Don't confuse the 0-12 Jets' latest losing effort with tanking or throwing a game. Gregg Williams' ill-fated decision to all-out blitz the Raiders to snatch a stunning 31-28 defeat out of the jaws of certain victory is simply the latest and greatest example of their coaching arrogance and ignorance.
The biggest surprise is how New York still employs head coach Adam Gase and Williams, his defensive coordinator, this late in a dumpster fire of a season. The Falcons, Texans and Lions all fired their coaches before Week 13 for much lesser offenses.
No one should be surprised Williams called a "cover zero" on Las Vegas' final offensive play, an easy-looking 46-yard TD strike from Derek Carr to speedy rookie wide receiver Henry Ruggs. Ruggs, with his track-star speed, streaked by much slower rookie cornerback Lamar Jackson with a clear vertical path to the end zone.
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It's almost as if the Jets dared Carr to throw to Ruggs, which is exactly what the Raiders' quarterback should have wanted to do with the clock ticking toward five seconds left in the game and no timeouts. Williams' calling card over his roller-coaster career has been to be aggressive with the pass rush, damned be the results.
After the game, Jets players, from safety Marcus Maye to quarterback Sam Darnold, were in disbelief in how their gritty, relentless afternoon didn't add up to an elusive winning moment and a big upset. Given those players have been under Williams and Gase all season, they should totally know why they lost by now.
Williams and Gase have been adamant about their usage of particular schemes and personnel. They don't adjust well for anything. They are in the incompetent, old-school coaching mode of "we do what we do" and see what happens. With all the Jets' injuries for most of the season, they haven't had the players to do what Gase and Williams want to do to win games and the coaches haven't adjusted.
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The Jets found some strong offense by accident against the Raiders. Gase has insisted to stick with near-retirement veteran Frank Gore as his top running back to limited results in a run-first scheme. With Gore hurt early, the backfield turned over to youngsters Ty Johnson and Josh Adams — to the tune of a combined 178 yards rushing. But at the same time, the Jets didn't successfully attack a shaky Raiders pass defense enough, between Darnold's mistakes and not challenging their outside cornerbacks more.
Williams made Gase look like a genius in relation. Williams went anti-Patriots with his game plan, not trying to take away the Raiders' best offensive skill player — clearly tight end Darren Waller, with running back Josh Jacobs inactive. Williams didn't even consider how to make someone else other than Waller beat his pass defense for most of the game. Before Ruggs' game-winner, Waller was the unquestioned player of the game with his 13 catches for 200 yards and two TDs.
Before the throw to Ruggs, the Jets were fortunate Carr wasn't playing as well as he should have with an interception and uncharacteristic inaccuracy. But there's also one thing every defensive coach should know about Carr — he is one of the league's best blitz-beating quarterbacks. That didn't stop Williams from bringing the house and exposing a struggling young corner. Carr's athleticism and decisiveness are assets when he gets extra pressure, which also creates a nice read for him downfield, who Ruggs was.
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Carr has had a great season throwing the ball downfield. The Raiders' offense is comfortable taking deep shots, whether it's Ruggs, Hunter Renfrow or Nelson Agholor on the back end. The play before Ruggs scored, Carr just missed Agholor in the back of the end zone with an incomplete pass that would have been the game-winner.
Williams and the Jets ignored the situation. It was all-or-nothing play for the Raiders and not the Jets. All the Jets had to do is protect against the deep ball, and they walk off winners for the first time in 2020. The Jets also ignored the scouting and analytics related to Carr to the point they turned the highest of win probability to the absolute lowest as soon as they left Ruggs one-on-one outside.
What happened is both inexcusable and inexplicable. The Jets' players, to their credit, have played hard to avoid the wrong side of history. As Maye suggested, they're not getting help in terms of being put in positions not to fail.
Williams wishes the Raiders result could be chalked up to "tanking" . But don't call it bad, curious luck — the Jets' meltdown was a residue of horrible design. They can't set the Gase-Williams blueprint on fire soon enough.
