With several late rallies, Jets among NFL's best closers this season
Jets coach Robert Saleh said, “. . . guys feel confident, and you feel like you’re always going to be in it.” Credit: Jim McIsaac
The game seemed over. There was 1:55 left and the Jets were down 13 points. They were about to fall to 0-2, except they didn’t. The Jets stormed back to win in Cleveland and gave a glimpse of the type of fourth-quarter team they would be.
The Jets don’t have Mariano Rivera, but they have been closers. They’ve been the best fourth-quarter team in the NFL this season. Their 84 points scored leads the league and their 26 points allowed is the fewest. It’s a major reason why the Jets are 6-3 and sitting in fifth place in the AFC.
“There is no scenario I feel like with our team or our players in that locker room feel like that lead is insurmountable or it’s just an impossible task,” Robert Saleh said.
It started in Cleveland when it all appeared impossible. A Joe Flacco touchdown pass, an onside-kick recovery, another Flacco touchdown and an interception made it a Jets’ reality.
Saleh said the Jets don’t want to always have to come back from big deficits, but it’s good to know that they’re resilient and they can.
Three of the Jets’ wins have come after being down by at least 10 points. Two were fourth-quarter comebacks — Week 2 in Cleveland and Week 4 in Pittsburgh when Zach Wilson led two late touchdown drives in his season debut.
In the Jets’ last game before their bye, Buffalo led 14-3 in the second quarter. Saleh said his players “don’t flinch” — unlike last season — and the Jets pulled out the 20-17 win, thanks to a 10-3 second half.
“It’s happened a couple of times so guys feel confident, and you feel like you’re always going to be in it,” Saleh said. “Last year, if we got down early it was just a very dead sideline as opposed to this year, there’s a lot of confidence.
“I think it’s a testament to our guys and the confidence at which they’re playing and believing that if they just continue playing, and they play their best, and just do our job to the best of our ability there’s a belief in the locker room that we can get it done.”
That mentality has served the Jets well. They have not been outscored in any fourth quarter this season. It’s not just their ability to come back. It’s also holding on to or extending leads. The Jets’ seventh-ranked defense has been a big part of that.
The Jets trailed their first four games heading into the fourth by a total of 42 points. They went 2-2. They’ve been ahead after three quarters in four of their last five games — by 13 points combined. The Jets closed all four wins out, outscoring their opponents 40-3 in the fourth.
“It’s a nice boost to know that we have the stamina, durability and the want-to to finish any football game,” center Connor McGovern said. “It’s a skill that shouldn’t be overlooked because it’s pretty special to have that will and that want-to and that confidence to be able to finish out games.”
Veteran receiver Braxton Berrios said the Jets live for these moments.
“It’s met with a smirk to be honest,” Berrios said. “It’s a challenge. It’s one of those where we all band together and step up to the front line and say, ‘This is going to be fun. Let’s go do it.’
“When you have that and you build that week after week and you get to show it in those situations it can snowball, it can build momentum, it definitely builds chemistry and that’s really important going down the stretch.”
This was another unexpected aspect of the Jets’ emergence, especially since many rookie and second-year players play key roles. Saleh said there is an advantage to that.
“They’re not connected to all the history in terms of what this organization has gone through, so they don’t know any better,” Saleh said. “They don’t know the scarring. They don’t know what’s supposed to happen, according to a lot of people you talk to that are Jets fans like, ‘Well, you weren’t supposed to do that, Jets teams never do that.’ They don’t know that.
“They just know if we just do our job and we don’t make mistakes we’re pretty tough to beat.”
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
