THE JIGS IS UP
Jets miss chance to show they matter, revert to early expectations
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. — Are the Jets who we thought they were? That’s the initial reaction after watching them melt faster than snow in Florida during the fourth quarter of Sunday’s gut-wrenching 31-28 loss to the Dolphins.
In the aftermath of blowing a 14-point lead in the final 12 minutes, there was a lot of talk about learning how to finish games and avoiding penalties — the obvious stuff that keeps a losing team from pointing f ingers. Truth is, the fourth quarter of football at Hard Rock Stadium is what we expected from these Jets when the season began. Now we’re left to wonder whether this was an aberration or a step back to reality.
There is so much blame to go around for why a 28-14 lead ended in a three-point loss. No Band-Aid fixes this.
Quarterback Josh McCown’s interception was brutal. The Jets did the right thing trying to move the ball with 47 seconds left and three timeouts. Starting from their 15 wasn’t ideal, but it was worth a try to get into field-goal range.
But any notion of a heroic Jets finish ended in a nightmare when cornerback Bobby McCain picked off McCown’s underthrown sideline pass to Jermaine Kearse. Four plays later Cody Parkey kicked the game-winning field goal.
“As a quarterback and a professional, there’s not a worse feeling than that,” said McCown, who completed 17-of-27 for 209 yards and three touchdowns before the late pick.
The Jets also hurt themselves with 12 penalties for 124 yards, including a trio by defensive back Buster Skrine, who simply couldn’t cover Miami receiver Kenny Stills.
“We did a horrible job going out and getting too many penalties,” said cornerback Morris Claiborne. “It’s something we harped on all week.”
There also was an offense that simply went to sleep in the fourth quarter, turning four possessions into three punts and the turnover. The Jets defense, meanwhile, was beaten by backup quarterback Matt Moore, who entered with 12:49 left in the third quarter after Jay Cutler went out with an injury.
The Jets’ malaise was capped off by wide receiver Robby Anderson throwing his helmet in disgust, drawing a senseless unsportsmanlike penalty with eight seconds left in the game. You’ve heard of total team victories? This was a total team meltdown.
“I felt like we just sat back,” Claiborne said of the Jets’ fourthquarter collapse. “They made plays when they needed to make plays in those moments and we were having a hard time getting off the field. When you have teams in that position, you should put the game away. There’s no reason we should walk out with a loss.”
Actually, there were plenty of reasons why the Jets lost, which will be evident when the film is reviewed. Head coach Todd Bowles offered his quick analysis saying the Jets made “too many mistakes, too many blunders.”
Then he added: “When you have a 14-point lead you should close the game out. We didn’t move the ball on offense; we didn’t stop them on defense.”
Coming into the season, this is how we thought the Jets would look — overmatched and overwhelmed. A 3-2 record is now 3-4 with home games against the Falcons and Bills upcoming.
Give the Dolphins credit for finding Skrine and exploiting him to the point where he committed two holding penalties and was beaten on 2-yard TD from Moore to Stills that tied the game at 28-28 with 6:19 to play. The Dolphins, who came from 20 down to beat the Falcons last week, have now won three straight and are 4-2.
“When there’s an opportunity and there’s a chance, we just always try to grab it,” said Dolphins wide receiver Jarvis Landry. “The last two weeks we’ve been doing that.”
The Jets made the most of their opportunities during their own three-game winning streak. That seems ages ago. Now after two straight losses, are the Jets who we thought they were? They sure played like it on Sunday.