Jets suffer fifth straight loss on late touchdown run by Patriots' Rhamondre Stevenson
Deatrich Wise Jr. of the New England Patriots sacks Aaron Rodgers of the Jets during the third quarter at Gillette Stadium on Sunday in Foxborough, Mass. Credit: Getty Images/Adam Glanzman
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Davante Adams’ stirring speech about the Jets needing to play with more energy must have fallen on deaf ears.
The Jets were neither inspiring nor inspired. Their execution in all phases was poor and sloppy. There was a lot of talk about darkness late Sunday afternoon, which is where the Jets find themselves after their most deflating and gut-wrenching loss of this disappointing season.
Rhamondre Stevenson’s 1-yard touchdown run with 22 seconds left lifted the Patriots over the Jets, 25-22, at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots snapped a six-game losing streak and handed the Jets their fifth straight loss. Both teams are 2-6.
The Jets opened the season believing they were Super Bowl contenders. Instead, they’re moving closer to missing the playoffs for a 14th consecutive year.
“I’m [ticked off],” interim coach Jeff Ulbrich said. “They’re [ticked off]. I’m hurt. They’re hurt. We are not executing in critical moments, especially down the stretch down there. We had opportunities to win this game. We should have won this game and we didn’t.”
Garrett Wilson left the locker room in a hurry without speaking to the media. Adams did the same.
This was a game that featured so many issues that go deeper than energy. Greg Zuerlein missed a 44-yard field-goal attempt and an extra point. The Jets failed to convert a two-point conversion late in the game after being called for a delay of game on the attempt.
“This is a moment of darkness,” Ulbrich said. “We understand that the outside world is going to get really loud right now. The only thing I know in life is when it gets dark and it gets hard, you work and you point the finger at yourself and you look inward and you figure what can I do better from an individual standpoint.”
Aaron Rodgers knows darkness from his famous retreat.
“I’ve been in the darkness,” he said. “You’ve got to go in there and make peace with it.”
Rodgers completed 17 of 28 passes for 233 yards and two touchdowns. Wilson caught five passes for 113 yards. Adams had four grabs for 54 yards. Tyler Conklin had three catches for 42 yards and a touchdown.
Haason Reddick, whose lengthy holdout ended last week, did not record a sack or tackle in his Jets debut.
Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye threw for 23 yards and rushed for 46, including a 17-yard touchdown run. He left the game in the first half with a concussion.
Jacoby Brissett finished the game and was 15-for-24 for 132 yards. Stevenson had two rushing touchdowns.
The Jets took a 22-17 lead on Braelon Allen’s 2-yard touchdown run with 2:57 left. After his score, the Jets were flagged for a delay of game on the two-point conversion, pushing them back 5 yards. Rodgers then passed to Mike Williams, who was tackled well short of the end zone.
It turns out, it was Rodgers’ decision on the delay of game. He saw the defense and didn’t like the play call against it.
“I figured let’s just move it back to the 7, not that much of a difference,” Rodgers said. “I liked the play that we called, but they brought zero pressure, and I guessed wrong. They guessed right.”
The Jets needed their defense to make a stand, but they couldn’t.
The Patriots began their drive at the 30, and Brissett scrambled for 14 yards on a third-and-9 to the Jets’ 43. After forcing two straight incompletions, the Jets gave up a 34-yard pass to Kayshon Boutte to the 9.
Sauce Gardner was in coverage and thought he was going to have help. He didn’t. Brissett underthrew it a little, but Boutte came back to make the catch.
“I’m still stuck on that play,” Gardner said. “That is a play that can be made. That’s on me and I got to be better when it comes to knowing our fire zone coverages.”
Stevenson carried and caught a pass, both for 2 yards. Boutte caught a pass on third down but was tackled at the 1. On fourth-and-goal, Stevenson broke the plane for the go-ahead score. He also caught the two-point conversion pass.
“We talk about being at our best when our best’s required,” Ulbrich said. “That was not it. That’s on coaching, first of all, and second, we’ve got to execute. We did not execute in critical moments. We say ‘that’s not who we are.’ But it’s who we are until we demonstrate otherwise.”
Rodgers attempted two passes on the final series. The first to Wilson was incomplete. The second to Adams went for 16 yards, but time ran out.
“Our goal has just got to be score 30,” Rodgers said. “Doesn’t matter what the other two sides are doing. We have trust in our defense and [special] teams, but if we’re not scoring 30, we’re underachieving.”
They certainly are.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
