Jets' defense gets signals crossed on 'freeway'
Photo credit: David Pokress | Rex Ryan bites his lip just prior to the Jaguars' game-winning field goal. (November 15, 2009)
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Jaguars 24, Jets 22
Who on Rex Ryan's "attack-style" defense ever would have believed they would lie down and try to let an opponent score in a desperate attempt to save their season? But that's where the Jets found themselves Sunday, and they couldn't even get that right.
Trailing 22-21, Jacksonville had a first down at the Jets' 14-yard line at the two-minute warning. Trying to save his last timeout to help his offense come back and score, Ryan called what he described as a "freeway" defense. The idea was to try to strip the ball from running back Maurice Jones-Drew but not tackle him on the way to the end zone.
Maybe Ryan should have told his defense to play the way it did in the first half, when Jones-Drew rushed for 93 of his 123 yards. But Marques Douglas and Sione Pouha tackled Jones-Drew at the 10-yard line, forcing Ryan to call his final timeout with 1:48 left.
He used that timeout to explain the concept again, and this time, the Jets let Jones-Drew run free on second down. Realizing what was happening, the Jaguar kneeled at the 1-yard line to keep the clock running. After two kneel-downs by quarterback David Garrard, Josh Scobee kicked a 21-yard field goal as time ran out to give Jacksonville a 24-22 win.
"Maurice did a good job," Jets safety Kerry Rhodes said. "He just stopped. That was pretty damn smart."
The Jaguars overpowered the Jets' defense in the first half while building a 21-13 lead, and after being held scoreless in the second half and limited to 17 yards, they drove 80 yards when they had to for the winning field goal. Add that to the collection of late collapses by a Jets defense that also gave up late touchdown drives in both losses to Miami.
"We've got to find a way to finish games when you fight your tail off to put yourself in a position to bounce back and take a lead and win a game," Ryan said. "For us to become a great defense, we've got to finish. A start would have been nice, also."
Coming off their bye week and needing a win to stay in playoff contention, the Jets should have come out flying. It didn't happen. The Jaguars had touchdown drives of 55, 70 and 86 yards in the first half.
"We didn't have a lot of emotion to start," Rhodes said. "I don't know why . . . It's pathetic. It's a place we thought we wouldn't be in at this point, but the reality is we're 4-5. I guess we're not that good a football team."
That was symbolized by confusion in the Jets' secondary on the Jags' final drive as tight end Marcedes Lewis ran past Rhodes and caught a pass for a 33-yard gain to the Jets' 14. Rhodes thought he had help, but he was left in single coverage.
"We were in one coverage to start," Rhodes said. "Jim thought we should have went to another coverage. It was just a miscommunication."
"I was trying to get the coverage switched," Leonhard said. "We struggled to communicate, but it was on me. I'll take a lot of that blame."
The communication wasn't any better one play later on the "freeway" defense.
