What’s the right way for an announcer to talk about a struggling team? A lot of announcers are limited in their criticisms. Troy Aikman, though, was the exact opposite in talking about the Jets on Monday Night Football, as the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Jets 27-6.
Aikman was actually highly complimentary of the Jets defense. While New York didn’t force a turnover, the Chargers couldn’t move the ball offensively. Justin Herbert barely completed more than half of his passes, finishing 16-for-30 while passing for 126 yards. In total, the Chargers gained less than 200 yards of offense. So, how did they score 27 points?
Jets quarterback Zach Wilson fumbled three times, with Los Angeles recovering two of them. Those turnovers allowed the Chargers to score one touchdown on a 50-yard drive and another on a two-yard drive. Los Angeles also scored a touchdown on a punt return. So, the Jets defense didn’t have much of a chance.
Late in the first half, the Jets lined up to punt. Aikman’s partner, play-by-play man Joe Buck, noted that it was the ninth punt of the game between the two teams. Aikman simply chuckled and said, “Not what the league has had in mind with offensive football.”
"This is already the ninth punt of the game, just in the first half. After a Giants/Jets game that featured 24 combined punts."
"Not what the league has had in mind with offensive football."
— Joe Buck and Troy Aikman weigh in on the Monday night punt fest. pic.twitter.com/c57ZGtg4Nk
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 7, 2023
And while that was the ninth punt of the game, it wasn’t the last of the first half. In fact, it wasn’t even the penultimate punt of the first half, with the Chargers and Jets each punting the ball one more time before halftime.
Aikman, meanwhile, was just getting warmed up.
After Wilson’s final fumble, the Chargers scored on a one-play, two-yard drive. If there was any drama remaining in the game, that brought an end to it. The Jets had one final possession and while some players did get to pad their stats, that ultimately ended with a turnover on downs. But before that happened, Aikman was again critical of the offense performance he saw on Monday — specifically New York’s.
“I’ll tell you where they have to start and that is, these pre-snap penalties,” Aikman said, talking about how the Jets can improve offensively. “You can talk about the offensive line, the injuries that they’ve had — we get it. And [Aaron] Rodgers isn’t your quarterback. We get it. And what’s happened opposite of Garrett Wilson. But if you can’t even get lined up without getting a penalty, then you’ve got no chance. You’ll never have a chance.
“I said it earlier. The focus is always Zach Wilson. The offensive line, yes, because of the injuries. But anyone who has anything to do with this offense, coaches included, they’ve got to look at themselves in the mirror. Because everybody has to be better than what we’ve watched tonight.”
After Wilson connected with Michael Carter to convert on fourth down, Aikman continued his criticism.
“I’ve been in locker rooms, not many of them, when the offense is struggling and how demoralizing that can be for a defense. And for as good as this group is, for them not to get a chance to do some really special things with this team because an offense can’t score a touchdown? Pretty maddening.”
"For as good as this group is, for them not to get a chance to do some really special things with this team because an offense can't score a touchdown? Pretty maddening."
Troy Aikman goes in on the Jets offense during New York's final offensive series in Monday's 27-6 loss. pic.twitter.com/485yF9rAcg
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 7, 2023
And while the game ended shortly thereafter, Aikman’s criticism did not. Aikman and Buck did their usual SportsCenter spot with Scott Van Pelt, who asked “What do they [the Jets] do from here?”
“Oh, man. I mean, how much time do you have?” Aikman quipped. “It’s been like this all year long. I mean, for a league where it’s built around offense, they’ve scored two touchdowns in a game one time. That was against Kansas City. The rest of them, they scored one. They struggled again tonight.
“The Jets. I don’t know if they’re a good football team. I mean, it’s hard to look at them tonight and say that they’re good. They’re great on defense and I thought the defense was terrific again tonight. But is that a good football team that we watched tonight? No. I don’t think so. I think they’re a bad team with a great defense is what I think they are. And I don’t know that they were a playoff team coming in. I didn’t see anything tonight that suggests they’re a playoff team.”
He finished by saying, “The Jets, I know they had the win against Philadelphia and that was nice. But overall I don’t think this is a very good football team and they’ve got a long way to go if they’re going to make it into the postseason — which I don’t expect them to do.”
"I mean, it's hard to look at [the Jets] tonight and say that they're good… I think they're a bad team with a great defense… I didn't see anything tonight that suggests they're a playoff team."- Troy Aikman #MNF pic.twitter.com/Bzz0Rk2VMm
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) November 7, 2023
Aikman may be done with the Jets, who have no more scheduled Monday Night Football games this year. The national TV audience, however, is not. In fact, the Jets will be on Sunday Night Football in Week 10 against the Las Vegas Raiders.
We’ll have to wait to see if Cris Collinsworth’s criticisms will be as sharp as Aikman’s.
[Photo Credit: ESPN]
