When Justin Tucker’s 61-yard field goal won Monday night’s game for the Ravens, it mathematically eliminated the Jets from playoff contention. For Jets coach Rex Ryan, that hurt.
“I felt like I got kicked in the head,” Ryan said.
The Jets’ playoff chances were slim even if the Ravens had lost that game, but it at least would have been possible for the Jets to win out and make the playoffs at 8-8. The Ravens own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Jets, so now that Baltimore has eight wins, there’s no chance that the Jets can earn a playoff spot.
Ryan got a sick feeling as he saw Ravens coach John Harbaugh send Tucker out to try that 61-yard field goal -- sick because he thought Harbaugh was doing the right thing.
“I felt better about Detroit stopping them on fourth down than I did this kid missing from 61, which sounds crazy,” Ryan said. “It’s 61 yards, and he drills it.”
And Ryan felt like he had been drilled.