RAIDERS 31 - JETS 28
To many Jets fans, the Jets won by losing on Sunday. With 1:42 to go in the fourth quarter, the Raiders had failed to convert on a fourth down and three at the Jets nine-yard line. It looked like ... egads ... the Jets were going to win 28-24. All New York had to do was run out the clock and they could kiss their chances at the number 1 pick and Trevor Lawrence good bye.
You could see it now. Lawrence goes to Jacksonville. Adam Gase gets an extension from the Johnson brothers, and the Jets end up passing on Justin Fields and drafting another defensive tackle with the number two overall pick. Yep, it was all coming together now wasn't it. Another win that ends up a loss.
But low and behold, a miracle -- yes, a miracle, if you are on the Tank for Trevor bandwagon happened.
The Jets managed only five yards on three plays in a drive where all they needed was a first down to run out the clock and win the football game. Three plays of total ineptitude and with 35 seconds to go the Raiders would get the ball back.
And of course that set Raiders quarterback Derrick Carr with the miracle play of the year for Las Vegas. After missing on the deep ball to Nelson Agholar, Carr took a little off the fastball and dropped a dime into the hands of Henry Ruggs III who waltzed into the endzone with the winning score. Only five seconds remained, but it really didn't matter, the Raiders stunned the Jets silent, 31-28.
The wild finish capped off a wild day. At times Sunday it looked like the Jets were on their way to a win, while halfway across the country the Jacksonville Jaguars were doing their darnedest to lose to the Minnesota Vikings. Both the Jaguars and Jets are jockeying for the number 1 pick, and the entire afternoon felt like both teams were trying to out lose the other for Trevor Lawrence.
The Jaguars would lose, by the way, 27-24 in overtime.
As for the Jets and Sam Darnold, it was an uneven day. While Darnold did throw two touchdowns that gave the Jets a 13-7 lead, and scrambled for another score that cut the Raiders lead to 24-21, there were plenty of head scratching moments as well.
Darnold was strip sacked twice in the first half. Both plays were the partially the fault of offensive left tackle Meckhi Becton who got beat off the line of scrimmage. The first fumble led to a Vegas field goal to cut the Jets lead to 13-10.
Darnold also threw a costly pick that led to a Las Vegas touchdown to Darren Waller that made it 17-13. Speaking of Waller, what a day he had for the Raiders, Sunday. Waller caught 13 passes for 200 yards and two scores against the Jets. He was a one-man wrecking crew as New York's leaky secondary had no answer to stop him.
Anyway, back to the Jets. As for Darnold, he was 14 of 23 for 186 yards, two touchdowns, an interception and three sacks. It was not a good day for him by any stretch of the imagination. Not only was he inconsistent, he wasn't helped by a leaky offensive line and a receivers who couldn't hold onto the football.
About the only good thing that happened for the Jets Sunday, was their ability to run the football. Once Frank Gore left the game with a concussion, Adam Gase was forced to actually feed the rock to his younger backs, and they paid huge dividends. Ty Johnson had 104 yards on 22 carries while Josh Adams had another 74 yards on eight carries.
The Jets ran all over the Raiders for 206 yards, and it was the first time this year that the Jets had a 100-yard effort from a running back.
Yet here the Jets were with a chance to win the game. Ruggs III, who would later become the hero of the day, was initially its goat when he fumbled the ball back to New York near mid-field with 8:56 to play.
The Jets quickly responded on a six-play drive, buoyed by unnecessary roughness penalty on the Raiders, as Johnson scored the go-ahead touchdown to make it 28-24. It was the latest the Jets held a lead all season. Yet it was the greatest tease of all.
The Jets at (0-12) proved they are the NFL's worst team, and kept their chances of nabbing Lawrence in the draft very much alive in the process.
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