Winless Jets Do Great Job of Beating Themselves

It wasn’t a pretty west side story for the New York Jets, who traveled to Anaheim in search of their first victory but wound up doing everything they could to hand the Rams an 18-10 victory Sunday.

And afterward, the 0-4 Jets who were expected to challenge the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East Division race, weren’t relishing the thought of returning home to face the sharks--the New York fans and the New York press.

“It makes me sick to think about it because we gave a great effort,” said offensive guard Dave Cadigan, a former Newport Harbor High School and USC standout. “They’ll probably give up on us. They’re very fair-weather--they’ll jump on the bandwagon when we’re doing well and write us off when we’re not. The media will be harsh and the fans will be harsh, but we’re men. We can take it.”

The Jets simply gave it away Sunday. They held a 10-0 lead late in the second quarter and a 10-5 lead at halftime, but four consecutive second-half possessions ended in turnovers, including two interceptions of passes by quarterback Browning Nagle. The Jet offense, which showed much promise in the first half, came to a grinding halt in the second.

The Jets had more total yards (330-269) and more first downs (21-15), but they were penalized 12 times for 102 yards, some infractions nullifying big gains.

“We felt pretty good at the beginning--the quarterback had great protection, our run-blocking was good, and then we started doing things that are indicative of the kind of season we’re having,” Cadigan said. “We turn the ball over and keep beating ourselves. We keep playing the Jets and we’re 0-4 against them.”

The frustration of a winless start seemed to affect two key Jets in different ways.

Coach Bruce Coslet withdrew from the spotlight, ending his postgame press conference in about two minutes after giving terse, nondescript answers to about five questions.

Nagle, on the other hand, seemed to welcome the heat. As a horde of reporters converged on his locker, Nagle, the second-year pro out of Louisville, looked up, smiled and said, “Hi guys.”

It wasn’t easy putting a happy face on his performance, though.

Nagle looked sharp in the first half when he completed 10 of 17 passes for 111 yards. But in the second half, Browning showed he was as green as the Jets’ helmets.

The strong-armed quarterback, who missed last week’s game against San Francisco because of an injured index finger on his throwing hand, tried to throw several passes through Ram defenders. One of those was intercepted by linebacker Larry Kelm at the Jets’ 25-yard line in the fourth quarter.

Passes that needed to be thrown with a little touch were instead rifled over the outstretched hands of receivers. One overthrown ball was intercepted by cornerback Daryl Henley in the fourth quarter.

Nagle was wild high throughout the second half--is it any coincidence the Angels once drafted him as a pitcher?--and he ended the game with 19 completions in 39 attempts for 200 yards.

Nagle made a few poor decisions, throwing into heavy coverage and, once, not throwing at all. From the Ram 42 late in the third quarter, Nagle rolled right and wound up to throw, but when he spotted another receiver open farther downfield, he pulled back, giving the impression of a hard pump fake.

But the extra time allowed defensive end Gerald Robinson to sack him from the blind side, forcing a fumble that Kevin Greene recovered for the Rams.

“When you’re 0-3 on the verge of going 0-4, you try to do everything you can to prevent that,” Nagle said. “That takes you out of your game. You get guys pressing to make big plays and in the end, that becomes your enemy. I tried to do too much, and it didn’t happen.”

It appeared the Jets might blow the Rams away early after fullback Brad Baxter highlighted the game’s first drive with two, 15-yard runs to help set up Jason Staurovsky’s 19-yard field goal and Nagle combined with Rob Moore on a 33-yard pass play that helped set up Baxter’s one-yard touchdown run. That gave the Jets a 10-0 lead 3 minutes 56 seconds before halftime.

But when the Jets fell behind in the second half and were forced to pass, their offense self-destructed. They attempted 22 pass plays and eight running plays in the second half.

“We put Browning in a situation he shouldn’t be in,” Moore said. “It wasn’t just him, it was the supporting cast.