The Jets’ play-calling Sunday angered their fan base. Answering questions about it made coach Rex Ryan testy yesterday.
Ryan was defensive when pressed about some of the decisions the Jets coaches made during the 29-26 overtime loss to the Patriots. Talk radio was filled yesterday with people questioning whether the Jets played scared and too conservative late in the game.
“That’s not even close,” Ryan said defiantly. “Saying we played scared is somebody who has probably never played the game in his life. I mean, that’s a ridiculous comment because that’s certainly not what we do. Everything we do is to play to win the game.
“If you lose, people have the right to any opinion they want, but to say we were scared, that’s not even close to being accurate.”
The Jets had play-calling issues throughout the game, but two series in the final two minutes of regulation have drawn the most criticism.
After recovering a fumble by Patriots kick returner Devin McCourty at the Patriots’ 18 with 2:01 remaining in the fourth quarter of a tie game — despite quarterback Mark Sanchez having what Ryan labeled an “outstanding” day — the Jets decided to run the ball twice, once with Tim Tebow and once with Joe McKnight. They passed on third down, but wide receiver Jeremy Kerley slipped and Sanchez took a sack to ensure the Patriots used a timeout.
“When you look at it, we had some success running the football in the previous series,” Ryan said. “Joe McKnight had some big runs on them. We felt good about running the football, or we wouldn’t have called [those plays], obviously.
“We knew we needed a first down. We were trying to get a first down. It wasn’t like we were trying to burn their timeouts. We were trying to get a first down to win the game. To their credit, they made some plays.”
Ryan did not agree that by taking the ball out of Sanchez’s hands in that spot he was showing he did not trust Sanchez.
“I have faith that you can put it in Sanchez’s hands,” Ryan said. “I also have faith that we can put it in our running game.”
After kicking a field goal, the Jets failed to stop Tom Brady from driving 54 yards on six plays for the game-tying field goal. The Jets did not apply much pressure on Brady on the drive and played zone coverage. Ryan said you have to credit Brady with some of the throws he made.
“You’re running traps on two of their best players and they caught two balls in those situation, where if the ball is thrown here or there, we’re feeling a little different today,” he said.
The other situation that received a ton of second-guessing was a third-and-2 from the Patriots’ 3 in the third quarter. Instead of using Tebow or Shonn Greene to run for the first down, the Jets had Sanchez line up in the shotgun formation and throw a slant pass to Chaz Schilens that was incomplete.
Ryan said it’s easy to question the play-calling with hindsight.
“That’s exactly what I’m talking about [pointing out the nature of second-guessing failed plays.] If one’s effective, we’re having a completely different conversation,” Ryan said. “If it doesn’t work, we can question everything and I understand that, that’s part of the beauty of being a football fan. Obviously I wish the result was different.”
Ryan said he was encouraged by the team’s performance and felt much better about the team now than he did three weeks ago after they lost 34-0 to the 49ers.
“I know we’re a better team,” Ryan said. “We had to improve as a football team and we did. I see us getting better. We have a ways to go to get to where we want to get to, but you see it. We’re making strides. It’s not by luck or anything else. It’s by design.”
The 3-4 Jets get another AFC East opponent, the Dolphins, this week as they try to get back to .500.
“We win this game and we’ll be right back where we were before this past game,” Greene said. “That’s how messed up our division is. We could still be sitting pretty.”