Before you go for my neck, this isn’t meant to bash Aaron Glenn – it’s meant to highlight a clear, much-needed area of improvement. You may have heard people criticize his timeout management, the inefficiencies of his 2-minute drills, but do you measure up to these late-half gaffes against other teams?
I did some digging and looked at the end of every half the Jets have played under Aaron Glenn so far. I specifically looked at all the halves where the Jets had the ball for more than one game with less than 2 minutes left. There were 35, but I disqualified two because they were in the second half where they were in victory formation instead of driving down the field. That left 33 halves to examine, and the results were impressive.
First of all, the New York Jets have not scored in their last 14(!) attempts with two minutes or less. In six halves played this year, they’ve had the ball five times, scored zero times, and fumbled once. I could add a 34th entry, the OT game, but leave it strictly when the clock is 2:00 or less.
By comparison, Saleh’s Titans scored a field goal in the final two minutes of each half against the Eagles this year. The Bills, clearly a very good team, have only had the ball in the last two minutes of three halves this year. They scored a touchdown three times for a 100% scoring rate and a healthy average of seven points per 2-minute drill. Sick up for the next paragraph:
In 33 halves in which Aaron Glenn’s Jets got the ball with just two minutes left, they only scored. six times. They are averaging less than 1 point per attempt, which makes sense since they are currently on a streak of 14 consecutive scoreless attempts. They lost the ball by blocking or fumbling as often as they scored (6). If we just limit it to this year, the Jets are 0-5. No score, one fumble. 0% mark rate, 0 points per test.
Let’s compare the horrendous 2-minute drill numbers to some winless teams this year: We’ve already established that the Titans have scored multiple times. The Dolphins scored two field goals and one touchdown for a respectable 3/5 score rate (60%) and 2.6 points per attempt. The Buccaneers have been terrible this year (but still better here than the Jets), with a 1/4 (25%) scoring rate and 0.75 points per attempt. The Chargers fared even worse, allowing one safety on one attempt, but still had a 1/4 score rate and 0.25 points per attempt.
I wish I could have illustrated in numbers just how difficult Aaron Glenn has been at the end of the halves this year and throughout his run as the Jets head coach. If I had more time to scan each team’s schedule and play-by-play records, I’m sure this 20-game stretch would be one of the worst in NFL history but I’m only limited by the data presented in this article so you’ll just have to take my word for it.
The point is, even the worst scoring teams in the NFL tend to finish those halves. Even the worst teams in the NFL get interceptions. The Jets are the only team in this article that is neither. This roster is certainly better than last year’s, but that’s a requirement, not a wish. When will we see our favorite team engage in some of football’s most basic and common concepts? Can they end this streak this Sunday? Come on Jets!