Weekly Jets Blog: Week 10

In a virtually must-win game, the Jets couldn’t get the job done. Gang Green fell on a last-second game-winning 21-yard field goal to the Jaguars. They had been leading by one after a huge touchdown run by Thomas Jones, but they failed to complete the two-point conversion, leaving the Jets with a 22-21 lead. Coach Rex Ryan decided to kick the ball to Jacksonville, confident that his previously reliable defense could preserve the lead. Instead, the Jaguars steadily marched down the field and effectively managed the clock, setting up Josh Scobee’s 21 yard field goal that would put the Jags at 5-4 and the Jets at 4-5. With the huge victory in the Meadowlands, Jacksonville has emerged out of nowhere as a possible playoff contender. With the heartbreaking loss, the Jets are fading from the playoff picture. They will need a miraculous finish to the season against several very tough opponents to squeak their way in.

The Jets have now lost 5 out of their last 6 games, and have lost 3 games in a row at home. They had plenty of chances to gain control of the game off of many mistakes and miscues by Jacksonville, but Rex Ryan’s heralded defense had a rare poor game and the offense never really got clicking. Jaguars’ running back Maurice Jones-Drew ran all over the Jets in the first half, and Gang Green couldn’t halt the Jags on that final 4th quarter drive. Jones-Drew, who leads the NFL in touchdowns, took a knee at the one-yard line with less than two minutes to go instead of scoring an easy touchdown. His selfless act enabled the Jags to take a few knees and bring the clock down to just a few seconds before Scobee iced the victory. A critical mistake that doomed the Jets was when QB Mark Sanchez called a timeout at the one-yard line of Jacksonville with five minutes left. The timeout was a huge waste, seeing that Thomas Jones pounded in for a TD on the next play. The timeout could have been used to save time on Jacksonville’s final drive.

The Jets also couldn’t ride their momentum when they had it. Things looked bad when Quentin Groves picked off Sanchez and appeared to be on his way to the end zone with Jacksonville already leading 21-13. But Groves went to fast, tripped over his own feet, and fell at the 4-yard line. Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio smiled and joked with Groves. He wasn’t smiling anymore when a few plays later, the Jaguars fumbled the ball, and the Jets recovered near the goal line. The Jets finally got the big play they needed when Sanchez connected with Edwards for a 41-yard pass. But Edwards tried to get a few extra yards and got the ball stripped away from him, killing the momentum and the drive.

Nevertheless, you can keep making excuses until the cows come home. In the end, the thing that mattered most was that when the Jets needed their offense to step up in the 3rd quarter, they couldn’t do it, and when they the needed their defense to step up in the 4th, they failed as well. People say it’s tough to lose close games. That’s true. But you either have to learn how to win those close games, or not let games that you have control of get that close. The Jets have an extremely tough remaining schedule, with games against the likes of 7-2 Cincinnati and unbeaten Indianapolis. Their final three games are against teams with a combined record of 21-6. They will have to play far better than they have to even sniff the playoffs in a crowded AFC Wildcard race. If Sanchez can mature and make big plays, and if they defense can make more of an impact, Gang Green does have a slight chance of conquering their tough schedule and surviving to the postseason. If one thing’s for certain, it’s that Rex Ryan’s club full of “swagger” is running out of time, and fast.