EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Ashton Jeanty didn't do much to back up his harsh criticism of New York's defense. The Jets certainly did, though.
They couldn't hold a second-half lead against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday and didn't make key stops late in a 38-33 loss.
“Bad penalties, bad mistakes,” safety Minkah Fitzpatrick said, adding that the Jets beat themselves.
That has been a running theme this season.
“I think from a defensive standpoint, not
pleased at all with our performance as a whole,” linebacker Demario Davis said. “I thought it was just too much up and down. We did some good things, but overall, not good.”
Jeanty, the Raiders' second-year running back, provided some bulletin board material on Wednesday by saying the Jets have “a couple guys out there that don’t really want to tackle.”
The comments were brushed off by coach Aaron Glenn and his players, insisting they were focused on letting their play answer for them.
Well, it won't exactly quiet the critics.
It wasn't so much some Jets were shying away from tackles, as asserted by Jeanty, who finished with just 9 yards on two carries as the Raiders featured rookie Mike Washington Jr. out of their backfield. It was the inability to hold leads throughout the game and allowing Kirk Cousins and Las Vegas to claw back in the second half and eventually take the lead for good.
“We’ve got to get better on defense, and that was obvious,” said Glenn, who is calling the defensive plays. “There’s no team that can give up that many points and expect to win. That’s tough.”
Las Vegas, which trailed by nine at halftime, scored touchdowns on its first three offensive possessions of the second half. The last was a 2-yard pass from Cousins to Jalen Nailor that put the Raiders up for good at 35-30.
Jeanty made a big play on that drive, taking a short screen pass from Cousins and turning it into a 45-yard gain that got the Raiders down to the Jets 13.
“It's very, very disappointing,” Fitzpatrick said of the Jets' second-half defense. “I don't think we stopped their knowns.”
He noted that tight end Brock Bowers, who had two TD catches, had success against them and finished with seven catches for 92 yards.
Glenn also highlighted the Jets being called for penalties in critical situations, including calls on third down that gave life to a couple of Raiders drives.
Brandon Stephens was penalized for defensive holding on an incompletion on third-and-5 from the Jets 5 and Cousins connected with Bowers three plays later for a 2-yard touchdown that cut New York's lead to 23-21 in the third quarter.
Later in that period, Jarvis Brownlee Jr. was called for pass interference on an incompletion on third-and-10 from the Raiders 35. Cousins ran for a 1-yard TD later on the drive that got Las Vegas within two points at 30-28.
“Just obviously got to play better defense, you know what I mean, and that goes for everybody,” Stephens said. “It’s just as simple as doing our job.”
The Jets dropped to 2-6 with the loss, with New York falling short by one score in five of the defeats.
“Listen, I can sit here and talk about how close we are, but that’s not going to do us any good at all,” Glenn said. “We’ve got to improve. We’ve got to improve to make sure that we get on the other side of that.”
Glenn fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks late last season and the coach assumed the role as the primary play caller on that side of the ball this season, saying it's his “super power.”
Brian Duker is the defensive coordinator, but Glenn is responsible for the operation of the defense and he recently acknowledged it has been a challenge — and one he welcomes — balancing those duties with overseeing the entire team.
Right now, though, Glenn's defense is struggling mightily. And it cost the Jets again.
“I’ve got to do a better job of getting us in the right plays,” Glenn said, “and we’ve got to do a better job of executing and winning our one-on-ones, too.”
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