If the Jets miss out on getting a potential franchise quarterback in the 2015 draft, they may look back at Sunday’s game with the Titans with a lot of regret.
The Jets scuffled and stumbled their way through most of the contest with another team vying for a slot at the top of the draft order, but found their footing long enough to score a pair of second half touchdowns that made them 16-11 winners in Nashville. They had one last chance to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, but a lateral-filled final play for the Titans ended just short of the end zone.
The victory leaves them with a 3-11 record and puts the Titans into a stew with the 2-12 Raiders, Jaguars and Buccaneers among teams with the best shot at landing the first overall pick.
The winning drive came with a lot of help from the Titans, who were flagged for a pair of penalties near the end zone that helped the Jets keep the ball long enough for Chris Ivory to punch it in from a yard out. In addition to the penalties, the Jets also got a 37-yard run from former Titan Chris Johnson on the drive and their first touchdown came after a 48-yard catch by Eric Decker.
It initially looked like Decker had gone 81 yards for a score, but replay showed he stepped out of bounds. While the two teams were waiting for the ruling, they decided to hold a melee that started when Titans defensive tackle Jurell Casey and linebacker Wesley Woodyard got in Geno Smith’s face. It looked like one of the players punched Smith, touching off a brawl that ended with Casey penalized but without any ejections despite the apparent punch.
An ejection might have been seen as too easy an escape for a player involved in a game that was hard to watch before and after Charlie Whitehurst replaced an injured Jake Locker at quarterback for the Titans, so Casey, Woodyard and everyone else had to stick around for the duration of a game that has little bearing on anything but the future homes of the top players in the 2015 draft class.
