Vegas Pays Out Late

One minute the New York Jets were celebrating like crazy. Players were jumping into each other’s arms. There was dancing and hugging on the sideline. They looked like a team that had just won a championship, but in reality, it was just a frustrated team letting it all out. 

The Jets thought they had finally done enough to win a game.

But a few minutes later, several Jets players were wandering around the field looking lost and confused. Others rushed back to the locker room, trying to get away from the field as quickly as possible. One player took both hands and spiked his helmet into the ground.

“Our players work way too hard to put up with this [expletive],” Jets coach Adam Gase said a few minutes later, before he even answered a question.

The New York Jets remained winless on Sunday, gifting a touchdown to the Raiders in the final 10 seconds to fall 31-28 at MetLife Stadium.

The Jets are 0-12 after Raiders receiver Henry Ruggs III burned Jets cornerback Lamar Jackson for a 46-yard touchdown. Ruggs coasted into the end zone with five seconds left, breaking the Jets’ hearts and dealing them yet another loss in the most painful fashion possible.

But the Jets have only themselves to blame. They inexplicably blitzed eight men on that final Raiders offensive play, when only a touchdown could hurt them. It was an inexplicable call by defensive coordinator Gregg Williams. And some of his players didn’t try to explain or defend it.

“We could have been in a better call at that stage of the game,” Jets safety Marcus Maye said, repeating the words “better call” at least four more times in the span of his short postgame interview.

But it wasn’t the only reason the Jets lost. They could have avoided this on the final offensive possession, too. The defense got a big defensive stop with 1:36 remaining in the game, keeping the Raiders out of the end zone on fourth down and setting up that big celebration. The Raiders never would have gotten the ball back if the Jets had just gotten a first down.

Instead, they ran three times and punted the ball. And then, the Raiders struck for the game-winner.

When it was over, there was anger and shock. Jets quarterback Sam Darnold admitted that some players didn’t know how to feel in the locker room.

“We should have won that game,” Darnold said.

Most Jets fans were celebrating after the loss because it didn’t hurt their draft position. By staying winless, they’re still in position to pick first overall next year. And they’re still the heavy favorites.

But in the locker room, that means nothing.

This is a team that has continued to battle through a frustrating season. A group of young players that fought hard put itself in position to finally get a win to avoid becoming only the third team in NFL history to go 0-16.

And instead of that win, got yet another loss in the cruelest imaginable way.