Jets continue to get in their own way with second-half penalties
Xavier Gipson of the Jets reacts on the sidelines after a penalty during the fourth quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at MetLife Stadium on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Xavier Gipson trotted onto the field with about 10 minutes left in Sunday’s game looking to make a difference. The Jets had been dominating on special teams all day, and this was going to be the dynamic punt returner’s opportunity to put a stamp on the result.
He certainly did all of that. It just wasn’t for the betterment of the Jets.
On that fateful fourth-and-6 with the Seahawks at their own 33-yard line, Seattle opted not to punt and kept its offense on the field. Gipson — along with the coaches on the sideline — were caught off guard by that decision and lost track of the personnel they had deployed.
The Jets were flagged for having 12 men on the field. The 5-yard penalty set up a fourth-and-1 and the Jets still had a chance to make a stop. But as has happened to them so often this season, and in seasons going back just about as far as anyone can remember, that one little error sparked a cascade of them.
The meltdown that ensued during the next four minutes, with three more cringe-inducing, backbreaking, momentum-shifting penalties against the Jets — before they yielded the go-ahead touchdown with 5:31 left in their 26-21 loss to the Seahawks — was a microcosm of the biggest issue this franchise faces on a weekly basis.
The Jets have an uncanny inability to stop spiraling after even the slightest nudge knocks them off course, and they inevitably get buried under an avalanche of their own incompetence.
“We had moments where we really played our brand of football to our standard, and there were moments where we did not,” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said. “That’s kind of been the common tale this season. If you want to be a championship team, if you want to be a winning team, you have to be consistent.”
The Jets aren’t any of those three things. Not by miles.
The punch-to-the-gut punchline to this one? The Seahawks weren’t going to punt on that fourth-and-6 because their punter, Michael Dickson, was dealing with back spasms. While the TV broadcast had shown him ailing, the Jets apparently had no idea.
“We nominated Michael Dickson as an honorary player of the game for not being available for us and having to go for it on fourth down,” Seattle coach Mike Macdonald guffawed at the Jets’ expense.
Gipson took the blame for his gaffe.
“I got away from the fundamentals of what I usually do when I go back there, and that’s to count the players and peek and see if there is a punter back there,” he said. “There wasn’t [a punter]. That one’s 1,000% on me. As a man, I take ownership of that.”
Nonetheless, the Jets still had a chance to overcome the error. Geno Smith tried to hit DK Metcalf on a pass that fell incomplete, but cornerback Qwan’tez Stiggers, playing only his second defensive snap of his career as others dealt with injuries, was flagged for a 20-yard pass interference.
“I just have to be better on that,” Stiggers said. “I have to fix my eyes and play a little bit better.”
The Jets had another chance to end the drive, this time on fourth-and-1 from their 33. Zach Charbonnet was stopped for a loss — but Solomon Thomas was penalized for a horse-collar tackle on the running back.
On third-and-6 from the 13, Smith threw an incompletion that should have resulted in a fourth down and likely a field- goal attempt. Nope. Will McDonald was lined up in the neutral zone. So on third-and-1 from the 8, Charbonnet finally put the defense out of its misery by reaching the end zone.
At least the Jets didn’t get penalized on that scoring play. Oh, wait. Quinnen Williams drew an unsportsmanlike-conduct flag for an altercation with an official after the play.
“Just a frustrating series,” Thomas said. “We basically gave them three more drives. We have to be better than that. That’s really what it is.”
“That was kind of weird,” linebacker Quincy Williams said of the drive. “But yeah . . . There ain’t really nothing you can [complain] about.”
Tell that to cornerback D.J. Reed, who after the game took to social media to tell NFL officiating: “You [expletive] suck, yall should be ashamed of yall selves!”
There were other penalties that helped derail the Jets. After the Seahawks cut their deficit to 21-19 on a field goal early in the fourth quarter, the Jets appeared to hit a 41-yard pass down the right sideline to Davante Adams. It was negated when Adams was flagged for offensive pass interference.
Chuck Clark was hit for pass interference in the end zone on the opening drive of the third quarter, setting up a first-and-goal for Seattle, and Leonard Taylor II drew an offside that nullified a third-and-goal stuff from the 1. The Jets’ defense ultimately came up with a goal-line stand on that possession, but it certainly wasn’t due to their discipline or sharpness.
“I have to look at every single one of those penalties and see exactly if they’re real, if they’re not real, what caused them, and get to the bottom of it,” Ulbrich said. “It’s not OK. It’s not acceptable. It’s not our standard. Penalties ultimately extend drives. We can’t let that happen.”
In all, the Jets were hit for 12 penalties for 83 yards in the game. Ten of them — for 73 yards — came in the second half. The Seahawks converted six first downs in the second half, and three of them were on penalties.
“I mean, when teams give you opportunities to take advantage of breaks, you have to capitalize on those things,” Macdonald said. “Our guys are playing clean football, which is good. We need that. But it’s good to take advantage of opportunities when we get them.”
The Jets gave them plenty . . . and it buried them.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.