Jets defense back to reality against Dolphins
Even after all their untimely penalties and turnovers, the Jets still could’ve given Sam Darnold a final chance with three minutes remaining.
The defense only needed to stop the Dolphins on 3rdand-19. And it couldn’t.
“Put it on me,” said free safety Jamal Adams. “I was responsible. Put it on me.”
That admission took some prodding from Adams, who, at first, tried to spread the blame on the entire defense. But it was Adams who appeared to completely, and inexplicably, lose Frank Gore on a checkdown pass, allowing the 35year-old running back the space to get the first down on the 19-yard completion.
Adams hinted at a miscommunication.
“Everybody’s not doing their assignment on the defensive side of the ball,” he said. “We all have to do our assignment, but they had a great call for that play that they ran. They executed and we didn’t.”
The play sealed Miami’s 2012 victory Sunday, giving the Dolphins the freedom to kneel out the clock rather than punting the ball before the twominute warning.
“Don’t even bring that up,” cornerback Morris Claiborne said, pausing with frustration and exasperation. “We just let the back out. A bad play. Next question, please.”
As a whole, the Jets’ defense — which was stellar in Week 1 against the Lions — couldn’t avoid the big, game-changing mistakes. It forced two turnovers in the second half and held the Dolphins to just 257 overall yards, but the Adams gaffe and unfortunate penalties represented huge missed opportunities.
Claiborne was responsible for one of the penalties when he was called for defensive holding on Danny Amendola. The Jets finished a sack on that play that would’ve pushed back the Dolphins fourth down and put them out of field-goal range.
Instead, the penalty resulted in an automatic first down for the Dolphins, who, two plays later, connected on a 19-yard touchdown to take a 14-0 lead in the second quarter.
“It was fair,” Claiborne said. “I just got caught looking back. I felt like I was comfortable enough where I was on him and I could look back and see what the quarterback was doing.
“And as a reaction, I just tugged. It wasn’t even holding him. I just tugged because I was looking backwards, which is on me.”
Another Jets cornerback, Buster Skrine, hurt the Jets with a 15-yard facemask penalty that set up the first Dolphins touchdown. Overall, the Jets committed seven penalties for 50 yards, while the Dolphins gave up just two penalties for 10 yards.
“You harp on penalties but no player is out there trying to get penalties on purpose,” Claiborne said. “You think I’m trying to get that penalty on third down? No. You don’t try to do it, but it happens. It’s all part of the game. But it’s good to be aware of it.”
Unfortunately for Gang Green, Adams wasn’t aware on the final meaningful play of the game. He ran at the line with Dolphins QB Ryan Tannehill in the pocket, while Gore just slipped into a wide-open middle of the field.
Adams was caught in Nowhere Land, and the Jets’ defense left a final bad impression.
“It’s opportunities like that we have to capitalize on,” he said. “We have to stop them on certain situations.”