One pass from New York Jets quarterback Joe Flacco completely turned the game on its head during the New England Patriots' 30-27 win on "Monday Night Football."
The Jets had just held the Patriots to a field goal after a 17-play drive, which ate up more than nine minutes of clock. New York possessed a 27-20 advantage with only six minutes remaining in the contest, and the offense had been moving the ball successfully. Flacco and the Jets had put together an 11-play drive earlier in the second half and opened the game with a 12-play drive, as well.
Any drive closely resembling those would have helped them leave MetLife Stadium with their first win of the season. Instead, though, Flacco had other plans. The veteran signal-caller dropped back on the first play of the Jets' possession and threw a long heave intended for Denzel Mims, who was blanketed in double coverage, including Patriots cornerback J.C. Jackson.
Jackson ended up coming up with the interception, giving the Patriots a much-needed offensive possession while trailing 27-20. Four minutes later, quarterback Cam Newton capped a drive with a game-tying touchdown and just about two minutes after that Nick Folk propelled New England to victory with a game-winning field goal.
Who knows if the Patriots win the game without that egregious mistake, right? Well, Flacco isn't so sure he would do it any differently if he had another chance.
"It's one of those, obviously in hindsight I don't want to throw that pick, but the safety on that side of the field came down and cut the crosser, the corner was outside leverage," Flacco told reporters after the game. "It was just one of those looks with the Cover 2 safety on the backside of the field that I felt like I could throw down the hash and Denzel Mims could beat that guy to the hash and catch that ball for a post.
"I've been rattling around in my head, and I just don't think I would make another decision in the moment, but obviously I wish I had that one back," Flacco continued.
Head coach Adam Gase explained that he would have to watch the film to see what happened again, but recalled the play much like Flacco.
"They took away the crossing route, and the safety on the opposite side fell back," Gase told reporters. "I got to see what actually happened."
While there's no debating that Flacco put together a pretty solid game against a usually impressive Patriots secondary (18-for-25, 262 yards, three TDs), it doesn't exactly take hindsight to realize it was a poor decision.
The Patriots moved to 3-5 with the win, while the Jets fell to 0-9.
