Jets suffer agonizing loss to Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS >> The sounds of victory were still plenty audible even outside of the well-tucked away visiting team interview room at US Bank Stadium, but weren’t loud enough to drown out a clearly disappointed Robert Saleh as he slowly sauntered to the podium to address why his team was on the other end of another crippling defeat.
After all, the answer was a simple one.
Gang Green had multiple chances to pull off a stunning upset on the road against the powerhouse Minnesota Vikings, but were failed time and time again by their execution in the red zone in a 27-22 loss that makes their road to the postseason once again more clouded as they fall to 7-5.
“I’m proud to be this team’s coach,” Saleh said. “I’m proud of every single person in that locker room, they absolutely fought their tails off. This team doesn’t quit. There’s no moral victories or anything like that, but if we play like that, I know we’re going to win more often than not.”
Not if they don’t get better in the “have to have it” moments, however. The Jets largely outplayed the Vikings for large chunks of the game — outgaining them by a stunning 486-287 total yards margin — but went a just as stunning 3-for-16 on third downs and only 1-for-6 in the red zone, relying on five consecutive Greg Zuerlein field goals, including a franchise-record 60-yarder, to keep them in the game.
“They were 3-for-3, we were 1-for-6,” Saleh said. “We were 1-3 in goal-to-go situations. Can’t win the game just kicking field goals.”
After Zuerlein’s fifth field goal of the day, a 26-yarder that cut the deficit to 20-15 with 12:30 remaining in regulation, star wide receiver Justin Jefferson finally had his big moment against a Jets defense that had done well to shut both him and the offense as a whole down in numerous critical scenarios.
The third-year MVP candidate’s grab on the right sideline in the end zone capped off a seven-play, 75-yard drive and got the Vikings back up to a 27-15 advantage with just
8:33 left in the game.
But, the Jets wouldn’t quit under Mike White, who turned in a second consecutive solid showing, albeit not on par with what he did against an inferior Chicago Bears defense last week; he completed 31 of his 57 passes for 369 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions on the day.
White did get a rushing touchdown on the day on a one-yard, fourth-down run that was ultimately ruled to be a stop for the Minnesota
defense, but was ultimately overturned after Saleh challenged the call, which again made it a one-score game.
A big defensive stop gave White and the Jets the ball with plenty of time left on the clock to march down the field, and that’s exactly what they did, but a 14-play, 83-yard drive ended up with nothing to show for it after Braxton Berrios had a difficult drop of White’s fourth down pass in the end zone.
“That was actually a credit to Braxton,” White said of
him even being open on the play. “It’s not that the route; the play called for a break in and then back out, but he kind of saw the opening. That’s how he plays football, he sees things differently than others, and I was on the same page as him. We just couldn’t connect.”
It wasn’t their last chance, however. Using the field position from the fourth-down incompletion, the Jets defense again held when it mattered the most, and got the ball back with 1:18 left in regulation,
albeit with no timeouts. White and the Jets moved the ball down the field quickly on the first two plays — first on a short pass to Ty Johnson, and then on an 18-yard completion to Garrett Wilson, who finished the game with eight catches for 162 yards — but ultimately stalled out on the Minnesota 19-yard-line, with the contest essentially ending with White’s second pick of the day, a desperation heave on fourth down that was intercepted by Camryn Bynum.