Your favorite blog engages in the occasionally unsportsmanlike act of reading the opposing teams’ media upon big Packer wins over archrivals — mostly the Bears and Vikings.
The New York Jets are not an archrival, but given the acid state of the New York sports media, the Jets’ snatching defeat from the jaws of victory Sunday compels one to wonder how the New York media is dealing with it.
The New York Times starts with a great headline:
Jets Build an 18-Point First-Half Lead, Which Aaron Rodgers Duly Vaporizes
GREEN BAY, Wis. — It got quiet at Lambeau Field after the Jets’ third touchdown of the first half on Sunday, so quiet that the strains of a J-E-T-S chant could be heard from the upper reaches of the old stadium. But late in the fourth quarter, after the sunlight faded and the Packers had taken the lead, there was nothing but noise, a din that swallowed up the Jets as they pursued a tying touchdown.
Some of the Jets’ receivers had just finished speaking about the need to make a big play. One of them, Jeremy Kerley, lined up in the slot. Another, David Nelson, lined up near the Jets’ sideline. When the ball was snapped, Nelson stopped, and so did the cornerback covering him. They were the only two players who did.
Nelson saw Kerley still zipping up the field, toward the end zone and deliverance, seconds from making the greatest catch he never made, scoring on the greatest pass Geno Smith never threw. Then, a whistle. It was the only sound Nelson could make out.
When Coach Rex Ryan arrived at the lectern after the Jets’ 31-24 loss, a defeat that challenged their standard for bizarreness, he said he did not know who had, however inadvertently, thwarted a 37-yard touchdown that would have tied the score. It was not him, he said. It was not Smith, either, he added. Kerley did not know. Neither did offensive lineman Willie Colon nor Nelson, who figured someone had been called for a false start, maybe a delay of game.
The confusion that reigned afterward symbolized a ragged day for the Jets, who after leading by 18 in the first half resembled the playoff team they profess they are (or will be) but after intermission lapsed into bad habits, making bad plays with bad timing and a stroke of bad luck.
The ejection of their star defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson for throwing punches during a skirmish in the end zone qualified as a bad habit, a lack of discipline from an even-tempered guy, that the Jets could not tolerate, or withstand.
The failure to corral Jordy Nelson, who en route to nine catches and a career-high 209 receiving yards torched Dee Milliner on the go-ahead 80-yard score with 2 minutes 8 seconds remaining in the third quarter, qualified as a bad play. It was one of many by a depleted secondary exposed by Aaron Rodgers and his corps of talented receivers.
The reversal of a David Harris interception deep in Green Bay territory, after the Jets were penalized for having too many men on the field, qualified as bad timing. Perhaps bad luck, too.
Not as bad, though, as what happened when the Jets, trailing by 31-24, had the ball at the Green Bay 37-yard line, with 5:08 remaining. Standing at the 42, the offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg appeared to call time. The official, stationed about 5 yards downfield, did not seem to hear him, so defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson moved behind him and — just as the ball was snapped — relayed Mornhinweg’s desire. Ryan, standing between the official and Mornhinweg, barely budged. The timeout was granted.
“It’s fourth down in Lambeau Field and there was 80,000 screaming fans,” Richardson said. “They didn’t hear Marty. So I made sure they heard him. It’s my fault.”
Well, no, it’s not Richardson’s fault, it’s Mornhinweg’s fault. He tried to explain in the New York Post:
When contacted by Yahoo! Sports on Monday morning, Mornhinweg clarified what happened.
“Due to a formation problem I was trying to get Rex [Ryan’s] attention for a TO,” he said in a text message. “[The head coach] is the only coach who should call TO, I know that. Geno fixed the problem, we were good to go. [I] did not get Rex’s attention. Ref called the TO anyway.”
It appeared the adjustment Mornhinweg wanted was running back Bilal Powell moving from one side of the formation to the other.
But, the Post’s Brian Costello reiterates:
The timeout touchdown from Sunday was far from the Jets’ only blunder in the 31-24 loss to the Packers.
One play that was somewhat overlooked was David Harris’ interception of Aaron Rodgers at the end of the third quarter that was nullified by a penalty for too many men on the field. Nose tackle Damon Harrison was just about to the Jets’ sideline when Rodgers snapped the ball, drawing the flag. The interception could have been a huge turning point in the game.
“Clearly the rule says illegal participant. He wasn’t participating. That was clear,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “But by the letter of the rules, I guess he was in the air as he was crossing the out-of-bounds deal.”
Ryan said it was not a miscommunication. Rodgers seemed to see Harrison and hurried the play.
“Did he pick the tempo up on that one a little bit more? He probably did,” Ryan said.
On the following play, the Jets only had 10 players on the field.
“Now everybody is scared to death to go out there,” Ryan said.
The Post’s Mike Vaccaro appears to think the Jets are cursed:
If you are lucky — and I use that term both loosely and ironically — then perhaps you go back to the originator, to the Heidi Game. Maybe you didn’t realize it then — the Jets did go on to win the Super Bowl seven weeks later, after all — but that was the start of something. Call it an ill wind. Call it a dark cloud.
Call it Indi-Jets-ion.
But you know it’s there, always lurking. Players come, players go. Coaches, executives, PR flacks — they come, they swear there is no such wind, no such cloud, they sneer at the sheer silliness of it all, they go. And yet every few years, you get Mark Gastineau hitting Bernie Kosar late. You get a Fake Spike. You get a buttfumble.
And you get a defensive tackle — keep that part of it in mind please; a DEFENSIVE tackle — calling a timeout while the offense is on the field, a few seconds before the quarterback throws what would have been a game-tying 36-yard touchdown pass. …
It’s there on the tape: Rex Ryan standing next to Richardson and then Richardson approaching the line judge. What you can also see is offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg waving his arms as if to say: “No!”
Referees are only supposed to grant timeouts to the head coach, but they’re also instructed to keep their eyes on the line of scrimmage so close to a snap. What he heard was Richardson’s voice. Who’s message was he relaying?
“I know for a fact it didn’t come from me,” Ryan said.
Mornhinweg isn’t permitted to offer his take until later in the week because the Jets would prefer this story linger an extra four or five days.
The New York Daily News expressed its feelings in its sports front:
Newsday has this photo that one thinks could have been taken at numerous points after the Jets got their 21–3 lead:
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 