JAGUARS 24JETS 22
So much for Woody Johnson's proclamation on Saturday night that he believes his team can "absolutely" make it to the postseason. Maybe Johnson should stop sounding like a man desperate to sell seats in his new Jets/Giants Stadium, and more like an owner who is not satisfied with mediocrity.
The Jets found manifold ways to shoot themselves in the proverbial foot in Sunday's 24-22 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in front of 78,000 comatose fans at Giants Stadium.
Things looked ugly from the outset when Mark Sanchez threw an interception on the first snap of the game. The fans hadn't even settled in their seats by the time Sanchez started to screw things up for Gang Green.
From there, the Jaguars pounded the Jets defense with a ton of Maurice Jones-Drew. Drew had five carries on the Jaguars opening possession, including a 33 yard touchdown run to give the Jags a fast 7-0 lead.
The Jets offense was vanilla. They lucked out when the Jaguars on-side kick landed out of bounds but failed to do anything with the good field position, settling for a field goal to cut the lead to 7-3.
In the second quarter, the Jags continued to punish the Jets defense. Jones-Drew took the first carry for 15 yards to the Jaguar 45; later, he had a seven yard gain to move the ball into Jets territory at the 41. Next, David Garrard hit old timer Tory Holt for 17 to Jets 14 yard line. Finally, Garrard took the ball himself for an 11 yard touchdown to give Jacksonville a 14-10 lead.
The Jaguars poured it on later in the quarter, when Garrard hit Mike Sims Walker for a 26 yard touchdown to give Jacksonville a 21-10 lead.
The Jets could never get anything going offensively. In the third quarter, Sanchez threw his second interception, this one right into the hands of defensive end Quinton Groves who dashed 37 yards to the Jets four yard line. Groves could have easily scored a touchdown to make it 28-13, but Groves tripped over himself, costing Jacksonville the easy touchdown.
The stumble proved costly when Jones-Drew fumbled the exchange with Garrard, allowing Gang Green to recover and kill the Jaguars drive.
The Jets did nothing with it of course. Sanchez hit Braylon Edwards in the flat for a 41 yard gain, but Edwards fumbled the ball, and Jacksonville recovered. The Jaguars were unable to do anything with that second Jets gift, keeping the Jets in the game.
The Jaguars turnover proved costly. The Jets put together a wonderful 16 play 77 yard drive that concluded with a Thomas Jones touchdown to give Gang Green a 22-21 lead. The Jets attempted the two-point conversion; Sanchez rolled right and hit Edwards in the numbers. Edwards had the ball, then dropped it, costing the Jets any chance of taking a 24-21 lead.
The Jaguars knew this was their chance to take the game back. Garrard hit Marcedes Lewis for a 33 yard gain to the Jets 14 to put Josh Scobe in position to kick the game winner. Then, Jones-Drew made one of the smartest plays in the game.
Jones-Drew had an open hole to score a touchdown and give Jacksonville a 28-22 lead, but the running back, smartly, stopped his momentum and took a knee at the Jets one-yard line. The logic behind this?
By not scoring, Jones-Drew guaranteed that his team would run the clock out on the Jets and give Jacksonville the opportunity to win the game in the final seconds. If Jones-Drew had scored, the Jets would have had a lot of time to march down the field for a game-winning touchdown.
Great play! Smart play! Unselfish play! Box score.
As a result, the Jaguars kicked the game winner with three seconds remaining in the game to give Jacksonville a thrilling 24-22 victory over the Jets. The Jets have lost five of their last six, and with New England, Carolina, Atlanta, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati on the docket in the Jets final seven games, you can call it curtains on the Jets 2009 season.
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