Is Tom Brady Stating Agains the Jets

EAST RUTHERFORD — The offset 58 minutes of Sun'south game at MetLife Stadium played out similar a dream for the New York Jets. A month afterward existence eliminated from the playoffs, they outplayed the defending Super Bowl champions, as rookie quarterback Zach Wilson showed the massive progress everyone has been waiting to run across against the Buccaneers.

But with two minutes remaining they handed the ball over to Tom Brady with the game all the same up for grabs. And every Jets fan knows exactly what happened next.

The Bucs beat out the Jets 28-24 as Brady establish Cyril Grayson for a 33-1000 touchdown pass with 15 seconds left, capping a 93-m drive with no timeouts in the final ii minutes.

The Jets didn't trail for the kickoff 59 minutes and 45 seconds of the game, with Wilson having probably his best game equally a pro despite playing without his meridian three receivers against ane of the league's better defenses: he finished 19-of-33 for 234 yards and a touchdown. His strong play helped propel the Jets to a 24-ten lead late in the third quarter.

And information technology didn't matter because with two:17 remaining, on fourth-and-2, deep in Tampa Bay territory the Jets couldn't secure a first down. Wilson didn't come close to converting the quarterback sneak, a failure that Jets coach Robert Saleh blamed on a coaching miscommunication.

"Information technology'southward unfortunate that we are going to be talking about the final sequence of events," Jets double-decker Robert Saleh said. "Our guys were outstanding today. They deserved meliorate. We won that game. We've got to be better for our players.

And and so they couldn't terminate Brady, who finished 34-of-50 for 410, three touchdowns and an interception.

"All the fashion across the board, everybody was outstanding," Saleh said, clearly frustrated. "Defensively, nosotros held up. Did a lot of smashing things. A lot of immature guys made a lot of great plays. There were a lot of things that I thought were fantastic from our group against a championship football team. They deserve better."

Coaching staff drops ball

Saleh was so angry near the upshot because he believed the Jets would take won the game had they executed the fourth-and-ii the way they should take.

Just that didn't happen, according to Saleh, considering offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur and Wilson didn't end up on the same page before the brawl was snapped on that critical play.

The Jets were on the Bucs 7-yard line with 2:11 remaining when Saleh called timeout to decide on kick the field goal or going for information technology. Had they converted, they likely would have won the game because Tampa Bay had merely one timeout left and the Jets could have run out the clock.

The Jets could take kicked the field goal to go up past seven, likely guaranteeing overtime if the Bucs scored a touchdown. But Saleh said it wasn't a tough decision.

"They are backed up, so they actually would take had longer to become," Saleh said. "We're a yard away from keeping the ball out of the greatest histrion in the history of football's easily. I'll take that yard every fourth dimension."

It's hard to mistake Saleh for being ambitious and attempting to win the game when he had the take chances. But the play the Jets ran is incommunicable to defend: Wilson tried to sneak from two yards out merely came upward well curt.

Just Saleh said later that Wilson never should take been sneaking there. Receiver Braxton Berrios was in motion on the play and the ball should accept been handed off to him.

"The quarterback has an option based upon the look that he has to sneak the brawl," Saleh said. "In that situation, we wanted the ball handed off to Berrios."

The only problem? That wasn't relayed to Wilson earlier the snap. Then Wilson, as the play calls for, saw a gap in the defense force and decided to keep information technology.

"Zach executed the playbook as it's designed," Saleh said. "Unfortunately, if y'all look at the Television set copy again, Braxton probably has a first downwards and the game is over. It'south a poor job on our part for lack of advice."

And Saleh put that lack of advice on LaFleur.

"That's Mike to Zach," Saleh said. "It's simple. He calls the play and says, 'Mitt this ball off, no matter what.' That'southward all the communication that needs to be said. It never got across."

When asked how that happened after a timeout

A twenty-four hours of growth

Despite the end result, this was exactly what we've been waiting to run across from the Jets all season. Wilson was crisp and decisive in the pocket, making the correct throws and giving his team a hazard to win with strong early play and by leading that final drive deep into Bucs territory.

The rookie seemed to exist trying to throw his coordinator a bit of a life raft after the game, when explaining what clicked for him.

"I thought Mike has washed an amazing chore ... just putting me in a good position," Wilson said. "I but feel comfortable with what's going on. I thought he called a dandy game in terms of scheming guys open and a lot of really good plays the whole game."

And LaFleur called a keen game, aside from that final mishap. Not only did Wilson play well, just the offense had its about well-rounded performance of the season with the rookie on the field. The Jets also ran for 150 yards against the best blitz defense in the league since quondam Jets motorbus Todd Bowles took over as defensive coordinator in 2019.

On the defensive side of the ball, they pieced together a performance that was skillful enough to win with several young players making meaningful plays: rookie cornerbacks Brandin Echols and Michael Carter 2 each had moments they won't presently forget.

Carter Two sacked Brady on a 3rd-down corner blitz late in the first half, and Echols intercepted Brady just before halftime, helping the Jets take a 17-10 lead into the interruption.

But the Jets got nil to show for it because they couldn't convert on that critical fourth downward and they couldn't stop Brady.

Information technology was shut. Safety Elijah Riley was simply a moment too belatedly arriving to Grayson on the game-winning touchdown catch.

"I just need to brand that play," Riley said. "In that location'due south not much more that needs to exist said about that when it comes downward to it. In the concluding seconds, against a squad similar this, I've got to be able to make that play."

The end result was probably the best of both worlds for the Jets futurity: they saw real, meaningful progress from the No. 2 overall pick and the loss didn't injure their standing in the typhoon.

But that certainly wasn't any consolation in the locker room later this ane.

"There's no moral victories in this league," veteran linebacker C.J. Mosley said. "Nobody in our circle flinched. That's all yous can ask for. Y'all can't win every two-minute possession. You can't win every single game, but we sure did our best.

"Guys executed well. Law-breaking, defense and special teams played well. We played concrete. We communicated. We adapted on the sidelines. So, it'southward only unfortunate that we came upward brusk at the finish. Only like I said, in that location's no moral victories. We have one more week to put our best pes forward and go from in that location."

Noteworthy: The Jets lost two fundamental players in the game: rookie running back Michael Carter left the game with a concussion after a 55-chiliad run in the first quarter and left tackle George Fant left with a human knee injury and did not return.

Andy Vasquez is the Jets trounce writer for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited admission to all Jets assay, news, trades and more, please subscribe today and download our app.

Email: vasqueza@northjersey.com

Twitter: @andy_vasquez

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Source: https://www.northjersey.com/story/sports/nfl/jets/2022/01/02/ny-jets-vs-tampa-bay-buccaneers-live-updates-analysis-week-17/9054670002/

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