Yep, that happened. After the Jets’ defense did all they could to win this game and give the team first place in the AFC East, their special teams unit picked the absolute worst time to fall apart.
Marcus Jones returned a Braden Mann punt 84 yards to the house and the Jets lose their 14th straight game against the Patriots by a score of 10-3.
On a day when the defense played absolutely fantastic and made some huge stops, including another day sacking Patriots QB Mac Jones six times, the offense was nowhere to be found and it was yet another reminder that this team has plenty of talent, but are lacking at the most important position in the NFL.
Zach Wilson channeled his inner Sam Darnold and started seeing ghosts and took a few brutal sacks. He took four sacks and finished with a whopping 77 passing yards on 9/22 passing for a QB rating of 50.8.
77 yards passing. Seven yards less than Marcus Jones’ punt return. There’s your game story right there.
Or how about this? 59 rushing yards for the Jets. 26 from Wilson. No Jets’ running back hit 20 rushing yards. Michael Carter had 19, James Robinson had 10 and Ty Johnson had four.
Once again, the Jets’ third-down woes on offense came back to bite them. Just 3/14 on third down. That’s a shame because the Jets’ third-down defense was fantastic, holding the Patriots to just 4/15, including a huge stop on 3rd and 1 to give the offense a chance to win the game after the two-minute warning.
Imagine what the Jets’ defense is feeling right now. Once again they sacked Mac Jones six times. In two games, the Jets sacked Jones 12 times. Yet the Jets found a way to lose both games.
Talk about flipping the script. The Jets had a chance to move into first place in the AFC East. They now sit in last place at 6-4 and are now in danger of falling out of a wild card spot with seven games left.
Next week, it’s a home date with Justin Fields and the Chicago Bears, who fell to 3-8 after losing to the Atlanta Falcons in Week 11. The Jets will be inducting Darrelle Revis into their Ring of Honor. The hope is the offense plays with a lot more fire on what will be a special day for a Jets legend.
They’ll need it because if they fall to 6-5, things start becoming more concerning, given the state of the AFC playoff picture. It’s not 100% a must-win situation for the Jets, but it might be pretty close.