Jets' Aaron Glenn explains questionable 4th down decision in third quarter
With the Jets down 10-7 in the third quarter after having just allowed a six-minute, 11-play touchdown drive to the Baltimore Ravens to open the second half, head coach Aaron Glenn made a gutsy but risky call to go for it on fourth-and-2 from New York's own 42-yard line.
It didn't work.
After the turnover on downs, the Ravens -- with excellent field position -- scored once again, this time on a seven-play drive that took just over three minutes. Ironically, the touchdown came on a two-yard run by Derrick Henry on fourth-and-goal.
The score gave Baltimore a 17-7 lead and all the good that the Jets defense had done in the first half by limiting Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to three points and just 72 yards of offense went out the window.
"At that point, I was thinking about the defense and how I thought the defense was playing really, really well," Glenn said after the game when asked about the questionable decision. "... And I thought our offense was doing a solid job, I thought Tyrod was doing a solid job.
"So I want to be aggressive, I want to be able to go on that and we didn’t make it. That’s just what it was."
Glenn's desire to be aggressive is commendable, but in that particular situation it didn't make much sense.
While it's true New York's defense played well, it had just given up a long touchdown drive and no longer has some of the playmakers it did at the start of the season. It was also midway through the third quarter with the Jets down three -- totally enough time and by a small enough margin to still win the game without the conversion.
Instead, Tyrod Taylor's pass to John Metchie III was incomplete (and totally covered) and New York's defense was behind the eight ball when it could've punted the ball somewhere inside the Ravens' 20-yard line and given the Jets defense a much better chance.
In short, the risk wasn't worth the reward and Baltimore made the Jets pay for their first-year head coach's mistake.
"It’s one of those things where it didn’t work out," Glenn said. "You look at what they did, they went for it on I think fourth-and-1 from the 20-something (yard line) or something like that and they made it. It’s just one of those things and we didn’t make ours so we gotta do a better job there."
Of course, with their record what it is at this point in the season, the Jets had nothing to lose in their bold attempt. And while it's conventionally the wrong call, Glenn deserves some credit for wanting to see how his team would respond in that situation.
"I trust our guys to go make those and that was a situation I want our guys to not blink and get ready to go and we didn’t make it."
Had Glenn made a different decision, who knows, maybe the Jets end up winning that game which is ultimately what the head coach wants the most.