Jets Have $40 Million Reasons Not To Bench Justin Fields

It's important to acknowledge that Fields and the offense in general didn't do well over the last two weeks. New York lost 13-6 against the Carolina Panthers and 13-11 against the Denver Broncos. That's unacceptable. The Jets' defense gave New York a chance to win both games, but the offense didn't do its part.

While this is the case, with New York's depleted wide receiver room, there's still an argument that Fields gives the Jets a better chance. Taylor is a better passer. There's no denying that fact at this point. But, what Fields can bring on the ground can't be forgotten and needs to be utilized even more. New York has scored 21 or more points in three of Fields' six starts. In those three games, Fields had 48, 81, and 26 rushing yards. The game he had 26 rushing yards was against the Dallas Cowboys when he had a season-high 283 passing yards. In the games Fields struggled, he had 21, 55, and 19 rushing yards.

There's no denying that the offense stalled out over the last two weeks. But, Fields had a QB rating over 100 in the two prior weeks (100.2 vs. the Cowboys and 111 vs. the Miami Dolphins). Three of the six starts have been rough (Week 2 vs. the Buffalo Bills, Week 6 vs. the Broncos, and Week 7 vs. the Panthers before he was benched). But, the other three showed promise. At 26 years old and one the big contract and with nothing to lose, the Jets shouldn't turn the page yet.

Taylor doesn't have the same rushing upside and the receiver room isn't at full strength with Garrett Wilson banged up. There's no denying the fact that Fields struggled the last few weeks and something needs to be changed about the way the offense is being run, but a benching still seems too early.