Frank Reich Says Two Touchdowns on Six Red Zone Trips ‘Not Enough’ for Jets

The New York Jets reached the red zone six times in Sunday’s 38-33 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders and came away with two touchdowns.

Jason Sanders kicked four field goals in the game. The last of them came after a 47-yard catch by Adonai Mitchell set up first down at the Raiders’ 13, and it cut the deficit to 35-33 with 4:35 left. Geno Smith’s final throw into the end zone was intercepted with 14 seconds to play.

The Jets went through every play of that loss this week for what they could learn, Jets offensive coordinator Frank Reich said.

“It’s not enough,” Reich said. “Another one, we were right at the 21 and got in, but it’s not enough. We got to be better. We just have to be better. There is a sense of urgency, players and coaches.”

“We understand from a coaching staff, there’s two things you do: you kind of scheme it, and you got to coach it,” Reich continued. “Those are the things. From the players’ perspective, they got to bring it to life. But no matter what, we’re in it together. We just have to collectively as a group do better in the red zone.”

Through seven games, New York had scored nine touchdowns on 20 red zone trips. The Raiders game moved that to 11 touchdowns in 26 trips, a 42.3% rate that ranks last in the league, according to Jets X-Factor.

On Oct. 22, the Jets had six touchdowns on 14 trips, and Reich said improvement in the red zone started with him. In Week 6 at New England, they went 0-for-3 inside the 20 in a 26-19 loss.

New York scored on each of its first six possessions against Las Vegas and finished with a season-high 439 yards. The Jets were the first team this season to score on their first six possessions, and the franchise had not done it since 2008, according to the team.

Reich wants more of the long post route Smith hit to Mitchell against the Raiders. He called both the throw and the catch phenomenal.

“I think it’s been really good,” Reich explained. “I think that starts up front with the protection. I think the protection’s gotten better and better, particularly on our play-action stuff. And then it really comes with the guy pulling the trigger, and that’s Geno. He’s really good. He’s really good at the play-action stuff. He’s good at pushing the ball down the field. He’s patient to check it down when the ball needs to be checked down.”

“And then we got the receivers that can go deep, and they’re good in the intermediate,” Reich added. “A lot of the efficiency in our play-action game, when you say play action, we just think chunks. And we’ve got our share of those, but I think we’ve been really efficient in the intermediate chunk stuff, for lack of a better way to say it. So we want to continue to hit on all three levels when we do play action: go deep, hit the intermediate stuff, and then be alert to get it to our backs or tight ends in the checkdown when that’s available, and let them do run after catch and make some explosive plays.”

Smith completed 20 of 32 passes for 290 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception against Las Vegas. On throws of 20 or more air yards, he went 5-of-10 for 142 yards, the most by any quarterback in Week 8.

For the season, Smith has completed 69.0% of his passes. He has 1,913 yards, 12 touchdowns, and three interceptions. His 104.5 passer rating ranks sixth in the league.

Jets coach Aaron Glenn backed Reich last month despite the offense’s struggles. The players, Reich said, have kept the right mental attitude through a 2-6 start.

“This is a bottom-line business. We know it’s about winning,” Reich said. “The players are mature enough to understand that there’s a process of getting better that’s important, and you can take pride in that you’re getting better. You can know that you’re getting better. You can see tangible results of that.”

“But if you don’t win, you’re never going to really truly enjoy it,” Reich detailed. “You can enjoy the process, but in this, everybody knows what that locker room feels like and what a building feels like when you got things humming, and there’s nothing like it. That’s what we’re trying to do. And you got to start this week with a good team.”

Kansas City ranks fourth in the NFL in points allowed at 18.7 per game. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is the only coordinator in league history to win four Super Bowls, and Smith played for him with the New York Giants for one season. Reich called Spagnuolo one of his favorites.

The Jets play at Arrowhead Stadium at 1 p.m. ET Sunday on CBS. Roundtable has also weighed whether New York should move on from Smith.