There’s no sugarcoating this one: the New York Jets blew it
On Sunday, New York squandered a 10-point fourth-quarter lead and fell to the Green Bay Packers, 20-17, in overtime. A favorable chance to start 2-0 for the first time in 11 years turned into a heartbreaking loss for the Jets.
The game
The Packers, who entered the game already missing several key contributors, suffered even more brutal injury luck on their opening drive. Within the first three plays of the game, wide receiver Jayden Reed and offensive lineman Zach Bako-Bewele were each carted off the field.
It was a disastrous start to the game for an already depleted Green Bay team.
The Jets’ start wasn’t much prettier. Isaiah Williams muffed a punt inside New York’s 10-yard line, but Qwan’tez Stiggers was around the ball and recovered it to prevent an early disaster.
Offensively, the team was able to settle in and march 32 yards downfield before punting. The team took a deep shot on third-and-9, and Geno Smith targeted Adonai Mitchell with strong protection. The pass fell incomplete, but a taunting penalty on Javon Bullard moved the chains anyway.
While the team was forced to punt, they set Green Bay up with tough field position, and the defense didn’t give Jordan Love and company any room to maneuver. The Packers ultimately had to punt out of their own end zone, giving the Jets another offensive opportunity after a strong defensive stand.
Gang Green was unable to capitalize, though, continuing the punt fest early on. Green Bay went three-and-out on the ensuing possession. Penalties also became a problem for the Packers, getting flagged four times for 32 yards before the quarter had even ended.
For a team with so many injuries, the margin for error was already thin, and the penalties certainly didn’t help them. They ultimately finished with 14 for 134 yards.
On their final drive of the first quarter, the Jets punted yet again. The offensive line continued to hold up for the team, but Smith looked indecisive and out of sync with his receivers. With the weather conditions at MetLife Stadium, this was the kind of game where a strong run game and checkdowns can win it.
The Packers finally broke through on their next possession, as Love and the offense steadily made their way downfield and capped the drive with a six-yard screen-pass touchdown to MarShawn Lloyd, giving Green Bay a 7-0 lead with 9:35 remaining in the second quarter. The Jets’ defense struggled to finish tackles and gave the Packers multiple chances to extend the drive, which ultimately led to the first score of the game.
New York answered right back, though, with the drive they needed, marching 69 yards before Braelon Allen punched it in from five yards out.
The Jets found exactly what they needed: rhythm. Despite a rough drop to open the drive, Adonai Mitchell bounced back, drawing a massive pass interference call and catching a pass within the red zone, helping the Jets knot the game up at 7-7 with 6:04 left in the second quarter.
As the half wound down, Aaron Glenn’s clock management was questionable once again. The Jets entered the final four minutes without a timeout, and he showed little urgency to take the lead before the break, taking a 7-7 tie into the locker room rather than risking giving Green Bay an extra possession.
The Jets’ defense came out of halftime with plenty of energy, but the team still couldn’t generate a takeaway. Jowon Briggs had a strip-sack with a three-man rush, yet Green Bay still fell on the loose ball—marking the third fumble of the game the Jets had forced, but not recovered.
The team then appeared to get off the field on third-and-19, but an illegal hands-to-face penalty on David Bailey gave the Packers a new set of downs. Fortunately, the team still forced Love and the Packers’ offense off the field. Aaron Glenn dialed up a perfectly timed blitz on the next third-down opportunity as Andre Cisco came rushing down the middle and still forced a punt.
Green Bay’s third-down struggles continued, marking their fifth unsuccessful attempt to convert, with just 97 total yards.
On the ensuing possession, the Jets finally took the lead, putting together a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive. It was capped with a terrific red-zone play call by Frank Reich, sending Kenyon Sadiq in motion before Smith found Garrett Wilson on a crossing route for a five-yard touchdown, as the Jets took a 14-7 lead with 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the defense finally got the turnover they were looking for all game. Kingsley Enagbare forced a fumble against his former team, and Harrison Phillips jumped on it at the Green Bay 18-yard line.
While a touchdown would have been ideal, the Jets were forced to settle for a 33-yard field goal with 11:04 left in the fourth quarter, extending the team’s lead to two scores, 17-7.
Green Bay responded, though, with a touchdown pass from Love to Christian Watson, cutting the Jets’ lead to 17-14 with 7:58 remaining in the game. That made it a much different game.
The Jets were forced to punt, and a 66-yard return by Skyy Moore immediately put Green Bay deep into New York territory. The Jets’ defense held their ground, though, and held the Packers to just a field goal, tying the game at 17-17 with 2:54 left and giving Smith a chance to win it.
After a failed third-and-2 attempt after the two-minute warning, the Jets were forced to gamble on fourth-and-1 near midfield, but Allen was stuffed on a shotgun run.
The Packers took over at the 50-yard line with 1:15 remaining and a chance to win the game. Once again, New York’s defense bailed out the offense, with Enagbare recording a sack to send the game to overtime tied at 17. However, the team’s late-game clock management still raised questions.
The Jets won the toss and elected to receive, but their offensive line completely unraveled. Smith took two sacks on the first two plays, and a false start penalty created third-and-30, leading to an ugly three-and-out.
Green Bay took advantage, moving into field-goal range quickly after, and rookie Trey Smack drilled the game-winning kick. Just like that, the comeback was complete, and the Jets fall to 1-1 on the season
It’s so frustrating for New York, because they looked like the better team for most of the game. They had a 10-point lead against an injury-depleted team and were seemingly in cruise control for much of the game.
There are no moral victories here. If the Jets want to really flip the script on who they are this season, these are the types of games that they need to win.
