Jets made the 'right' call to go for it despite multiple failed attempts

The NFL can be unkind.

Sometimes, as a head coach, you make the right decision, and it just doesn't work out the way you wanted, and all the Monday morning quarterbacks can come out and second-guess your decisions.

That was the case on two very specific instances for Aaron Glenn and the New York Jets in their Week 6 loss to the New England Patriots when they decided to go for it on fourth and one two separate times and came up empty.

New York Jets made the right decision to go for it on fourth down

As 7.5-point underdogs on the road, the Jets could not afford to play a conservative game. Glenn decided to go for it on fourth-and-one down by four twice in the second quarter.

According to ESPN's model, the Jets increased their win percentage by 0.7% and 1.5% on both decisions. I know the anti-analytics crowd will shout to the sky and shake their fist because the Jets failed to convert, and they'll cite that Bill Parcells would've taken the points and so on and so forth.

There's no issue with the Glenn decision to go, but there is an issue with both of these plays: the execution.

On the first attempt, the Jets ran a shotgun run with Braelon Allen that failed. Frank Reich has previously cited the success of shotgun runs in these situations; however, this is the second time this season the Jets have used a shotgun run to Allen on fourth-and-short, and it came up empty.

To make matters worse, the Jets also called an inside run in shotgun with Allen the play prior, with little success. The repetition was the confusing part here.

On the next attempt, the Jets called a quarterback sneak. Geno Smith was "stopped" short. In reality, he just went down too early. If he stays upright and the Jets push the pile, he picks that up. That's an execution issue on the players.

The problem with this was on third-and-one; on the prior play, the Jets ran Isaiah Davis out of the shotgun for no gain. Go figure.

The Jets need to create some sort of short-yardage package to get over the hump here. Personally, the Kenyon Sadiq tush push seems like a perfect starting point. Reich didn't have the excuse of the weather as he did in Week 2 this past week, though.

Hopefully, Glenn remains aggressive despite both of these failed attempts. The last thing the Jets need is for their head coach to go into a conservative shell.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow