OK, who had Week 15 in the pool?
The Jets defense has apparently had enough of the non-support, and finally aired the grievances after last night’s 14-10 loss to the Titans, which ended their faint playoff hopes.
“Story of our season. Shooting yourself in the foot, over and over and over again,” Jets linebacker Calvin Pace said, via Seth Walder of the New York Daily News. “I don’t care who you’re playing, you can’t beat anybody if you turn the ball over five times.”
Thanks to playing one of their peers, the Jets were still in the game after all the interceptions, but a Sanchez fumble to top it was too much to bear.
“We have to play an opponent and play ourself. Can’t win like that,” Pace said.
Asked if it was frustrating to watch the offense struggle, Pace replied: “Yeah.”
Even when they got the ball at the Titans 25 in the final seconds, there wasn’t a tremendous confidence.
“Like I said, I play defense,” safety LaRon Landry said. “My mindset on the sidelines? I hope they want to capitalize. I hope they want to win.”
Pace did say all the blame couldn’t be placed solely on the offense, after all they allowed a 94-yard touchdown run by Chris Johnson. And the Titans best drive of the night (faint praise) came after Sanchez had given the Jets a 10-7 lead.
But other than the long run, Johnson gained 28 yards on his other 20 carries.
But with an offense they can’t count on, there’s a constant pressure on the Jets defense to play perfectly.
“It is [a lot of pressure],” Pace said. “It’s nerve-racking.”
More than even the turnovers, the lack of confidence in Sanchez by his teammates will be the thing that undermines his career there, and invite another offseason of questions about the position.