Demario Davis: Jets Aren't Practicing, Studying Film Well Enough
SAN DIEGO (CBSNewYork/AP) — The Jets were embarrassed on Sunday, losing their fourth straight game to fall to 1-4 on the young season.
The offense struggled mightily, quarterback Geno Smith was benched in favor of Michael Vick and the Chargers' offense had its way with New York's defense.
The result? A 31-0 thrashing that has everyone on edge.
There's plenty of blame to go around, and linebacker Demario Davis -- never one to shy away from speaking his mind -- didn't hold back some alarming thoughts about his team.
"As a leader on defense, I take full responsibility for everything that happens defensively," Davis said after the defeat. "Right now, we're not practicing like a championship football team. I don't see a lot of guys putting a lot of effort into film study."
Needless to say, that's not what you want to hear if you're a Jets fan.
Here are some things that stood out Sunday:
THE SHUTOUT: "It's huge, especially in this game nowadays," Chargers safety Eric Weddle said. "They come very rarely. Offenses are so good. It's just big, man. It's impressive when you can do it."
Weddle said the Chargers were focused and determined. "Everyone has that single focus, every play, locked in as a defense. It shows out there. We really played lights out tonight."
The Chargers' last shutout victory was 31-0 against Kansas City on Dec. 12, 2010. The Jets were blanked for the first time since losing 34-0 against San Francisco on Sept. 30, 2012.
JETS GROUNDED: Vick was sacked on his second play. In the fourth quarter, Vick was called for intentional grounding on one drive and later was whistled for throwing a pass while beyond the line of scrimmage, negating a touchdown catch by Greg Salas. That left the Jets with fourth-and-goal from the 16 and Vick's ensuing completion was short.
Smith completed only four of 12 passes for 27 yards with one interception for a rating of 7.6. Vick was 9 of 20 for 47 yards.
MEA CULPAS: "First off, I apologize to our fans — those that are left," Jets coach Rex Ryan said. "This is on one person and that's it. It's certainly not on a quarterback and one individual that way. It's on me. Clearly got outcoached. I thought we had a good plan going in and obviously that wasn't the case."
Smith said he didn't like getting benched "but I had to change my mindset to support these guys. I understand these days will happen."
He said it was "a pathetic show on my part. I didn't help at any point during the game, so I'm going to look myself in the mirror."
BRANDEN OLIVER: The undrafted rookie scored on a 15-yard run and 9-yard catch.
He had a 50-yard catch-and-run to set up his scoring run and then had a 52-yard run to help set up his scoring catch.
Oliver's work load increased after Donald Brown went out with a concussion.
Oliver helped jumpstart San Diego's weak running game with 19 carries for 114 yards. He caught four passes for 68 yards.
RIVERS-TO-GATES: Rivers threw scoring passes of 8 and 12 yards to Gates in the first half. They've combined for 65 touchdowns, the most in NFL history between a quarterback and a tight end. They were Gates' first scores since he caught three touchdown passes in a 30-21 upset victory against Seattle in Week 2.
Gates has 92 career TD catches, moving him into 10th place all-time.
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