New York Jets: 3 Keys to victory vs. Chiefs in Week 13
1. Finish Games
It’s been a common theme throughout the 2017 campaign — the Jets need to close games out. They have to put the game away when they have the opportunity. It’s a major flaw for this team and it drives Jets fans crazy.
Case in point, they owned a 14-0 lead over New England in Week Six and lost 24-17. The following week, Gang Green coughed up a 28-14 fourth quarter advantage and fell to the Dolphins, 31-28. That was a killer. In addition to that, the Jets also blew second half leads at home against the Falcons and Panthers. New York could easily be 7-4 or even 8-3. That’s what is so frustrating.
Costly turnovers and dumb penalties at the most inopportune times have been the main culprits in 2017. Three instances come immediately to mind. McCown’s poorly thrown pass in Miami was intercepted by Bobby McCain at the Jets 23 with just 47 seconds left and the score tied at 28-all. Four plays later, Cody Parkey’s 39-yard field goal gave the Dolphins the win.
In last week’s loss to Carolina, McCown’s fumble led directly to Luke Kuechly’s 34-yard fumble return for a touchdown that put the Panthers up for good in the fourth quarter. Later in that same period, Mike Pennel committed a dumb and egregious roughing the passer penalty on Cam Newton with 2:17 remaining. Instead of the Jets getting the ball back trailing by five points, Pennel’s blunder led directly to Graham Gano’s 45-yard field goal that iced the game.
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Until Gang Green plays smarter and learns how to close games out, they won’t be a playoff contender in the AFC. They’ll regret the games they let slip away. As poet John Greenleaf Whittier once said many years ago, “For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, ‘It might have been’.”
How true.