown, which would have given the Jets a 26-20 lead (let’s not assume Zuerlein would have made the extra point). Fans can complain about the referee all they want, but Smith certainly committed a penalty on the play, and it had no effect on Allen’s run, making it even more frustrating. The Jets would fail to score a touchdown and Zuerlein missed the ensuing field goal attempt. Smith immediately removed six (possibly seven) points from the board.

This continues a terrible start to the season for Smith. According to Pro Football Focus, he ranks second among left tackles with 5 sacks allowed (he would rank first with 6 if the phantom roughing call didn’t happen). Smith also ties for the third-highest pressures allowed among left tackles with 16.

It’s shocking how far these numbers deviate from Smith’s character. His five sacks are already the most he has allowed in a season since 2015, and we are only six games in. He allowed just three sacks in thirteen games last season. In terms of pressures, Smith is just five shy of his 2023 total of 21 in 13 games, and is on pace for a career-worst 45, which is 15 more than his worst mark over the past eleven seasons (30) .

The icing on the cake is Smith’s five penalties, which ranks him seventh among left tackles. He is the only remaining tackle in the NFL with 5+ penalties and 5+ sacks allowed.

The most troubling aspect of Smith’s game is how badly he gets hit. He gets absolutely toasted with speed runs around corners, often not even touching his man. As a blind protector of a 40-year-old quarterback, this is an unplayable weakness. Aaron Rodgers won’t last much longer if Smith makes Rodgers take blind side shots at full speed that he isn’t prepared for.

The Jets drafted Penn State tackle Olu Fashanu with the 11th overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, hoping he could develop behind Smith in 2024 and take over as their left tackle of the future in 2025 . Fashanu to take out insurance in the likely event that the highly injury-prone veteran missed time.

Fortunately, Smith was able to stay on the field, but no one expected him to play so poorly if he stayed healthy. It’s time for the Jets to consider using Fashanu for the other emergency: Smith washing up.

The Jets’ season is in tough times. Aaron Rodgers is their only hope. And that hope will evaporate very quickly if Tyron Smith continues to play left tackle. New York can’t pretend that Smith is going to figure things out.

Smith’s struggles were somewhat concerning in Week 1, but it was against a great Niners team, so he earned some slack. Then it continued in Week 3 against a dismal Patriots team. Very worrying, but only three games. Maybe he’ll figure out how to adapt to his loss of athleticism. But now it’s been six games. Right now, this is who Tyron Smith is in 2024. He’s cooked. He is not going to adjust or sort things out. His athleticism is simply gone and he can’t do anything to make up for it.

It’s time for Ulbrich to make the decision that’s best for the team. Fashanu could also struggle at left tackle, but Smith Certainly shall. We’ve seen him perform as one of the worst left tackles in football through six games now.

With TJ Watt and the Steelers on the way, Rodgers will be lucky to leave Pittsburgh alive if 77 protects his blind side again. It’s time to pass the torch to Fashanu and live with the results.