Making sense of New York Jets’ baffling loss to Las Vegas Raiders (Podcast)

What could Gregg Williams have been thinking on the New York Jets’ final play against Las Vegas? Ben Blessington and Michael Nania discuss.

After digging themselves out of a 24-13 deficit to take a 28-24 lead, the Jets did the unthinkable and found a way to blow it in a situation that was nearly impossible to botch, squandering a near-perfect chance at their first win of the season.

The Jets’ twelfth consecutive loss to begin the 2020 season is loaded with talking points. Easily, the most notable among them is the question of what exactly Gregg Williams was doing on the final play of the game.

The Jets made an unprecedented play call to end their game vs the Raiders

There were 252 pass plays meeting this criteria the last 15 seasons:

•Final 15 seconds
•Down 4-8 points
•40+ yards to the end zone

They were the 1st defense to send 6+ pass rushers in ^ situation pic.twitter.com/mrk61E46ET

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 6, 2020

With a call like that, certain questions will be (and already have been) raised about the exact motive behind Williams’ decision. How could such a decision be explained?

On the positive side of things, the Jets enjoyed some encouraging developments on both sides of the ball.

Offensively, the running game was electric, putting up a season-high 206 rushing yards. That was accomplished thanks to a great performance from the Ty Johnson/Josh Adams duo, which was thrust into the limelight after an early injury by Frank Gore. The two young ball-carriers looked like strong fits in the offense, each showcasing far more speed and breakaway potential than either Gore or La’Mical Perine have shown this season. While Mekhi Becton had some big mistakes in pass protection, his dominance on the ground was the primary driving force behind New York’s eye-popping rushing numbers.

Defensively, Quinnen Williams had another dominant game. He was omnipresent in the Las Vegas backfield, blowing up plays in both phases on a regular basis. The second-year defensive tackle continues to establish himself as one of the absolute best players in the league at his position.

For an 0-12 team, the Jets have presented us with an impressively massive amount of topics to discuss regarding their latest defeat. Ben Blessington and Michael Nania dig into them all on the latest Cool Your Jets.