Jets still struggling to secure wins and stop blowing late leads in another playoff-less season

Garrett Wilson has experienced a lot of losing in his three seasons with the New York Jets.

Ten losses in his rookie year. Ten last year. And 10 — and counting — this season.

The latest came Sunday, when New York held a late lead at Miami but blew it and lost, something that has been an embarrassingly way too common theme.

“When you’re up in the fourth quarter, all of a sudden it starts to feel like you have a losing problem,” the wide receiver said after the Jets’ 32-26 overtime loss. “You have a gene or some (thing).”

It’s as good a theory as any at this point, especially for frustrated fans who have watched the Jets (3-10) miss the postseason for 14 straight years. It’s the longest active drought in the NFL, a skid that also currently tops any franchise in the NBA, WNBA, NHL or Major League Baseball.

“Losing hurts in general,” right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker said Monday. “So when you stack up those L’s, that’s obviously not where anybody in this building wants to be. That’s not anybody’s standard at all.”

Instead, these Jets are setting dubious marks. They have lost a franchise-worst five games in which they held a fourth-quarter lead. And they’ve done it in three straight games.

Not PARSE.LY: Jeff Ulbrich

Jets special teams ace Irvin Charles is out for the season with a torn ACL

 

Tua Tagovailoa’s strong play has helped keep the Dolphins’ playoff hopes alive

 

Jets’ postseason drought extends to NFL-high 14 straight seasons with a loss to Dolphins

 

New York has nine consecutive losing seasons, also the longest active skid in the NFL.

The Jets couldn’t even enjoy what interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said Monday was Aaron Rodgers’ “best performance of the season.” The 41-year-old quarterback threw for 339 yards — ending a 34-game 300-yard passing drought in the regular season — and a 3-yard touchdown pass to Davante Adams.

It wasn’t enough.

Not when the defense and special teams were having costly breakdowns. Again, with the Jets holding a late lead. And losing.

“I wouldn’t say more frustrating, but probably equally frustrating,” Ulbrich said of the latest loss. “There has been, in my opinion, seven games that have come down to the end of the game and have been within one score and we didn’t get it done, and for a lot of different reasons when you look at the span of that seven games.

“But we haven’t been good enough in those moments, and we need to be.”

What’s working

The passing game. The Jets’ offense with Rodgers hasn’t been nearly as dynamic through the air as most expected. But it has come alive lately, and probably not coincidentally with Rodgers overcoming some nagging leg injuries. The 300-yard game at Miami had Rodgers looking more like the vintage version of the four-time MVP. He was 27 of 39 passing with a season-high 8.7 yards per attempt, leading the Jets to a season-best 402 total yards.

“I thought he did a very good job, and obviously the statistics would support that,” Ulbrich said. “He had an excellent day. I thought the offense had probably their best performance of the year.”

What needs help

Defense vs. the screen. Tua Tagovailoa made quick work of the Jets’ defense with a quick release and the Dolphins’ use of screen passes. Ulbrich counted 12 of them. “I’ve never been a part of a game like that,” he said.

Ulbrich credited Miami for offsetting New York’s aggressive front and slowing it.

“I’m taking a hard look at our screen defense,” he said. “We need to be better vs. the screens. Sometimes that’s from an execution standpoint and that’s sometimes from a call standpoint. So we’ve got to make sure that that type of day doesn’t occur for the defense. And I have a big part of that.”

Stock up

LB Jamien Sherwood. With C.J. Mosley going down with various injuries, Sherwood’s playing time has increased in his fourth season — and he has produced. He had 18 total tackles, including 13 solo, against the Dolphins and added to his team-leading season total. Sherwood became the first player in the NFL to have 18 or more tackles, two or more for losses and one pass defensed since Denver’s Alex Singleton did so in Week 6 of the 2022 season.

Stock down

Special teams. Anders Carlson made all four of his field-goal attempts, including a go-ahead 42-yarder with 52 seconds left in the fourth quarter. But his kickoff on the ensuing play was returned 45 yards by Malik Washington, helping set up Jason Sanders’ 42-yarder with 7 seconds remaining. Carlson acknowledged he was supposed to kick into the end zone for a touchback but mis-hit it. The coverage unit also fell flat in limiting Washington’s return.

Injuries

Ulbrich had no new information on the injuries to RT Morgan Moses, who hurt his left wrist in pregame warmups and left after the first half, or special teams ace Irvin Charles (knee). ... RB Breece Hall (knee) and CB Sauce Gardner missed the game, but Ulbrich said “I’d like to think they’ve got a chance” to play Sunday at Jacksonville.

Key number

0 — The Jets had no hits on Tagovailoa, who threw 47 times. “As soon as he snapped the ball, the ball was gone,” Sherwood said.

What’s next

New York heads to Jacksonville next Sunday, when the loser will move up in the draft order. The Jets currently hold the No. 7 spot, according to tankathon.com, while the Jaguars (3-10) are at No. 5 entering Monday.

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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL