Fourth-and-1, ball at midfield, just under two minutes to go in a four-point game.
A pivotal moment, and when the Lions lined up at the line of scrimmage, the Jets expected a run up the gut to get the inches needed to keep the drive going.
“Wholeheartedly, we were expecting a sneak,” defensive lineman Sheldon Rankins said. “That’s what they were showing on tape in those situations.”
“They were running the ball on third and fourth downs, and they got us,” added C.J. Mosley.
As for what happened, we’ll let Mosley and D.J. Reed explain Brock Wright’s 51-yard touchdown that won the game for Detroit.
“They ran what you call a leak play with a Cover-1, and the tight end got out and they just made a play,” Mosley said. “Sucks one play changed the whole game, but it was the right play at the right time.”
“It was a great play call; we have to play aggressive there to win the game for our team, but they did a good job having someone block and thinking it was a run play,” Reed added. “He held his block for a while and then just squirted out, and everyone was in man. They ran deeper routes on purpose, so once he caught it, he had an open lane because everyone was on the other side of the field.”
Wright needed just one block to get all the way to the house, because once the play started, everyone had either collapsed in or was on the other side in man coverage.
“They did a good job, different motions, so as far as us getting our checks in that situation, something didn’t get communicated,” Mosley said. “We were in man so someone was supposed to have him; I was on the other side, but I wish when I was running back I had seen him leak out. Tough pill to swallow.”
The head coach was more succinct about it.
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“Just gave up some eye discipline in man coverage,” a somber Robert Saleh said. “They threw the ball and there’s no reason for that play to happen. Good for them.”
Disappointment abounds, especially because the Jets did play rather well defensively until that moment.
“It’s tough because we always put it on us and shoulder it and take pride in being the group that can find a way to get it done,” Rankins said. “To give up one like that is tough to process, but we can rebound from it. We have to be better.”
Two wild finishes in the late games leave the 8-6 Chargers in the final AFC Wild Card slot with the Jets and Patriots tied at 7-7 (and New England has the tiebreaker, leaving the Jets ninth), but there are now also four teams at 6-8, and one of those, the Jaguars, is closer to the AFC South crown (7-7 Tennessee leads) than a Wild Card.
It’s gonna be a wild finish for the Jets, who are now truly in playoff mode – because a loss to Jacksonville Thursday leaves them 7-8 and 10th at best with two games to go, and they could be eliminated by the time they get to Miami for the season finale.
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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