There were no easy answers for Jets interim head coach Jeff Ulbrich, only more questions and another narrow, disappointing loss.
This one came by the hand of Indianapolis QB Anthony Richardson and his offense who drove for a late, game-winning touchdown in their 28-27 victory at MetLife Stadium on Sunday, which left the Jets 3-8.
Leading by 24-22 with 10:16 to play in the game after an Indy (5-6) TD (but a failed 2-point conversion), QB Aaron Rodgers led the Jets on a 13-play, 53-yard drive that chewed 7:30 off the clock. On the drive the Green & White converted on a pair of third downs (a 17-yard pass to Xavier Gipson on third-and 14; and a 6-yard pass to TE Jeremy Ruckert on third-and-4). A 19-yard collaboration between Rodgers and Davante Adams took the ball to the Colts' 25.
The drive stalled three plays later. After a timeout, the Jets faced fourth-and-2 at the Indy 17. Ulbrich opted for a 35-yard field-goal attempt by Anders Carlson, who was elevated from the practice squad on Saturday, which he converted for a 27-22 lead with 2:44 to play.
"In those situations, I was confident that defense was gonna get the stop," Ulbrich told reporters after the game. "That's why I opted to kick the field goal there and not go for it. But in hindsight, probably should have gone for it, because we didn't stop them."
Asked if burning the timeout before the field-goal try rather than take a delay-of-game penalty, moving back 5 yards to preserve the timeout was considered, Ulbrich said: "I wanted to give the kicker the best opportunity he could to make that kick. Didn't want to push him back any farther."
With the Jets' bye coming so late in the season, with only 6 more games to play, there's little time left.
"We need to be better, and this bye week will allow me an opportunity to really take a hard look at myself and take a hard look at everything that we're doing," he said. Ulbrich added: "It's 6 games remaining, true, but strength is demonstrated in these moments where adversity really hits, and it's, it's hitting us. From a football perspective, there's ... this is probably one of the higher levels of adversity. So it's an opportunity to not let your situation define who you are and show the world exactly who you are in these in these really tough moments, show your teammates who you are in these really tough moments and ultimately, like that brand of football that we we play, regardless of the situation, regardless of the implications, that's who we are. So you know, there's still a lot of pride in that locker room, and guys are going to still fight."
