For the New York Jets, the season officially began on Monday evening with a game against the reigning NFC champions San Francisco 49ers. The important duel served as a litmus test for how they could fare against the top teams in the league.
There was a lot of optimism before this competition.
Not only has the offense gotten its future Hall of Famer back in Aaron Rodgers, the defense also seems to continue to be top-class despite the loss of several top-class players and the fact that Haason Reddick is unavailable due to his ongoing absence.
Nevertheless, the Jets should once again be one of the best defensive units in the NFL, and that is largely due to their secondary, which is led by world-class cornerback Sauce Gardner.
Heading into this clash, the two-time first-team All-Pro player was tasked with facing two of the toughest tasks in football, with Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel on the opposing side.
Gardner lived up to his elite nickname early on, recording a pass breakdown, two tackles and one loss.
But the star cornerback was mysteriously on the sidelines during parts of the 49ers’ drives after colliding with Samuel’s knee during a tackle.
According to ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters, there was no mention of a medical issue on the broadcast, and the fact that he was standing on the sideline without a helmet in his hand caused confusion.
Luckily, Gardner made it back onto the field before halftime when San Francisco was in the red zone and was able to help New York stop the offense and limit the 49ers to a field goal.
In the second half, the Jets have a lot of work to do on both sides of the ball.
After the offense held three empty-net plays to start, a fumble followed on the fourth snap of the game. They were able to respond and score their first touchdown of the year on a three-yard run by Breece Hall that capped a 12-play drive, but otherwise were stopped on two subsequent three-and-outs.
Defensively, New York did a good job of preventing San Francisco from getting into the end zone, but they were slaughtered on the ground by 104 yards and 5.2 yards per carry, which is surprising considering Christian McCaffrey sat out this game and backup Jordan Mason had to step in.
In the second half, all eyes will be on Gardner’s situation after he spent some time on the bench for a reason unknown at the time of writing.
