The Jets had nothing to lose but another football game.
Interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich made ultra-aggressive decisions Sunday like the Jets are headed nowhere and the only fun left to be had is playing spoiler.
That’s all true, of course, but two of Ulbrich’s questionable fourth-down decisions backfired and contributed directly to a 19-9 loss to the Rams that left everyone wondering how moving the ball well didn’t score more points.
“It’s being aggressive and — at this point in the season — I think it’s just kind of the mindset,” receiver Davante Adams said after catching a touchdown pass from Aaron Rodgers. “We’ve got a lot of people on that side of the ball that can make plays.
“That’s Brick’s, Aaron’s and really the whole team’s mindset — trying to do whatever we can to put up points. You live by it, you die by it sometimes. It’s unfortunate, but I feel like it was the right thing to do.”
The Jets led 6-0 and were in complete control in the second quarter when Ulbrich left the offense on the field for a fourth-and-1 at his own 33-yard line. Analytics agreed with Ulbrich’s decision.
Breece Hall was stuffed for no gain. Three plays later, the Rams tied the score.
“I wouldn’t say it sucks the life out of a team, but it sucks that don’t you don’t convert,” Hall said. “We’re doing it because we trust in our offense, but we also trust in our defense to recover off of it. Our defense was still hyped after it because they get another chance to step on the field.”
Why did Ulbrich risk giving up such a short field? Because the Jets went 99 yards on their first drive.
“We were maintaining drives,” Ulbrich said. “We were moving the ball … so I wanted to stay aggressive and keep the ball in the hands of our offense.
Ulbrich’s second bold decision came on the first possession of the second half, at the end of a 14-play, 78-yard drive.
Faced with a fourth-and-4 at the 13-yard line, Ulbrich bypassed a 31-yard field goal, and Rodgers threw an incompletion on a fade to Adams.
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The logic behind kicking the field goal in that spot is to get some reward for a drive that ate nearly 10 minutes off the clock.
The logic for trying to move the chains is to try to turn a three-point lead into a two-score game by adding a touchdown.
“Just appreciate coach having the faith to go for it,” receiver Garrett Wilson said, “but it’s tough not to convert them, for sure.”
Ulbrich hinted that 4 yards was the maximum range to attempt.
“We wanted to go for it,” Ulbrich said. “We felt good about the play we had called. Aaron felt good about it as well, so we thought that was the best decision at the time.”
The Jets finished 2-for-5 on fourth downs and also missed a 49-yard field goal on fourth down late in the fourth quarter, so Ulbrich might have been damned either way.
