Gang Green makes ‘D’ most of chances
Morris Claiborne didn’t forget about his many missed opportunities. He carried a football around all week as a reminder, even keeping it in his locker and walking into MetLife Stadium with it, after failing to hold onto multiple interceptions last Sunday against the Broncos. It wouldn’t take long for another chance to come his way. On the game’s second play from scrimmage Sunday, a tipped pass headed towards him, and this time Claiborne held on, returning the Andrew Luck interception 17 yards for a touchdown and the first pick-six of his career. “It put the crowd in it early,” Claiborne said following the Jets’ 42-34 win over the Colts at MetLife Stadium. “It put us in it early in the game. Any time you can get a takeaway and put points on the board, it’s big for your team.”
Claiborne’s teammates didn’t carry footballs with them in the week leading up to the game, but they followed his lead just the same. Linebackers Avery Williamson and Darron Lee also had interceptions, and Jordan Jenkins recovered a fumble that was forced by Jamal Adams, as the Jets defense created four takeaways, keying the team’s second straight home victory. Through six games, the Jets have produced 15 turnovers, just five fewer than they managed all of last year.
“We got to keep it up,” Williamson said. “They came in clutch today. They’re going to keep coming in clutch [later] in the season.”
Williamson said they work on creating turnovers in practice, and pointed to an interception Lee had during the week as proof the two are connected. Some of it is good fortune, the ball bouncing a team’s way. But it’s also the result of players swarming to the ball and working at stacking turnovers.
“You do it in practice, there’s a good chance you’re going to do it in a game,” Williamson said.
They needed all four of the takeaways on Sunday, because the defense was gashed for 428 total yards. Luck took advantage of the shorthanded secondary, which was without cornerbacks Trumaine Johnson and Buster Skrine, tossing four touchdown passes and completing 23-of-43 passes for 301 yards. Marlon Mack also ran for 89 yards, averaging a whopping 7.4 yards per carry.
“This is one of those bittersweet victories,” Claiborne said. “You know you didn’t play well. You played well enough to win the game, but you feel like you could have played a lot better. You never want to give up that many points.”
After the Jets built a 30-13 lead early in the second half, Luck got the Colts within six, at 33-27. But after one of Jason Myers’ team-record seven field goals pushed the deficit back to nine, Luck was picked off by Lee with 7:59 remaining, sealing the defeat with his team-leading third pick.
“We needed a play out there,” Lee said. “We talked about it on the sideline right before we went out there. This is the time where we need a play.”
While the Jets would like to continue forcing turnovers at such a high rate, they also know stopping the opposition is just as important. They can’t just rely on the opposition making mistakes. But that doesn’t mean Claiborne is going to change his routine, either. He plans on keeping a football under his arm again.
“I’m going to walk around next week with it, too,” he said with a smile.