Jets’ Adam Gase Explains Bizarre Play Call On Raiders’ Game-Winning Play

If you caught the end of Sunday’s New York-Las Vegas game, there’s a good chance you wondered to yourself, ‘What were the Jets thinking?’

The Jets fell to the Raiders at MetLife Stadium in truly stunning fashion. Gang Green led the Silver and Black 28-24 with 13 seconds left in the fourth quarter when Derek Carr and Co. sat on New York’s 46-yard line with no timeouts. The Raiders’ options were limited in this scenario, but they were bailed out by an inexplicable defensive play call from the Jets.

New York dialed up a zero blitz — which results in heavy pressure up the middle and man-to-man on the outside with no safety help — instead of playing prevent defense to all but eliminate the possibility of a touchdown. Carr took advantage, finding a streaming Henry Ruggs III, who torched Jets rookie cornerback Lamar Jackson and hauled in a game-winning touchdown.

So, what in the world were the Jets thinking in this situation? Head coach Adam Gase explained after the game.

“We were trying to create pressure, we hadn’t done well with it all game,” Gase said, per the New York Daily News. “That’s what happened. We had a couple free runners but we didn’t get there. We ended up rushing.”

The obvious silver lining of the loss for the Jets is they remained in position to secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, which could be used on Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence. The defeat also didn’t do any favors for the division rival New England Patriots.