NY Jets: Team must improve clock management

The NY Jets lost their second straight contest in Oakland and one of the main reasons why was their terrible clock management

The NY Jets (4-3) have made a lot of mistakes over the last several weeks, but something that has been particular prevalent over the last 2 weeks which is poor clock management. Last week in New England when Tom Brady was driving down the field and eating up clock, head coach Todd Bowles opted against the typical strategy in using your timeouts immediately.

After the game, Bowles gave his take on the criticism he received from the calls at the end of the game against the Patriots last week. Here is what he said courtesy of the Media Relations Department of the Jets:

On if he made a mistake not calling a timeout when the Patriots had a ball at the end…

No, it was second-and-two. They had just got a first down. You can’t call a timeout on a first down and if we got them at about four, or three or less, we would have called a timeout, but it was second-and-two and if they had gotten the first down, would have wasted one then and probably not even have gotten the field goal.

On using the timeouts prior to the two-minute warning…

They were all positive plays. Had we stopped them at any shorter time when could have used a timeout, we would have used it. They were all positive plays on their side, not on our side, so it was really hard to do.

So Bowles gave some fair points in his defense, especially since if the Jets call the timeouts and the Patriots convert immediately while juicing the clock, but we’ll never know what would’ve happened. So okay, you can excuse him for that one, but then we fast-forward a week to where we are now from their loss to the Raiders and well, it’s the same issues yet again:

Column: Curious fourth-quarter clock management & mistakes doom Jets in loss to Patriots. #nyj https://t.co/KgVEeXH3i9

— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) October 26, 2015

Let’s break it down: the Jets are in dire straights, they’re down 2 scores and time isn’t on their side. Their starting quarterback is injured which means Geno Smith is attempting to lead the Jets to a comeback victory. The Jets are facing a 4th down with 5:36 remaining on the clock and they decide to punt, which isn’t an atrocious decision.   After a quick 3-and-out by the defense, the Jets get the ball back with a little under 5 minutes remaining. Then this is where we get to the poor clock management by not only the Jets’ coaching staff, but also the clock management and poor awareness by Smith.   He allows himself to get sacked by Khalil Mack when he had the option to throw it away, allowing precious time to roll off the clock. Then skipping forward, he allowed himself to intentionally go backwards out of bounds again opting against throwing the football away, resulting in more time coming off the clock.  

Losing Fitz is bad. Jets go from looking like 10-6 to 6-10. Too many missed tackles. Awful play-calling and clock management, I don’t get it — Ali Elgazzar (@TheButcher973) November 2, 2015

Next: This could be the end for Gang Green

This about sums up the emotions of Jets Nation after the ugly loss to the Raiders, but let’s finish discussing this game. Bowles seemingly gave up at the end of the game by punting the ball with minimal time on the clock, again essentially conceding the victory. Do I think the Jets would have come back to win? No, but that’s not the point; it’s about the principle and Bowles completely missed the mark here.

If the Jets can’t figure out the essentials of the game, specifically clock management, this is going to be a long season for the team. Expectations have literally plummeted after this game, but the Jets have some reason for optimism. The Jets have a nice schedule ahead of them, but it means nothing unless they go out there and execute.