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Adam Gase had his players’ backs after the Jets blew a late lead in a 31-28 loss to the Raiders Sunday.
New York looked like it was going to walk out of MetLife Stadium with its first win. Instead, its dreams were crushed by a 46-yard touchdown from Derek Carr to Henry Ruggs III with five seconds left. The gut-wrenching play dropped the Jets to 0-12 on the year and had Gase feeling like his players deserved better.
“Our players work way too hard to go through this [expletive],” Gase said, per NorthJersey.com’s Andy Vasquez.
Jordan Jenkins, the Jets’ longest-tenured player, was at a loss for words after the heartbreaking loss.
“It just hurts,” Jenkins said, per The Athletic’s Connor Hughes. “That’s all I can say. It hurts.”
Sam Darnold added that the loss hurt more than any of the 11 others because the Jets have not had many opportunities to win. That wasn’t the case Sunday, and yet the result remained the same.
“We should’ve won,” Darnold said, per SNY.
The Jets were two plays away from capturing their first victory of the season. But on a 3rd and 10 from the Jets’ 46-yard line with 13 seconds left, Gregg Williams dialed up an eight-man blitz, leaving undrafted rookie Lamar Jackson alone on an island with the fastest player on the field, Ruggs III. Jackson took the bait on a double move by Ruggs III and gave up the game-winning touchdown.
“All I was thinking was don’t get beat,” Jackson said, per NorthJersey.com’s Andy Vasquez. “I don’t want to be the reason. But I was. I got beat. I’ll get better.”
After the game, Gase had trouble explaining Williams’ final play call. Marcus Maye, meanwhile, was outright critical of the defensive coordinator’s call.
“I thought we could have been in a better call at that stage of the game,” Maye said. He repeated variations of that multiple times.
Now it’s just hard to see the Jets getting a better chance at a win than the one they had on Sunday. Their next two games are against the Seahawks and Rams, both on the West Coast. The Jets then finish off with the Browns and Patriots. Three of those four teams are projected to make the playoffs, while the Patriots are still in the hunt.
Odds are, the Jets will look back on this season and remember Week 13 as their best shot at a win.